I <3 my netbook

[owlectomy]

So, in the last few days I've seen Steve Jobs ragging on netbooks because "they're not better at anything than a laptop, they're just cheaper" -- and also, a woman interrupting my casual net-browsing at Barnes and Noble to quiz me on the specifics of my computer because her 15-inch laptop was too big and heavy to carry around.

It was the first time I noticed there's a really big gender divide between the people who say, "Why would you want a tiny cheap underpowered laptop?" and the people who say, "Yay! It's a tiny cheap laptop!"

Dell was astonishingly wrong-headed with their "I use my computer to track my diet!" ads, but maybe they weren't totally off-base. I mean, who do you sell a tiny computer to? People with smaller-than-average hands. (I always hear, "You would never want to type a whole novel on a netbook," but I did just that... without exacerbating my tendinitis). People who would rather carry purses than laptop bags. People who carry around so much stuff on a day-to-day basis that a couple of pounds really makes a big difference.

I hate to step into the territory of really egregious gender stereotypes here! But I'm tired of the typical geek talk that says "Everyone who doesn't share my standards is obviously wrong" -- it's blinkered, and it's a little sexist too when, hey, you don't actually know enough women to think about what they might want from a computer. (Besides it being pink.)

Comments

[meaghanchan.livejournal.com]

The thing is, computers as a whole are so powerful these days that the old advice (to buy the most powerful, expensive machine you could so you wouldn't become obsolete quite so quickly) is not true anymore for the vast majority of users. Most computer users use their computers for the same, fairly low-powered things: browsing the web and word processing. You don't need a mega-powered laptop for these things. And whatever Steve Jobs says, small and light (and cheap) are features, and advantages that netbooks have over the 'desktop-alternative' laptops out there.

I was annoyed by Jobs bashing netbooks. I mean, the iPad doesn't even have a real OS.

[takumashii.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Just about the only thing that makes my netbook stutter is streaming video -- and what do I care about that? If I'm on the go, where am I going to find a fast enough connection to stream video anyway?

Steve Jobs is just sad that people would rather get a laptop that's cheap and light than a laptop that's really expensive and light. Not that I would say no to a MacBook Air if it fell into my lap.

[lordameth.livejournal.com]

I get what you're saying in terms of gender stereotypes. Girls like things that are small and cute, and stereotypically are not computer geeks. Girls don't program, they don't game, and they don't use their computers for much beyond relatively basic functions. Stereotypically.

That said, the only people I know who own cute tiny netbooks are overpaid, male, computer geeks who are so into technology and gadgets, have so much disposable income to burn, and are so reliant on computers for both their work and their play that they have a netbook in addition to their desktop, laptop, and Blackberry (and XBox and PS3 and Wii).

So, there absolutely *is* a kind of guy who likes netbooks.

Besides, yes, there may be small, cute, pink ones that (almost?) fit in your purse. But there's also a totally different, more normatively male or gender neutral aesthetic to the netbook - namely that of sleek futurism; portability, internet everywhere, and all that. I'd love a netbook, small, light, and cheap, if it had all the features and power of a regular laptop (DVD-R is kind of crucial for me).

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

Yeah, when I'm in my local Peet's the netbook users are about half young women and half geeky tech-professional-type or technophile-type guys.

For me, netbooks are still too expensive for me to put up with the headache of using either Linux or Windows, but I like the concept--which is why I was disappointed that Apple's tablet turned out to follow the iPhone's model.

[maevele.livejournal.com]

my netbook does, in fact fit in my knit skull and crossbones purse. also, it fits in soft insulated tinkerbell lunch boxes. I also have small hands, so I love my tiny shiny, and have come up with very few things it really can not do that I have any need for. I no longer use a bigger machine for anything.

[sdn.livejournal.com]

huh. my hands are as big as a guy's, so the smaller keyboards are killer.

[takumashii.livejournal.com]

Hm, yeah. It seems like the games that really demand blazing fast processors are mostly first-person shooters anyway, and -- I know women who are really good at first-person shooters, but personally I have no interest in the genre and ... I don't game that much anymore, except for Rock Band, but I think the only reason I've moved away from gaming as much as I have is that the zeitgeist has moved away from Japanese RPGs with lots of melodramatic plot and combat that doesn't require twitchy reflexes. I just feel like the games that are coming out are for a really narrow audience and I'm not in that audience. You know? I'm not going to play Halo just to prove that girls can play Halo.

Now, I know that I'm really lucky to be able to afford both a desktop and a (cheap cheap) laptop, but for those people who are, I just can't see the point of playing games on a laptop. The touchpad doesn't give you enough control, and the screen is small, and if you want to play an online game, it's hard to find a decent wifi connection out in the city.

So, I'm not saying that people are wrong to want high-powered laptops if that's what they want. What bugs me is just the insistence that EVERYONE needs a high-powered laptop and if they don't get one they will quickly realize just how mistaken they were.

[ex-gnomicut.livejournal.com]

I love my ultraportable high-powered, high speed laptop. Last time I got one you had to special order it from Japan because it's almost impossible to buy high-powered ultra-portables in America. The next time I bought one, though, I managed to get a good one. I find it so odd that our hemisphere associates power with weight and size (although in retrospect, I really shouldn't).