Thank you, Gustin,
I actually have learned quite a lot from your last posting. This is the
kind of intelligent conversation I was looking for when I joined this list.
Again, My thanks.
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1) Is there a consumer demand (or a market) for Netbooks with
Linux-Preloaded?
Not a large demand since the majority of computer users (and thus
potential buyers) have either never heard of Linux or have no idea what
it is.
> 2) If so, how large is that market?
Just a back of the napkin guess, but at best I see no more than 10 to 15
% of the North American market.
> 3) How cost effective is it for Manufacturer to supply this market?
Not very cost effective. The margins are so thin that craplets that get
preinstalled are pretty much required for most of them to make a profit.
> 4) Assuming this market is large enough to sustain a supplier, how does
> this supplier enter the market?
There are already a number of suppliers. I do not like paying the MS
tax, but at the moment it costs me more to avoid it than to simply pay it.
> 5) if there isn't a market for Netbooks with Linux-Preloaded (or the
> market is too small), is there anything the Linux Community can do to
> create such a market, or demand (Remember what the community did with
> the LinkSys WRT[G][S] routers)?
Most of those who actually know and want GNU/Linux on a laptop will get
it. I see netbooks are more of a consumer appliance with a niche
market. Since I bought my new 14" laptop, my netbook has languished in
the corner, and I see similar behaviour from my technical friends,
independent of the OS installed on the netbook.
I suspect that the netbook is the new PDA. It will be successful until
smartphones end up killing the market. I have hopes that KDE 4 will
work well with touch screens and smaller resolutions so that it will
power the next generation. The next big thing is looking like a
netbook-like tablet. Everyone is looking at at Apple for this.
Here is an example:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/03/crunchpad-the-launch-prototype/
Of course, since this is a device that I would actually want to buy, I
have to be careful not to extrapolate this into large scale public
demand. I am a geek after all. While I do not have a crystal ball,
this does look like the next big thing to me.
Also, the Linux netbooks ship with incredibly crappy SSD drives, there
is no OS from MS that runs acceptably on those. Not even Windows 7.
With some tuning I can get the Ubuntu netbook remix close, but these
cheap and crappy SSDs are doing no one any favours. I was surprised at
how snappy regular Ubuntu was on a hard drive equipped netbook.
>
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Juan Alberto Cirez
CFAA/CFAT, AFSA/CFAT-CFET,CIPS/ISP, ASTTBC/CFET, CHI(e)
Sr. Field Service Technician/Project Manager
J. A. Cirez Integrated Technologies, Inc
Fire Protection | IT Services | Security | Home Inspections | Consulting
Tel. : (780)972-4739
Fax : (780)747-6078
Email: [email protected]
Web : http://www.jacintech.com
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