Business Bytes
Renee Oricchio

Nyetbooks, Er, Uh, I Mean Netbooks

 

I keep looking at the little suckers and playing around with them. I know some people just love their's. But, buying a netbook is somewhere on my priority list between buying a Kindle 2 and the iPod Touch.

Here's why:

1. You can get a laptop for about the same price (and in some cases, less) and have so much more under the hood.

2. You can get a iPhone or some other smartphone for about the same price and have something even smaller to "just do e-mail, etc.".

3. "Wah! But, I don't like schlepping around my laptop". Are you kidding? Netbooks weigh around three pounds. The smaller laptops weigh around five pounds.

4. Battery time: some of the netbooks have as little as two hours of battery time.

5. Security: shop carefully. Most of the netbooks have the bare minimum in RAM and wimpy processing speed. They tend to ship without much in the way of security or basic malware software because they don't have the juice to run those programs. Also, for IT departments, there's no way to wipe data off the hard drive remotely in the case of theft.

So, what's my problem with the Kindle 2 and the iPod Touch?

Kindle 2: I would love to see it as an application for some piece of hardware I already own and not a whole other device.

iPod Touch: Not enough bang for the buck when you look at how much storage you give up for the priviledge of impressing your friends flicking album covers around with your pointer finger. For the same price, I'd rather be able to store a bazillion more songs. Why would you buy an iPod touch and not an iPhone instead?

Renee Oricchio is a technology writer and former supervising news producer for CNN Financial News. She has been covering the computer industry since 1987. @oricchio