Why Sub-Notebooks are the Only Portable Computers that Matter
For years, the consumer electronics industry has been trying to convince the public to buy portable computers of diverse form. There were recent attempts like the OQO and Flipstart, predecessors to the UMPC market that launched to a fizzle last year. A couple years before that, dedicated Portable Media Players without any real computing abilities at all were sold on the strength of their dedicated screens and relatively capacious hard drives. Don't forget the Pepper Pad, a Linux-based device that was not only awkwardly huge (although light), but split its keyboard onto either half of its chassis.
All of these devices haven't seen any real traction, because they've sacrificed the one thing that should be sacrosanct on a computer: the keyboard.
A mobile computer is an input device. If it's pocket-sized, then we can accept a crippled input device like the iPhone's touch screen or the thumb boards of Blackberries. (How people live with a web-capable smartphone without a QWERTY input is beyond me, but bless them.)
If it's not pocket-sized—really, honestly able to slip into the front pocket of tight jeans—then it needs a real keyboard on which real typing can be done. And by "real" I mean "you could type several hundred words at a go without feeling like you've tried to perform a hysterectomy on a gerbil."
That's why sub-notebooks are the hot new thing for the mass market—and have been the hot new thing for many gadget nerds for ages, throttled mostly by the fact that sub-notebooks were expensive to import from Japan. Asus's Eee is their most successful product ever (presumably by units sold, not revenue, but who knows). All the Apple soothsayers are saying we'll expect a sub-notebook Macbook tomorrow at Macworld, which I think means that those analysts, no matter how accurate their sources, probably just want a sub-notebook from Apple, too.
Of course, I could be wrong. The Panasonic W4 [pictured] (and many of the Japan-only "Let's Note" models) is pretty much the perfect compromise machine, only 2.8 pounds with an optical drive, fantastic keyboard, and tough magnesium alloy case, but I don't think it became the sort of breakout hit that the Eee has become. (Based on my scientific survey based on leaving my apartment once or twice a year.) So maybe the public isn't clamoring for a sub-notebook yet, but once they realize the benefits of a machine that is truly capable enough to replace their larger, bulkier laptops, I think "light and thin" (and perhaps even "cheap") will be the new standards for portable computing devices.
I realize I've just worked it out that consumers will want lighter, cheaper, and thinner laptops. I hope you realize that's the sort of analysis only a genius could cook up. But what I'm just trying to say that wider adoption of these smaller notebooks with real keyboards may finally kill off all the strange UMPCs and other cockamamie tiny computer ideas that keep wasting our time.* And then we could get on to more interesting things, like coming up with touchscreen interfaces that would actually allow typing at speeds on par with a proper keyboard.
* Yes, I know, you love your Nokia Internet Tablet or your UMPC or whatever. That's cool, really. But go to any coffee shop and you'll see dozens of people on laptops—people who would be willing to replace those laptops with sub-notebooks, I suspect—and nary a keyboard-less device. And unless you're one of those power nerds who keep twenty different devices with you at all times, I think most people would trade their little tablets for a proper sub-notebook if it were as light and as rugged.
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As a user of a Nokia N800, I agree with your view completely. I find the N800 useful as a "read-only" device -- checking my email, listening to music, watching an occasional video, etc. Using it for any sort of real typing is another story though. I hate writing emails and IMing on it. I am extremely tempted to get the Eee PC, though I want to wait it out for some competition to build up in that area and get something that is nicer, if not necessarily cheaper.
The sub-notebook is rather common in the far east, and I have never been able to work out why so few of these lovely little machines that can be seen in shop windows in Nathan Road in Hong Kong never make it to the west. Sony had their Crusoe based PCG-C1F back when the first Vaios appeared in 1999 but very few companies have matched it in the west, including Sony themselves. The Eee, and the machines that appear to be shortly following it over here, have been made possible by the cheapness of components (4Gb flash disk not enough? Add another 4Gb on a USB stick for £30!) and an OS that is mature enough match what Windows can do butu that isn't tied up with OEM costs and licensing. It seems that the machines being promised by other Taiwanese companies are trying to find their own USPs which can only be good for competition, and a nice aluminium or manganese alloy subnotebook can't be that far away.
This is absolutely 100% spot on. I have an N800 and I love it, but it's not a notebook. It's great for tuning into an internet radio station, hooking up to a speaker, and leaving it alone. Checking a few items online is also neat. However, I wouldn't use it to write more than 50 words at a time, and even reading a lot of things is easier on my Treo than it is on the N800.
The big problem up until the eeePC was that these things carried a seriously premium price.
I think there's a sweet spot here. Something with just a little more than the eeePC. The question is how much more without breaking the bank and scales. Or you can start at a full featured laptop and start leaving things out. Do we actually need a built in optical drive any more? Or an external PCMCIA slot? However, now that 1.8" drives are up to 160Gb I don't really want to lose the hard drive. And 1024 width is really a minimum which means a 10" screen. Then there's the processor. The 1.0GHz Via is just barely enough but low power is important.
I have to ask, "What's so awful about a removable keyboard?" It keeps your pocket-sized MID or PCA (or whatever acronym is currently operative) down to a reasonable size, then, hey presto, provides a keyset that is actually possible to type on for those other instances.
Of course, an alternative typing system would be even better, (7-or-so keys arrayed around the outer edge of a small device that [through keychording etc.] could access a full character set, so one could hold&type w/ 1 paw) but is apparently impossible to implement with the vast majority of users (even for non-ascii languages) devoted to qwerty.
Sincerely,
Parendude
I've got both an eee and an N800, and they are quite different beasts.
I've tricked out the eee for editing (added Eclipse, dia, inkscape, and GIMP) and I find it very useful in this regard. Also, as a media player it is excellent particularly for high bitrate stuff.
While I have a folding bluetooth keyboard for the N800 it complements the eee by having a longer battery life and being easier to fish out of the bag and use for quick access.
I think the other thing is that many of us have a home computer that can render the apocalypse if asked. If I need heavy computer, I can go home. A notebook is for goofing off on the internet, having something for trips, and et cetera. We may want a second computer, but it can also be a secondary computer. That's why a 300 toy that can surf and run text edit with a full screen and keyboard is ultimately more interesting than something twice the cost with half the power of the home beast.
You've hit it exactly on the head, and this is one of the reasons why I mourn the Foleo. It's amazing to me that the Gadget Bloggers bashed the Foleo en masse, and then fawned all over the Eee.
The Foleo had a MUCH better keyboard[1], gorgeous screen and an accessible CF slot for storage. It had a slower CPU, but that's a battery tradeoff I'll take. Marketing it as a "smartphone companion" was idiocy, it was a perfectly good email/web/ssh machine...or would have been if they finished the software.
[1] Note to hardware designers: the key to the right of '/' is 'SHIFT'. Do not, under any circumstances, ever try to cram the up-arrow key in there)
It seems the OLPC XO deserves mention here as well - it's got a bit of a sucky keyboard (for adults) - but worlds better than trying to type emails on my cell-phone.
Too bad it's really my daughter's computer - or I'd be bringing it with me on business trips....
I use a laptop and have desktops as well. The iPhone's $20/month premium, over cell phone base fee for unlimited data is very tempting. Give me a small laptop with $20/month unlimited data plan nationwide and I'll buy one. [prefer Darwin or Linux based, thanks.]
What's the point of packing an optical drive in an ultra-portable? (Why not a floppy drive? Or a parallel port? An analog joystick port? An external SCSI port?)
I use my DVD burner once a month (if at all) on my laptop, it could just as well be external.
What matters to you maybe, but people also use laptops as desktop replacements. Sub-notebooks with small screens and smaller keyboards are not good desktop replacements.
Sub-notebooks may be a very, very important market but they are not the only market for laptops. Your thesis is a bit premature, I think.
The only thing my laptop does is run remote desktop to act as a portable screen and keyboard for a more capable box somewhere across the network. At the frequency I use it, it's not worth spending big $ for a nice laptop whose performance I'd never use, so I've always had something ancient and heavy. And that means I've only got it with me when I really know for sure I'll want it.
I'm loving my Eee. A bigger screen would be nice, as would a less dopey name, but the always-in-my-backpack form factor rocks.
I imagine sub-notebooks becoming ever more dominant as my usage pattern becomes more common, which depends largely on network connectivity becoming more pervasive. Though currently, I can usually find a wifi connection about as easily as a place to sit down.
I already have my perfect fit -the OLPC XP laptop modded to have the full version of Abiword!
-I use it mainly to input text and read PDFs
-much better than the Alphasmart Dana/ Nokia N810
-I get a cool, rugged, solar chargeable laptop (no thanks Panasonic!) for cheap and did a good thing for some kid in Mongolia
I've often wondered why I've seen so few Nokia tablets around. They seem like the perfect ultra-portable computer.
When I'm browsing web pages, reading e-books, consuming media (like watching videos), I carry my N800 in my pocket.
If I'm planning to do text editing on the N800, I bring along my little case (a "mini folio" designed for the Nintendo DS) that holds the N800 and my bluetooth keyboard. Even with the keyboard, GPS unit, spare battery, headphones, etc., the case is still smaller than the Eee.
My Newton eMate is the perfect Apple sub-notebook. Oh, except for the fact that Apple gives it absolutely no support whatsoever.
If Apple does indeed announce the launch of a beautiful, high quality sub-notebook tomorrow, I'd say that they're finally starting to overcome their mistake on abandoning the Newton platform.
Took 'em long enough.
Bluetooth Chording Keyboard: http://blog.russnelson.com/chordite/
It's the only way to type on a N800.
I've been carrying a Sharp Zaurus C3000 for years. Sharp never sold them in the U.S., but there are companies that import 'em and do English setup. It's pocket-sized, clamshell (and the screen twists to tablet layout), got a small QWERTY keyboard (and can plug in a folding USB keyboard). I get a lot of writing done on it. It's a tiny keyboard but a lot better than the one on my Centro! It's more more a PDA++ than a notebook. If I had to replace it, I might consider the new Nokia 810, but it looks like my Z has a better keyboard.
I've recently resurrected my Sony Vaio SRX77 by putting in a small (2 GB) flash drive to replace the old harddisk, and installing Puppy Linux. Its footprint is smaller than an 8.5x11 piece of paper (10.4 inch ), weighs in at just over a kilogram. It doesn't have a built-in optical drive, but did come with one that plugs in to the PCMCIA slot. It's highly portable but not pocketsized - this 2001 vintage notebook is only a little bigger than the Asus Eee. I suppose it's right on the line for a subnotebook.
I have room at the coffeehouse to put the Vaio on a table, yes. I take the Z to the bar, use it on trains and planes, can even use it standing up and thumbing the keyboard. (Seated, I usually type on it with two fingers on each hand.)
There's a place for (sub)notebooks, and a place for palmtops.
-Tom Swiss / infamous.net
I've thought about these devices a lot. There are two things that I really do use a somewhat-buff laptop for: video editing, and graphic design. Less important is off-loading pictures when away from my desktop. The rest of the things I do with the laptop--internet, e-mail, wordprocessing, and chat--can all be handled by a less-powerful machine (even a 500 MHz G3 PowerBook). The music is taken care of with a portable player. Same with a lot of video.
I recently "did away" with a dedicated Palm device, switching to a blackberry. It's wonderful, and even though it has a modified QWERTY keyboard (it's the Pearl), I can type quickly with it. I can send pictures to Flickr. I can blog from it. Just about the only things it can't do are real word processing (though DataViz is apparently working on a version of Docs to Go), and internet (I don't have the Internet plan for it, it lacks WiFi, and the browsing on such a small screen is terrible and slow). But for e-mails (the biggest reason to have the laptop around, besides the word processing), the BlackBerry can do it all. It can easily do things like IM and IRC as well.
And if I were to use it for word processing? I'd get myself a Bluetooth keyboard and use that. That's far more portable than even a sub-notebook laptop. The fact that I have 2Gb of MicroSD goodness inside the phone is also helpful.
Yes a computer needs a decent input method but what I would like to see is a rebirth of the great clamshells of the past like the HP Jornada or Psion Revo. Pocket size does not mean shirt pocket but I would propose jacket size as those devices were roughly 3.6" x 7" x 1" so they would stow in any inside jacket pocket with ease. They also had small but usable touch type keyboards. I could type about 80% on the Psion and about 75% on the Jornada compared to desktop speeds. Now that a full pc can be that small, what we need is a device like a Psion with full desktop OS NOT more subnotebooks that still require a laptop bag, etc.
Confucious say:
subnotebooks more popular in orient because honorable fingers of occidental gentlemen too fat for keys.
good discussion board for subnotebooks is www.leog.net