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Mac Netbook: Maybe The Wrong Name?

The rumor mills are working overtime about the possibility of a Mac Netbook, possibly to be announced at MacWorld:

[from Apple will unveil netbooks next month, says analyst]

Apple Inc. will introduce two netbooks at the MacWorld Conference and Expo next month that will be tied to the company's App Store, as is its iPhone, an analyst said today.

"I don't have any inside information," said Ezra Gottheil of Technology Business Research Inc., as he spelled out his take on Apple's next hardware move. "This is just by triangulation."

Citing evidence that included the gloomy economy, climbing sales of the least-expensive laptops and comments CEO Steve Jobs made in October, Gottheil said Apple would show a pair of netbooks at January's conference, then as it did two years before with the iPhone, put it on the market midyear.

"They like to have a big surprise at MacWorld," Gottheil said. "They don't need to have one, but they like to."

But Gottheil had more than just Apple's habit of springing surprises in mind. "It looks like netbooks are real, and getting a certain amount of traction. And this recession looks serious."

It is clear that the econolypse has started to hit Apple's sales of Macs based on Novembers drop. So perhaps the stars are aligned to motivate Apple to move into the hot market for Netbooks. But is it a cannibalization of laptops, just at a lower margin? Tom Reestman at TheAppleBlog thinks it is, saying "I think netbooks are primarily just the new cheap laptop."

What if Apple made a Netbook that was much more like the iPhone, but with a keyboard and no touchscreen? Larger, but much smaller than a MacBook, say an 8 inch screen. A more closed architecture, where apps would have to be downloaded from the Apple Store? And with a built-in data connection, like the Kindle, supplied by a major phone company like AT&T or Verizon? What then? A completely different sort of a beast.

It wouldn't be a netbook, like the ones you can buy from Lenovo or Acer, it would be a handtop device used to remain connected, browse the web, watch movies, listen to music, and serve as a Voip machine. A very different thing: a brand new category.

It might change laptop-only users like to to owning two machines: a handtop or handbook for travel away from my desk, and a second machine -- a larger laptop or a non-mobile Mac -- for the office. Could work.

Apple Rumor Day

A day with a barrage of Apple rumors, including one that I am happy to start.

1. Based on a few paragraphs in the UK scandal sheet, The Daily Mail, people are now salivating for a iPhone nano by Christmas, although Apple has announced no such plans, and some suggest that they would be cannibalizing the market for their newest iPhone. (Personally, I am holding out for one with a better camera.)
2. A few supposed photos of a restyled MacBook -- with aluminum skin -- have surfaced and been pooh-poohed, even though a new design for MacBooks has been announced.
3. Lastly, my rumor, which is based on the Lenovo Netbook announcement. Since the Netbook is running on the Intel Atom chipset, it should in principle be able to run Mac OS, with the now usual hackery to get Mac OS to boot there. I am announcing that someone will get Mac OS running on a NetBook in the next few weeks, and that a sizable proportion of NetBook users will be using it as a Mac subnotebook (or netbook) since Apple is not willing to make one for us (Air doesn't count: too big).

Foldable Screens = Changing The Form Factor

I see that the Readius electronic book device is being rolled out.

HalfOpen_Transparant_ReadiusLogo_ByPV_2K, originally uploaded by Stowe Boyd.

This thing sports a flexible screen. Why haven't laptop manufacturers started to make newly reconsidered computing devices with these things? Imagine a tiny device the size of my MacBook keyboard, which is 10.5 in x 4.5 in, but which could house a screen 10.5 in X 9.5. My laptop would be a the size of a trade book, or smaller, when not in use.

Planes, Trains, And Laptops

A preposterous side effect of the ridiculous airport "security" regimen in place at our airports worldwide is the increase in laptop theft:

[from Macworld | Laptops lost like hot cakes at US airports]

Some of the largest and medium-sized U.S. airports report close to 637,000 laptops lost each year, according to the Ponemon Institute survey released Monday. Laptops are most commonly lost at security checkpoints, according to the survey.

Close to 10,278 laptops are reported lost every week at 36 of the largest U.S. airports, and 65 percent of those laptops are not reclaimed, the survey said. Around 2,000 laptops are recorded lost at the medium-sized airports, and 69 percent are not reclaimed.

Travelers seem to lack confidence that they will recover lost laptops. About 77 percent of people surveyed said they had no hope of recovering a lost laptop at the airport, with 16 percent saying they wouldn’t do anything if they lost their laptop during business travel. About 53 percent said that laptops contain confidential company information, with 65 percent taking no steps to protect the information.

Airports, along with hotels and parked cars, are places where laptops can be easily stolen, said the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on its Web site. The confusion of going through security checkpoints can make it easy for travelers to lose track of their laptops, making it “fertile ground for theft,” the FTC said.

The FTC recommends people treat laptops “like cash.” Like a wad of money, a laptop in public view—like the backseat of the car or at the airport—could attract unwanted attention. The FTC also recommends using tracking devices that can help track down a stolen laptop by reporting its location once it is connected to the Internet.

Unbelievable: The Transportation Security Agency (and its sister agencies in other countries) cannot protect us from laptop theft at their security checkpoints. 10,000+ per month in the US alone.

I actually was directed in Copenhagen to put my wallet and passport through the metal detector at the security checkpoint, as well as all the other paper in my pockets and my all-plastic travel belt. But not my shoes. That's totally strange.

Skooba Design :: Skooba Skreener : Laptop Messenger Bag, originally uploaded by Stowe Boyd. [note: this is not the planned TSA approved bag, just cool looking.]

Meanwhile, some smart designers are developing laptop cases that will satisfy the TSA's need to look at our laptops without taking them out of the bag:

[from On the Road - New Bag Helps Laptop Pass Airport Security - NYTimes.com]

Two of the biggest luggage manufacturers — Pathfinder Luggage and Targus — say they are rushing to produce the new “checkpoint friendly” laptop cases and expect them to be available by late September or early October.

Two problems with the existing laptop cases are that security officers have difficulty seeing inside them with X-ray equipment, and many of the cases are so crammed with extra gear — power cords, a mouse and the like — that the computer is obscured.

The new cases include either a fold-down section in a bigger briefcase or a stand-alone protective sleeve that contains no extra clutter and can be readily viewed through the scanner.

Seems like along with the slight convenience of not having to take the laptop out and place it in a separate tray, this could significantly decrease the likelihood of theft, since it is more obvious for a crook to nab someone's entire bag than to grab a loose laptop, and slide it their own bag. I love my knapsack, but I will have to look at these new bags, like Skooba's, not mentioned in that story.