I was more than a tad surprised to see Toshiba bringing back the smart-book at its recent press conference with the Toshiba AC100. With previous power sipping liliputers failing to capture hearts and minds, and the iPad conjuring up a market for tablets overnight, I’d started to think gadget giants had given up on the category before it ever really existed.
From my brief play with the skinny AC100, it’s clear it has serious potential, but the category as a whole still needs a different approach if it’s to truly compete against the iPad – or at least find a place in the market alongside it. Here’s my wishlist for my dream machine.
I generally try to avoid Windows netbooks like swine flu – while their battery life has vastly improved over the years, their performance hasn’t kept pace. Getting any work done on one is still a frustrating experience, opening more than a few tabs cause a British rockstar matching meltdown, and streaming video is a struggle, to put it politely – and that’s because both Windows and Intel’s power hungry silicon just aren’t suited for the size.
Smart-books however, ought to be the solution. Using mobile software and ARM chips similar to that in the iPad – which don’t need a fan – they’re capable of being super thin, and running for hours, if not days, on end. And with plenty of apps to go around, they ought to plug most of the gap left by Windows’ absence. It’s just a shame they’re still not quite suited to working on the go – here’s what needs to change to solve that. Do you agree?
1. Stop using smartphone software
A controversial one, but as things stand, they’re smartphone operating systems aren’t quite suited. I’m thinking of Android here mainly, and not just because core Google apps aren’t allowed on tablets and netbooks yet. Have you tried using Android with a cursor? It’s an odd sensation, and understandably so since it’s for touchscreen phones first and foremost. Luckily, Chrome OS and MeeGo should both solve this one later this year.
2. Integrate instead
While most smartphones have some sort of syncing option with a desktop computer, whether in your home or in a server somewhere in the American mid West, they’re not nearly as advanced as I’d like to see. I don’t want a pure smartphone OS on my (imaginary) smart-book, but I do want tight integration with my phone. I want to see text messages pop up if my phone is in my bag, and have the option to take video calls on a bigger screen and webcam – now there’s a use for FaceTime if ever there was.
3. Change the screen
Here’s one that’s not talked about nearly enough. Netbooks and smart-books are about portability, so it stands to reason you should be able to look at their screens outdoors. Oh, they’re LCD still? Scratch that. Even the iPad’s display causes squinting outdoors. I’m not advocating slow eInk laptops by any means, but I’d like to see big laptop companies making a push for this now, instead of waiting on smaller companies like Mirasol and Pixel Qi to solve it for them. It’s Summer, I want to work in the garden already!
4. Get rid of the trackpad
For creating, rather than consuming, we’ll still need physical keyboards for a long time to come, I don’t think that’s in doubt – but their trackpad cousins need to go. Pads clearly still have their place on desktop replacement laptops, but they serve little to no purpose on tiny smart-books. You’re not going to carry a separate mouse around, but guiding a cursor around a pad the size of a postage stamp drives me mad faster than you can say “RSI”. We’ve seen a couple of companies make moves to switch the trackpad out for a touchscreen (Asus and Acer) but I’d love to see them pick up the pace.
Did I miss anything? What do you think is holding back a smart-book revolution? Does there even deserve to be one? Jot your thoughts down in the comments below.
