Microsoft Wants to Call Netbooks Something Else
Doesn't seem as catchy now, does it?
Just after Intel managed to free the term netbook from Psion for general use, Microsoft appears to be set on calling it something else – the low cost small notebook PC.
Steven Guggenheimer, a general manager at Microsoft, said in Taipei yesterday that the netbooks today are capable of doing much more than browsing the ‘net, so therefore the term should be abandoned.
Besides just throwing a monkey wrench into the segment, Microsoft’s desire to call netbooks “low cost notebook PCs” could stem from the company’s restrictions that it imposed on which machines could run certain versions of Windows.
Guggenheimer is to provide details on the apparent name shift later on, which we’ll bring to you as soon as we know more.
- Ferrari Nettop Looks Fast But Isn't Really
- Corsair Enters Case Market, Launches Obsidian
- Waterproof SDHC Card is Cool, But Pointless
- NEC Launches Hybrid Storage Netbook
- AMD Demonstrates First DirectX 11 GPU
- OCZ Intros New 3.5-inch "Colossus" SSD
- Sony Optiarc: Piloting Blu-ray Through the Crisis
- ECS's Android Netbook: Under $500
- Flash Player Receives GPU Support
- Thermaltake Attracts Women With Swarovski Bling
- Intel: Ion Is Overkill, Don't You Know
- Asus Mars GTX 295 8GB SLI Runs Far Cry 2 2160p
- Scenes From Computex 2009: Intel's Booth
- Lian-Li Launches Economic Line of Cases
- Netbook Sales to Decline, Say Makers
- Super Talent Shows Its Super Fast PCIe SSD
- The Best PC Case At Computex, from SilverStone
- Zotac Graphics Cards Pay for Themselves
how about just calling it "cheaptops" or maybe even just calling it "mini laptops" or something like that?
no need to come up with some elaborate name....netbooks sound good enough....
Laptop Nanos?
It's a little wordy.
Maybe you should call it "Low priced, entry level, internet browsing, compact portable computers"
Wouldn't "Notepad" be the obvious choice?
M$Books. Or BillBooks. Or BalmerBooks. Netbook is just fine.
Why is MS suddenly interested in dictating not only what hardware can be used, but now what the hardware can be called?
"low cost notebook PCs"
Microsoft throw the "PC" in there to seperate themselves from apple?
Call them "IcheapPC"
@ Wheelsofconfusion,
Because people are used to that from the "APPLE" experience. Also, most complaints about Windows stem from people who run under powered systems or system that were not designed the latest and greatest!
The original netbooks couldn't run Vista or Windows 7 so they increased the specs, price, and size while reducing battery life. Since these new netbooks are basically just renamed notebooks there isn't any reason to call them netbooks anymore. "Windows Fatbooks" makes more sense.
It should be Zunebook.
May also have something to do with that lawsuit against them using the term netbook. now they have to come up with and popularize a new term and hope they don't get sued for that...
hmmm microtops?
I agree. It's a logical name but I still don't like it.
Craptop?
who cares what they are called. MS needs to be more worried about pricing windows competitively enough so that we can afford to install Win7 on a "netbook" while still being able to sell "netbooks" cheaply.
notebook and PC is redundant. Are there super-computer notebooks or distributed computing notebooks? No. Microsoft needs to stop pandering to Apple marketing.
Besides, Microsoft is trying to segment netbooks that use low-powered CPUs (like the Atom). You can buy a $500 notebook that has ATI graphics and a dual-core Athlon CPU. Just because its $500 should it be dropped in with all the crappy Atom+IntelGPU netbooks? No.
If Microsoft wants to propose a new name, they should try one that doesn't suck.
Netpad, because it is optimized for bpos
I like craptops.
"Billfolds", There something simple and speaks tons
This is the dumbest thing Microsoft can do. The only logical reason I can think for doing it is that they want to rebrand it in a way that benefits only them.
When a nickname for something sticks with people, you don't try to change it, no matter how much you think it doesn't make any sense. For example, a cable modem is NOT a modem, because "modem" is short for "modulator-demodulator" which basically means it's converting digital signals to analog and vice versa. A cable modem deals strictly with all digital signals, so there is no (de)modulating taking place, and therefore it's not a modem. Still, the term "modem" became the word commonly associated with a device that connects people to the internet, so even though it's no longer accurate, it's not worth trying to change. Once people have made a word/object association, they don't care whether it's inaccurate or not. Trying to change the word/object association will actually confuse people far more than leaving the inaccurate term in place.
Furthermore, with the wired (or wireless, if you prefer) world we live in today, most kinds of work involve some sort of network or internet access. I find very few things I need or want to do on a laptop that can work locally without any internet. So, I argue that "netbook" is NOT an inaccurate term at all, and the all-encompassing phrase Microsoft wants to replace it with, though maybe slightly more accurate, is far too cumbersome to remember.
Microsoft, I have three words for you: KNOCK IT OFF!!! If it ain't broken, don't try to fix it.
May also have something to do with that lawsuit against them using the term netbook. now they have to come up with and popularize a new term and hope they don't get sued for that...
Actually that was Intel, and the suit has been dropped already.
"mini notebook" instead of "netbook"? All because netbooks can do more than browse the web? I think notebooks can do more than just take notes...
POS
Microsoft is probably more interested in folks NOT getting the idea that they can live without Microsoft... and with the advent of all sorts of internet based tools that do the same thing as windows based tools, the idea of a "Netbook" could quickly become a MS free windows alternative.
I'm not a MS hater by any means (Windows is on the vast majority of my pc's), but I think there's more to Microsoft's attempt to steer the identification of inexpensive laptops awayfrom the word "Net" than they're saying. IMO the most likely serious competitor to windows (at least at the very low end of the market) will be a combination of a basic Linux install with all the advanced Web apps being spit out by folks like Google and others.
also... I think their attempt is doomed to fail... "Netbook" is here to stay. It's short, fits nicely in the portable terminology line: "Laptop, Notebook, Netbook", and is already in wide popular use. Once it gets beyond geek-speek it's really too late to try to change it.
thightop or legtop... since it's too small to cover the entire lap.
A 'Low-cost' small notebook PC is as much a bad name as netbook, for many are no 'low cost' anymore.
A 'low cost' computer I would call a sub $300 machine.
Even $300 is pretty expensive... Not everyone can just simply give $300 cash.
What I would really call lowcost would be sub $200 computers!
How bout "Strip Tease." Because it can only do so many thing a full laptop can.
i throw in my 2cents with "craptop"... they all are in comparison to a normal desktop.
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;--
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title:--Romeo, doff thy name;
And for that name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.
how about "LPP (Low-Power Portables)" that works too