IT Professionals

Apple Has A Message For Netbook Owners: Your Hardware Sucks

Posted by on Apr 22, 2009 | 13 Comments

Honestly I find this article to be yet another reminder as to why I have such a difficult time taking Apple seriously. While I applaud Apple’s achievements, am enjoying its iPhone, and understand the need to stick to a single hardware profile (high-end), the company is losing out on BIG money here. And honestly, this is fine with me as it is my wife who drinks its Kool-Aid — not I.

Unfortunately, however, Tim Cook has taken an understandable position in the marketplace only to then lose credibility by launching himself into orbit with nonsense. His points are clearly generalized based on what appears to be limited exposure to the Netbook market, he makes widespread statements without realizing that many Netbook users are quite happy with what the Netbook is designed to do in the first place: surf the ‘Net.

Personally, I find Mr. Cook’s comments to be offensive and amazingly ignorant. I am THRILLED that Apple is not entering the market as clearly, they are so far up their own backsides that it would take a deep space probe just to make initial contact with any potential Netbook customers.

Apple, thanks for the great products, but my goodness your leadership needs a swift kick of empathy for the millions out there who are not in a position to purchase your great products. As for Mr. Cook, I would prescribe a trip outside of Apple’s crystal palace to take a look at how the rest of us are living.

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  • Thomas Davey

    me, currently posting from an Asus EeePC 901, am happy with the fact that mac cant make a netbook. because they know that if they did, it would go to show how resource hogging their operating system is, and then steals their crown of being the “Argument King” against how resource hungry and inefficient windows is,

  • http://blun.com.ar Blunk

    He also said that if you want a netbook why not an iPhone or iPod Touch… is just the same, it lets you surf the web right??

  • MrDragon

    My wife owns an iPod Touch Gen2 and while it is a very impressive hand-held, it is not even close to what I would consider a PC. I also do not own a netbook, but I do own 2 Fujitsu LifeBooks and after much research into netbooks I can tell you that they do qualify as a PC in my book for the following reasons. With a netbook I could easily and quickly create a document of ANY format and PRINT it. My wife can’t print anything she creates with her Touch without sending it to her laptop first. I could also have a video conference with my daughters while on the road. The Touch doesn’t even have a microphone. Personally, I think this is the single biggest blunder for this device. Furthermore, while the Touch’s keyboard is good, I can still out type my daughters on any netbook by a factor of 3 or 4 times and I am not a speedy typist. From the looks of it I can also play ALL multimedia formats on a netbook, but only the most popular on the Touch. Finally, let’s not forget that I can replace the battery in a netbook myself, whereas the Touch and iPhone should most certainly be done by a professional service center. IT IS A BATTERY Apple, come-on! These are just a few examples of why I wouldn’t call the Touch, or iPhone for that matter, a PC, but I would call a netbook a PC. Call me crazy, but there is certainly a need for the netbooks, and Cook shouldn’t have tried to dismiss them just because they have the kewl iPhone/Touch hand-helds.

  • Scott Salbo

    If there is such huge profits in the netbook market, then why are all the windows pc makers struggling financially. It’s not just the recession, because apple is in the same economy and posting record profits this past quarter (and most previous quarters as well)?

    Apple is clearly not interested in sacrificing profitability for sensless market share, considering that the iPhone and iPod touch can do most of what a netbook can do, and a portable gaming system can do (and with apps, soon much more).

  • http://apple.com Thomas Gilling

    No I believe Apple. Netbook owners your Hardware does suck. If you only want to browse the web and surf the net. Why do you need a computer?

  • Scott Salbo

    here’s another point. How come you don’t attack Falcon-Northwest, Maingear, or Alienware for not making netbooks? All of them; like Apple; are high end boutique builders. Apple merely goes the extra step of actually innovating technology and influencing the entire of market with both it’s hardware innovations and choices, and with it’s software.

    A Macs focus isn’t gaming like those other outfits, but my MacBook Pro 17″ (and I saved 4 months for it) will perform just as well as Alienware with the same spec. Cheaper, too.

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  • Jeff

    Nobody ever said you had to buy Apple. If their stance is to not create a netbook, than GO ELSEWHERE. What next – complain that your refrigerator is not made by Apple? If you go to a store and they do not carry a product you want, you don’t whine & complain – you go to another store. How is this any different?

  • http://geeks.pirillo.com/profiles/blog/list?user=1c5avucx8bks4 James Hill

    You need a netbook for portability and on-the-go access. The hardware in my opinion does not suck, in fact I think it is far from it.

    I received mine today and it has exceeded my expectations by far.

    Also netbooks are not purely designed for the web these days. The Eee PC 701 was but not the new models. They are designed for watching movies, typing documents, blogging and giving you a much more pleasurable and portable experience.

    Great post Matt.

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  • Justin

    That’s funny, I didn’t know that the iPhone and iPod Touch offered flash support like my netbook, oh wait, it doesn’t? Seems kinda funny to down a device that supports the MOST popularly used net protocol next to Java. Hum, even Windows mobile based smartphones support flash through plug-ins. I guess Mac should change its moto from “It just works” to “It just works with whatever we feel like making it work with”.

  • Psuper

    apple just positioned itself as the NET BOOK’s (whichever lucky company is producing them) biggest free advertisement agent one could dream of. it’s nice to see the that apple not only has time to line it’s pockets peddling overpriced technology but can come through and help their competitors share the wealth who are supplying users with computers they want and can afford.

  • Nat

    From the article:

    “When I look at netbooks, I see cramped keyboards, terrible software, junky hardware, very small screens.”

    Cramped keyboards – check. Terrible software – sometimes. Junky hardware – depends on how you expect to use it. Very small screens – for the most part.

    Nice piece of linkbait here Matt, but I don’t really think this is that big a deal. If Apple doesn’t think the typical netbook is a good fit for their market, that’s their prerogative.

    And given that Apple works on considerably higher margins than most other PC manufacturers, they may not be missing out on BIG money anyway. To make something that they (and by extension their target market) would be happy with would probably cost a lot more than the typical netbook right now. They would either have to cut their margins a lot thinner than usual (unlikely) or sell it at a higher price than most netbooks, which might not attract as many buyers as the typical cheap “throwaway” Windows netbook.

    Where did that quote in your piece that starts with “Personally, I find Mr. Cook’s comments to be offensive and amazingly ignorant” come from? I don’t see it in the original article but you’ve got it blockquoted as if it was there.

    If that’s your opinion, I’d say you’re taking this a little too personally. Why would his comments offend you? If you don’t agree, you can just buy whatever netbook you like.

    I really don’t get why people on either side of this Mac vs Windows debate get so “offended” when the other side makes a statement they disagree with. If you think the other side is so wrong, don’t buy their stuff.