by Amer Numan

Created on: November 16, 2009

Although this is a relative question that largely depends on a user's needs, the root fact is that Laptops have been around for 2 decades and Netbooks have only been around for 2 years. With this overall age of the technology comes a great deal of trial and error, invention, and reliability. The first processor chip that was used for a laptop is considered obsolete at this point. Not only are today's chips a tiny fraction of the size, but the way they get made, get installed, and process data is entirely different and unrelated to that first chip.

This clearly shows that the first type of computing technology on a new platform does not persist. It's merely an entry into the market to introduce the technology, before its errors manifest across its large user base and get fixed over a few new releases or versions of it.

In this case, I'm referring to "light" or "mobile" processors that are currently in Netbooks like the Intel Atom chip. The chip is certainly a breakthrough - less costly for manufacturers, easier to install, lighter, smaller. Making it ideal for a 10-inch, 2-pound computer.

However, like any "version 1" in the computing world, the chip comes with a host of shortcomings and weaknesses. It cannot handle rich media, heavy streaming, and multi-tasking. If you're involved in engineering programs or graphic design, you're out of luck. As any first stab at an invention, Intel and other chip makers are collecting errors, bugs, and user feedback, and always working on the next, better chip.

So what's better, a technology that has been revised and improved more than 400 times? Or a technology that is still introducing itself to us and explaining what it tries to do? The latter seems too weak to withstand an argument.

And that is just processing. There's more to a computer - be it a netbook or not. Netbooks claim to be made for internet and mobile life, and yet they seem to not handle some content-rich web sites well. Flash-enables e-mail and heavy java script seems to pose a big challenge for the machine, and opening a second browser page greatly hinders its performance. Online radio is a possibility but the lack of sufficient memory often causes skips regardless of internet speed.

In short, the platform can do more. Additional memory fits physically. A different processor is not impossible to install into a smaller 10 or 11 inch machine. I feel like the price point is what's hindering manfacturers from making netbooks more capable. But as we all know, technology gets cheaper with time, so I'm sure that the Netbook platform's "Version 2" will introduce new horizons - possibly a full processor and additional RAM to provide substantial computing on the go.

For now - Netbooks are just making an entrance, and my message to them is simply "welcome to the market, good start - keep up the good work."

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