The iPhone is no Netbook

✎ Published: 2008-10-22 10:30:30

The iPhone, while innovative, differs from Netbooks in key functionalities, particularly the challenge of document creation and web application use without physical input devices. Although I appreciate the iPhone's capabilities, I find a combination of a laptop and an iPhone better suits my needs, fulfilling the roles that a Netbook would typically play.

The iPhone is no Netbook

Dave Winer analyzes a recent Steve Jobs remark, suggesting that the iPhone is in a way Apple's entry into the Netbook market. Actually, from a more technical perspective, the iPhone comes close. It's small, runs a modern operating system, allows for the installation of new software, it's portable. There's however a rather big difference between a Netbook and the iPhone. Something Dave somehow neglected to mention in his listing of important Netbook features: (1) It's difficult or almost impossible to easily create Office Documents (read: Word, Excel, Powerpoint alikes). (2) Using Web 2.0 Applications is possible, but cumbersome. I'd guess that most people use Netbooks to (1) create documents and (2) surfing the web. While these things are very well possible with an iPhone, it's magnitudes more difficult than something featuring a real Keyboard (1) and a touchpad / mouse (2). In my opinion, the major difference between the iPhone and a Netbook, and actually the main difference between a Windows PDA and a Netbook is and will be the inclusion of real input devices.

However, that's only part of the story: The first time I remember seeing a Netbook was in 1999 or 2000. It was the Sony VAIO C1XD, a beautiful, small, Pentium machine running Windows 98, even featuring a Webcam. I immediately fell in love. The heavy price tag as well as a lack of real-world usage scenario kept me from buying it though. I've been checking ebay again and again in the following years, always tempted to buy one of those. That was difficult however, as their prices (even years old and technologically rather aged) hardly changed. Now, years later, the industry finally realized that there is a big market for small laptops, and finally I could buy the machine I always wanted to buy, at a price I always wanted to buy. I didn't and don't though. Because I already have a Macbook Pro and a iPhone.

What I wanted to say is: The iPhone is no Netbook, but the iPhone sufficiently substitutes many of the Netbooks features. And these areas, where the iPhone lacks a Keyboard or a Mouse, get covered by a regular laptop. So instead of having a mediocre Netbook for everything, I have a big laptop for all desktop and most mobile cases, and an iPhone for the rest. And for me, that's the perfect setup.

(Albeit I'd give a cheap Apple Netbook running OSX a second thought. But not because I need it, rather because I always wanted it)