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The netbook blacklash

I guess the netbook has officially arrived, there's an official backlash underway. Like the iPhone and Twitter before it, the netbook couldn't possibly fly under the radar too long before someone gave them a thorough public flogging.
Written by Jason D. O'Grady, Contributor

Acer_netbook_2I guess the netbook has officially arrived, there's an official backlash underway. Like the iPhone and Twitter before it, the netbook couldn't possibly fly under the radar too long before someone gave them a thorough public flogging.

Because of my propensity for netbooks (especially the hackintosh variety) several people have emails me links to a recent spate of anti-netbook posts. Specifically by TUAW's Steven Sande (Road Tested: Why the hackb00k is a fail and Dave Sparks (The Netbook Experiment).

As you probably guessed from the headlines both Sande and Sparks deride the netbook's several (and obvious) compromises, including it's keyboard, trackpad and smallish SSD. Geez guys, tell us something that we don't know!

Response from some of my colleagues ranged from vitriolic outrage to passive agreement. My take on the netbooks situation comes from a heated comment thread under one of my previous netbook pieces that simply read:

It sounds like a netbook won't work for you. Don't buy one.

It doesn't get much simpler than that. Before spending your hard-earned money on a gadget, do some research to see if it meets your criteria. If it doesn't, don't buy one.

Thank you. Move along.

Photo: Acer Aspire One Netbook courtesy of Aaronage on Flickr

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