Apple says netbooks are "nascent category" but they have "interesting ideas"
During Apple's quarterly sales call yesterday, Steve Jobs claimed that Apple wasn't ready to leap into the "nascent" netbook category yet, citing that "as far as they know" netbooks aren't selling very well. The good news, though, is if netbooks match whatever bizarro world success qualifiers Apple has set and "take off". Jobs claims Apple has "got some pretty interesting ideas."
I'd love to see an Apple netbook, especially since netbooks seem to run better on OS X than they do even on XP. It's a bit strange to hear Jobs say Apple isn't interested in diving into nascent categories, though. The iPod — the company's greatest success — was about as nascent a category as you can dream up when it first hit the shelves.
I think this is simply the caution of a comfortably entrenched but still imaginative powerhouse. When Apple released the iPod in 2001, Apple was just beginning its ascent from mediocre also-rans to one of the industry's most exciting companies... largely through the launching of bold new products. Apple is now sitting comfortable, and favors being revolutionary in design and features (the MacBook line, the iPhone) than by jumping feet first into new markets.
Apple has 'interesting ideas' for a netbook, but isn't ready [Gadget Lab]
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I think the reason Apple doesn't enter the category is because too many people are drawn to netbooks because of price. If Apple did make something in the category it would be $500 and not $300 so everyone would bitch about price.
There's already the iphone and ipod touch. If they could be paired with a bluetooth keyboard you'd come pretty close. Then release an ipod touch that was four times bigger.
I'm not sure what actual work people do on those netbooks. The screen seems too small for full applications and the keyboard makes them too big and bulky to be truly "ultra-portable". I guess you can take notes on them. Then again, you could do that with an old Palm and a keyboard.
Apple does not like to jump onto a bandwagon / a fad ... they prefer to create them (as with the iPod, while not the first MP3 player, definitly the first with a great GUI) ..
So .. now they sit back and relax and watch what is going on on the netbook market ... where it seems every month sees a different favorite ... it is too volatile right now and the price point will be an issue for apple ...
My guess is that in 1 - 2 years they come up with something extra crazy .. like a 20 h battery plus solar panel .. which sets them apart from the rest ... then we can have our 10" macbooks ...
Apple is employing the old 'we aren't doing it' PR trick to cover the fact that they are actually working feverishly on a netbook.
It will be released last year and announced during the first press conference for their time machine iTime. Properly adoring fanboys will be granted access to the time machine in order to make posts in forums about other netbooks saying 'Apple did it better and first'.
I thought my little iBook G4 *is* a netbook.
They aren't selling? If he says so - I know at least 10 persons that bought one, and I don't even know that many people to start with... and if I wasn't planning on buying a guitar, I'd be buying one this Christmas. They're really easy to carry around (most laptops now are only convenient to move from room to room, not across the city), and I could really use something to check my email while I'm a place where the only computer is a spyware (and who knows what else) jungle.
IMO the truth is around #1 and #3. Those things sell for their small size and VERY convenient price. While they could do a very stylish compact macbook, their regular pricing suggest it would cost as much as a low-end laptop, with twice the portability but half the power.
But of course, they probably already have a team working on the iiiMacBook, and working on ways to bring production costs down.
Heh. I just ordered a stick of RAM for my iceBook so that I could put Tiger on it. I don't mind that it weighs more than a netbook; I need the exercise anyway.