Obviously netbooks are computers, but should uber-power users like you and I consider them “real” computers? Do these diminutive devices qualify as “enough” computer to meet ones daily needs? It took me a while, but I recently reached the point of understanding that for my “real” needs, they are just “enough”.
It’s understandable that animators, video editors and motion graphics artists are always pushing the power curve on computing. In a production environment processor speed can have direct effects on creativity, profitability and frustration level. PhotoShop may take a few seconds to apply a complex filter or a favorite set of actions. Final Cut may take a minute or more for an incremental render. But use that filter fifty times a day, or render that timeline a few dozen times, and processor speed becomes a serious consideration worthy of a significant financial investment.
But when selecting personal personal computing equipment this ”need for speed” attitude may not be the best selection criteria. I did this for years, always justifying a power purchase with a “just in case” excuse. Sure I mostly do email, web, Word, Excel and Peggle on my laptop, but one never knows when one may need to edit a 100-layer PhotoShop file, or render a ray-traced mirror balls over checkerboard floor scene, on an airplane, right? Only recently did I realize that the key word in that sentence is “never”.
My first netbook – the iPhone
My first realization of this came with the purchase of an iPhone. I was there on release day, but managed to avoid long lines and camping out. I happen to be vacationing in Tennessee that day, and there were no lines at the Pigeon Forge ATT store.
Soon I found myself using my MacBook Pro less and less. On some business trips it would only come out of its case at airport security checks. Was my $2,500 laptop being replace by a phone?
For quite some time it did. I was able to handle most of my traveling business tasks on the iPhone, and find work-arounds for others. One could make the argument that the iPhone is Apples netbook, but the lack of a full size keyboard however kept me limited to mostly basic communication tasks (if you can call that a limitation for a phone).
As I contemplated my recent netbook purchase, I was finally able to fully shed my computer speed obsession. By analyzing the tasks I was most likely to do on the machine, I was able to fully let go of those just in case scenarios and focus on my real computing needs; Peggle, email, Peggle, web and of course Peggle.