At one time, netbooks were everywhere. They appeared around 2007, a time when laptop computers were becoming increasingly common and were being marketed as cheaper, smaller, lighter alternatives to desktop personal computers. Netbooks, as their name suggests, were primarily designed for accessing the Internet and became popular due to their portability. However, their era did not last long. In early 2013, manufacturers Acer and Asus stopped making netbooks, effectively ending the laptop subcategory and making netbooks one of those technology fads that died out.
Various factors contributed to the fall of netbooks, but the main one was the rise of smartphones and tablets. Netbooks were at their peak during the early days of the iPhone and when Apple introduced the iPad. As these devices became more popular, netbooks were no longer powerful enough to compete, while still being small and uncomfortable to use.
Portability and price were the main priority, resulting in small machines that could be purchased for around $400 or less and were underpowered, even for the time. In a 2009 report, Intel determined that netbooks were the best secondary devices and could not replace laptops or PCs in terms of performance. Many netbooks came with 1.66 gigahertz or similar Atom N450 processors and only a gigabyte of RAM, meaning they couldn’t do anything other than browse the web. Compare that to an iPhone, which could do a lot of what a netbook could do while also being a pocket-sized mobile phone. Beyond all that, netbooks have become obsolete because the distinction between them and laptops has become blurred to the point where it has become pointless to have both on the market.
Netbooks have been replaced by laptops and tablets
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Like netbooks, laptops are small portable computers designed to be carried anywhere. Both were considered basic alternatives to more expensive laptops while still providing enough power for the average user of the time at a price of several hundred dollars, sometimes exceeding $1,000. Laptops were larger and more expensive, but as netbooks improved, the differences between the machines and their production costs narrowed.
Another difference was the operating system. Many netbooks used Linux, but what really helped netbooks take off was Windows XP and the failure of Windows Vista. Windows Vista was notorious for being slow and causing compatibility issues, among other issues. The fact that netbooks offered Windows XP after other laptops and desktops were discontinued made them attractive to those who wanted to continue using the old operating system. However, it also made devices obsolete more quickly, as those running Vista could upgrade to Windows 7 for free.
Laptops were more powerful than netbooks, had access to a better (more modern) operating system, and were more comfortable to use thanks to their slightly larger size. However, the real nail in the netbook’s coffin was the iPad. Tablets at the time couldn’t really compete with laptops in terms of utility – although it was now sometimes possible to use an iPad as a replacement for a laptop – but despite being much more expensive, tablets took off as sales of netbooks fell. Apple’s device prompted rivals like Samsung, HP and Dell to develop their own Android-powered tablets, abandoning the netbook market before holdouts Acer and Asus abandoned it as well. Today, laptops remain a cheaper type of laptop that can handle the basics, but not much else… just like the netbook once did.
