Microsoft Wants to Call Netbooks Something Else

[Marcus Yam]

Doesn't seem as catchy now, does it?

Microsoft Wants to Call Netbooks Something Else : Read more

 

[icepick314]

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....

 

[830hobbes]

Laptop Nanos?

 

[tenor77]

It's a little wordy.
Maybe you should call it "Low priced, entry level, internet browsing, compact portable computers"

 

[Guest]

Wouldn't "Notepad" be the obvious choice?

 

[starryman]

M$Books. Or BillBooks. Or BalmerBooks. Netbook is just fine.

 

[WheelsOfConfusion]

Why is MS suddenly interested in dictating not only what hardware can be used, but now what the hardware can be called?

 

[grieve]

"low cost notebook PCs"

Microsoft throw the "PC" in there to seperate themselves from apple?

Call them "IcheapPC"

 

[AndrewMD]

@ 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!

 

[jhansonxi]

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.

 

[war2k9]

It should be Zunebook.

 

[sublifer]

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...

 

[sublifer]

hmmm microtops?

 

[thearm]

I agree. It's a logical name but I still don't like it.

 

[mavroxur]

Craptop?

 

[phatboe]

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.

 

[hellwig]

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.

 

[Guest]

Netpad, because it is optimized for bpos

 

[Guest]

I like craptops.

 

[roorunner]

"Billfolds", There something simple and speaks tons

 

[ivorycruncher]

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.

 

[WheelsOfConfusion]

[citation][nom]sublifer[/nom]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...[/citation]
Actually that was Intel, and the suit has been dropped already.

 

[Guest]

"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...

 

[ravenware]

POS

 

[Dave K]

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.