Netbooks Are Not a Business Solution

So that leaves the netbook squarely between two necessities. An Asus Eee PC isn’t quite as small or handy as a BlackBerry. And an Acer Aspire One isn’t as powerful as an HP laptop. And since the netbook is, by its very nature, a more portable computer, companies are hard-pressed to find reasons to buy it for employees. After all, if they have the small device for mobile business access and the powerful device for real work, how does the netbook fit into that equation? So far, that question hasn’t been answered.

Productivity

Those who support netbooks claim that the technology doesn’t cause users to sacrifice productivity. But given the fact that most netbooks have keyboards that are smaller than standard keyboards, that argument might not hold up. On numerous occasions, I’ve tried to type long documents on a netbook and found that my hands were cramped, I made far too many mistakes and the keyboard was simply too small for what I was trying to do. I never grew accustomed to it.

Realising that, it’s difficult to say that businesses could enjoy the same level of productivity by deploying netbooks instead of laptops. Employees would have trouble typing out documents and they simply wouldn’t be comfortable performing basic tasks. Not to mention the fact that the netbook’s underpowered specs could cause slow app performance, and therefore a slow work rate.

And perhaps that’s the mantra as we consider netbooks for companies. They might be useful to some, but when it comes to business, they’re a real hindrance.