10 Things Netbooks still do better than an iPad (Cnet)

[3GScottishUser]

Video chat. Most Netbooks, even low-end ones, now have Webcams enabling basic video chat over Skype or any other program. The iPad, however, does not. We wish the iPad had a camera and iChat, especially since it would make the tablet a unique communications device to rival the iPhone. Perhaps cost was a factor, even though most Netbooks manage the feat in a package under $500.

Run Flash. While Steve Jobs called the iPad "the best Web experience you've ever had," there is a big missing piece right now, and that's the whole Web. Browser-based apps and Flash-driven content are huge elements of cloud computing and of many Web sites, and right now it's not even clear whether the iPad can even run Hulu or Netflix. Atom Netbooks can be slow and stuttery when playing Web video, but at least they can.

Programming. Most people aren't programmers, or anything close to it, but most Netbooks do run on a full Windows 7 OS that can be used for programming or modification. For the friendly hackers out there, that's a deal-breaker on the iPad.

Upload photos from a camera. No USB ports on the iPad mean no connecting cameras or other peripherals, which can be a drag if the iPad is meant as a portable computing replacement for bloggers. Netbooks have at least 2 USB ports standard. The iPad does have a dongle to allow photo and video uploads, but when we're on the go we prefer a direct connection.

Store more than 64GB of data. We expected a little more memory on the iPad. Even the most basic Netbook has a 160GB hard drive. Cloud storage can assist with data, but it's still no replacement for onboard capacity.

Play Facebook games. Without the aforementioned Flash, browser games aren't really possible on the iPad. Those looking to play Farmville will have to wait for the App or just flock to a Netbook.

Swapping batteries. Sure, the iPad is slim, attractive and very showy. But its battery is fixed, while a Netbook can not only swap its battery, but upgrade from a three- to a six-cell or more.

Install CD media (or any media other than from an App Store) With the addition of a simple USB DVD/CD-ROM drive, disc-based software can be installed on a Netbook even without an optical drive built in. Netbooks can also install files off USB drives, or via any other input method. The iPad wasn't designed with this flexibility in mind, but it's still nice to be able to do.

Type on your lap. Yes, the iPad has a virtual keyboard, and even a cool keyboard dock that turns the tablet into a quasi-desktop device. But the dock can't be used for lap typing, and the Apple demos didn't make iPad typing seem as comfortable as pounding away on an old-fashioned hinged Netbook. For long-term writing on the go, a physical Netbook keyboard with an attached angled screen still wins.

Upgrade. Netbooks can upgrade their RAM--albeit slightly--and with a little effort, that hard drive can be swapped, too. The iPad is a fixed entity, so there's no going back once you've picked 16, 32, or 64GB.

On the other hand, the iPad does do a lot of things nicely, including being more portable. We just felt like Netbooks needed to be stood up for a little. Your thoughts? Any features we left out?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10443246-1.html

[miffed]

Please excuse my ignorance , but the programming thing - I though the Mobile OSX threw programming wide open and made it hugely accessible and profitable to whoever wanted to have a go ?
Is this not the case then ?

It's interesting to note that this product has not even hit the shelves yet , but there are already articles all over the net pointing out its shortcomings ,

Interestingly , there are no such articles slating the HP slate that was announced a few weeks back (You remember ? ....Steve Ballmer ? ... ) , despite the fact it probably has some shortcomings

The amount of hate generate by Apple product launches speaks volumes , infinately more than any "praise" articles could ever do !

[The Mullet of G]

I think the point thats being made about programing is that you can't physically write your own programs on an iPad, at least I don't think you can? or actually modify it to any great degree, even jailbreaking doesn't remove the limitations of the OS. Not sure if thats a deal breaker for most people though.

I can actually understand why there is so much Apple hate, despite what Apple fans may think, there is actually an awful lot to hate about Apple. People complain about Microsoft and how is does business, but Apple is no better, if anything its far worse. The EU was jumping all over Microsoft for including a browser with its OS, yet Apple isn't facing the same fate, even though they force you to use Safari, iTunes and whatever other stuff they have. People hate Microsoft for acting in this way, so why shouldn't they hate Apple even more? Personally I think its about time Apple got absolutely hammered for its practices, this would force them to open up its OS a bit more, maybe even give people at least some form of choice.

[gorilla]

Could I just point out that the iPad is basically a big iPod touch and yes we all might have wanted something really special, but for $499 what do you expect? This is an appliance device and I actually believe it will be very successful.
As for this list...I'm not convinced a netbook is actually a better proposition than the iPad. I own a netbook and find it very useful, but only for accessing the net. Running iTunes is slow and cumbersome for example.
Apple as a company are over protective of their products, but we all know this, and yet we continue to buy their products.
As for Apple forcing you to use Safari, this is not true, I recently downloaded iDroid Mini for free. There are several browsers in the App store and as far as I know they are all based on webkit (?).

[The Mullet of G]

Even taking into account you can get other browsers, wheres Opera or Firefox? Both have browsers on other mobile platforms, yet not iPhone, why is that? But thats beside the point, it doesn't change the fact that Apple forces you to use its software in a lot of cases, heck even OS X is blatantly guilty here, and is locked to only running on Apple hardware. No amount of justification will ever make that right. If Microsoft isn't allowed to behave in this manner, then why should Apple be allowed to do so?

[3GScottishUser]

The iPad will be a very expensive netbook alternative when it arrives in the UK. I'm guessing it'll be £399 at the very least and that can get you a top of the range Netbook.

I'm all for convienience and perhaps this is the iPad's killer sales feature but I'm just not convinced there will be a market for such a limited device and the likes of Acer, HP and Dell (not to mention Microstar, Asus and Samsung), will offer slim Windows 7 touch screen netbooks with vastly better connectivity options for far less than the iPad. Now that Apple are in the ebook market (although not in the UK) I would not be surprised if Amazon licenced Kindle for touchscreen netbooks in retaliation.

The ipad is a market shaker for sure but this time Apple might just have shaken up an alliance of lethal competition that might render their big iPod Touch concept a struggler.

[miffed]

Ah , meant to post in this thread , but posted in a different one.

But another thing Netbooks do that iPads don't

...Take a couple of minutes to boot up !!

[Hands0n]

See? Thats the funny thing about all things Apple - it draws the Jihadists from every single corner of the planet like almost nothing else does. I dare say that psychologists could write scores on this phenomenon.

As to the dialogue on Apple being worse than M$ - sorry but that just doesn't wash. These tired old examples about "nasty" old Apple do not bear fruit. Lets just consider for a moment why not.

Apple make computers with their own OS, browser and other bits and pieces. They do not sell an OS or any of their software with the intention of it running on any other hardware from any other manufacturer. As a company they are 100% within their rights to operate like that. There is no compulsion or requirement to purchase their product, that is entirely in the hands of the buyer of their combined hardware and software package (usually called a Macbook, iMac or Mac Pro). Apple, like any other manufacturer of hardware with software to make it actually work are completely within their rights to lock it down, restrict its use, or insist on certain criteria of developers to that platform. They are so in the same way as any other device that is a combination of hardware and software.

Unlike M$ they [Apple] are not selling a general purpose OS to run on independent hardware as does Windows. It is obvious why the EU have forced M$ to de-link their OS from a number of components such as the IE browser. M$ purport to be available for any Intel-compliant PC yet wish to lock users to its OS components and thus remove the free choice that is supposedly there. Free choice of hardware to run this OS on.

It is a completely different paradigm between Microsoft and Apple and the making of comparison is nothing short of specious. The arguments just don't stand up to scrutiny which is why there isn't a single legislator in the world willing to take the issue up.

[3GScottishUser]

The reason no legislator won't take Apple on is because they don't have significant market power. The Mac, iPhone, iPod etc have shares but nothing like the penetration that MS have with Windows. Macs don't account for even 10% of the market and the iPhone has less than 25% of the smartphone market let alone the mobile market.

I think it suits Apple to keep prices high delivering high margins with no possibility of market share issues. It's a concept that has won favour in many sectors with BMW for example preferring a large slice of the premium car market and not taking on Toyota or Ford for volume business. Exclusivity often delivers a premium.