What, exactly, makes a netbook a netbook? Or a smartbook a smartbook? For that matter, what is an ultraportable? What is the benchmark by which a computer goes beyond the usual degree of portability?
I’ve been thinking about these questions this week as I considered Sony’s forthcoming “ultraportable” Vaio X notebook, and a new smartbook offering from UK-based Elonex.
Sony’s system, which will hit the streets in October, is being pitched as an ultraportable rather than a netbook despite the fact it was shown at the recent IFA 2009 running an Atom processor, which runs the majority of netbooks today. The system is not small (it has an 11.1 inch screen) but is apparently thin enough so as to be dangerous, according to Engadget. It’s one inch thick and weighs about a pound and a half. It will be priced at around $2,000, according to reports. There’s nothing netbooky about that.
At the same event, Elonex introduced something it is calling a smartbook with a 7-inch screen, ARM processor and Windows CE. At the same time the company showed something it’s branding a WebBook, which is a 10-inch netbook with a VIA chip. What is the difference between these systems? The chip? The OS? The screen size? I have no idea.
I think that the average buyer will be confused and maybe a little overwhelmed when considering their choices. The waters get further muddled when some systems (like Sony’s) combine different elements from two or more mobile categories.
Should the industry come together to define the basic ingredients for each category? Is that possible? What would each category look like?
Lisa
