Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 17 December 2008 12:00
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
A fresh round of speculation about the possibility of an Apple netbook has been triggered by an analyst's "triangulation." Is there a way Apple can market a device that can take on existing netbooks without cannibalising its MacBook sales, that lives up to the company's reputation for design, and still make money on the deal?
Computerworld
reported that Ezra Gottheil of Technology Business Research was predicting a Macworld Expo announcement of two netbooks by Apple. The story proved grist for the rumour mill.
Gottheil's reasoning is that the recession means Apple needs a lower-priced product as consumers are spending less.
So far, Apple's notebook sales seem to be holding up reasonably well, even though they aren't the cheapest models in the market.
What Gottheil has in mind isn't a stripped-down MacBook (and let's face it, existing netbooks are really cost-reduced notebooks running Windows or Linux just like their larger and more capable siblings).
Instead, he seems to be thinking of something along the lines of an oversized iPod touch.
That makes sense to me. A netbook with say a 10in screen (not touch sensitive) and a halfway decent keyboard could be the go if it also had a multitouch trackpad.
iTWire's
Stan Beer outlined something similar earlier this week, but where Stan visualised an iPhone emulator, I think the netbook would actually run a version of the iPhone/iPod software.
That could allow the use of a range of existing applications, augmented by some new ones from Apple that take advantage of the larger format and the physical keyboard. Third-party developers would be sure to come up with fresh ideas.
As Gottheil suggested, using the App Store as a channel for netbook software sales would make life easier for owners - especially the least technical ones - as well as providing an expanded market for developers.
It would also reduce the risk of MacBook cannibalisation. Such a device wouldn't appeal to someone that wanted a smaller, lighter MacBook precisely because it wouldn't run Mac software.
But how would Apple manage to "make a $500 computer that's not a piece of junk" in order to compete with other netbooks? See
page 2.
