Netbook - a small laptop or a big smartphone ?

TechCrunch reckons Netbooks aren't up to the job of being a "real" laptop, for 3 main reasons:

- Too Little Horsepower

- Then There’s The Screen

- The Keyboard

Hmmm....I was around when luggable PC's appeared, and I recall similar criticisms then. Lesson of history is you can never be too light or too mobile, and Moore's Law is remorseless.

Our view is that these devices will more be used as big smartphones in the future anyway - TechCrunch demurs...

There is a big fat hole in the market between mobile devices like the iPhone and regular laptops. But smaller, underpowered laptops aren’t the answer for the mass market. Most of the Netbooks aren’t much cheaper than very low end laptops (and those laptops have normal keyboard and much bigger screens).

....but people will pay a premium for convenience of conveyance.

For what its worth, most of the people I've spoken to who have one say they won't go back to a standard laptop again - and this is just 1st generation! I'd be interested if anyone has views on their use of smartphones vs netbooks.