The History of Netbooks
People love miniature versions of the real thing, and now there has been a boom in portable technology. Think back to some of the first instances of portable technology. One of the first was the CD player. When these first were introduced, no one wanted to listen to CDs at home, anymore. What about popcorn chicken, or Pop Tarts, or iPods? These are all examples of things humans changed to take them on the go.
And introducing, the mini notebook — an even more portable version of a laptop (sometimes called a “netbook), just when you thought they couldn’t get any smaller. These new notebooks are breaking new ground in high speed technology on such low-cost/small-sized devices, and are more useful for their wireless internet sides rather than program capabilities.
The Network Computer The idea for the netbook started back in the 1990s when Oracle developed a desktop computer which relied solely on programming. They called it the Network Computer. It had no disk inputs whatsoever. Unfortunately, this is a classic case of an idea being much too ahead of its time. Because the Internet speeds at the time only ran at 28.8 kb/s, this idea was eventually scrapped.
One Laptop Per Child The One Laptop Per Child organization was founded in 2005. Its goal was to create an affordable laptop to educate children in developing countries. After a few years, and funding from many major corporations, they were able to create the XO-1 laptop and released it by Christmas, 2007. It was made to be extremely durable and have a long battery life. It ended up costing 188 dollars per unit, when purchased by the thousand. The XO-1 was the first mini-notebook, and more were to come.
Eee PC Following the XO-1, ASUS created what became the standard in mini-notebooks. They called it the Eee PC and it weighed only 2 pounds with a 10 inch screen. Shortly after, bigger brand name companies began developing their own and by late 2008, mini notebook sales started taking money away from normal laptop sales.
This craze is now just beginning to bloom. Who knows what the future holds for these devices? What we do know is that we are living on the cutting edge of technology, and we can count on much more to come.
