This is the second post about netbooks, following the comments on their implications for Microsoft. I will begin by explaining why I don't want a Mercedes.
The engineers at Mercedes started installing an oil level sensor. So, they figured, we really don't need the old dipstick anymore, and many new Mercs do not have a dipstick ... not even as a backup to the sensor. I have seen electronic sensors malfunction, but I have never seen a dipstick malfunction. I guess someone broke or lost one someplace, but this is basically a pretty reliable technology. If you buy one of these cars, and the sensor gives out on you, you'll have to replace it or risk the engine. It won't be cheap. What we have here is an engineer, proud of his gadget, and no one asking if the gadget really makes sense.
Consumer tech marketing has traditionally been: we have more features! We have a bigger drop-down menu, or more megapixels, or something. Now many products don't ship with a manual ... it's on CD-ROM, because it would be hundreds of pages long, and printing and shipping something that big is too expensive. No customer uses more than a tiny fraction of the "features", and heaven help the user who clicks on the wrong button by accident, thereby invoking the "convert your desktop and all your documents to Devanagari" operation.
Now they're selling netbooks ... nice, simple netbooks ... to people who can afford a "better" computer. Part of the appeal is simplicity. It does what you expect it to do without using outrageous amounts of memory or processor. The Mercedes engineers won't understand it, but there's a market for things that work properly, inexpensively, and without being fussed over.
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