Netbooks Are Losers
June 25, 2009
NPD has a direct connection to New York mainstream media. The company reports on data on which one get no purchase. The report that netbooks are not what consumers want is a good example. I went to a Best Buy on Sunday to look at the netbooks advertised in the Sunday newspaper supplement. No joy. The sales person told me that the netbooks sold out. I could order one. I asked if this was a weird graduation spike. He said people have been buying them because they were cheap and worked pretty well.
Now NPD reports that netbooks annoy buyers. You can read the news release that plopped into my RSS reader today. It’s headline is one that will make Microsoft weep with joy: “NPD Finds Consumer Confusion about Netbooks Continues.” Microsoft makes less money on the low end operating systems that are “good enough” for the small form factor computers. Microsoft wants full boat machines running the high end operating systems and software.
What makes no sense to me is that these small machines which Tess, my expert in small Web surfing devices (see picture on this blog’s splash page), tells me are just the ticket for those who want to avoid the hassle of the giant luggables.
When it comes to search, the netbooks work well for me. I suppose addled geese and experts like Tess are not included in the NPD sample. Come to think of it – I did not see too much data about sample selection, margin of error, and demographics of those 600 adults. I wonder who funded the research as well. I suppose NPD did the work in the interests of consumers. I wonder if a large software company provided some oomph.
I do know that Dell has changed its line up of netbooks in order to force buyers to pricier machines. I ordered a Dell net book for Tyson and returned it when I found the memory module was not upgradeable. I am deeply suspicious of these research results, but I am an addled goose with a rescue boxer who surfs the Web with a Dell Mini 9. I recall reading that net book users opting for the low end version of Windows 7 won’t be able to change their wallpaper either. Hmmm.
Stephen Arnold, June 24,, 2009
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One Response to “Netbooks Are Losers”
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“people have been buying them because they were cheap and worked pretty well.”
“just the ticket for those who want to avoid the hassle of the giant luggables.”
Exactly why I bought a netbook, to replace a failed, 20-month-old Dell laptop, just a couple of weeks ago. And I walked into Office Depot and walked about 5 minutes late, netbook in hand, after checking in-store inventory on-line and then phoning the store just to be sure.