A Look Back At the World's First Netbook 143
Posted
by
Soulskill
from the paperweight-before-its-time dept.
from the paperweight-before-its-time dept.
Not-A-Microsoft-Fan writes with this excerpt from The Coffee Desk:
"Netbooks are making huge waves within the hardware and software industries today, but not many would believe that the whole Netbook craze actually started back around 1996 with the Toshiba Libretto 70CT. Termed technically as a subnotebook because of its small dimensions, the computer is the first that fits all of the qualifications of being what we would term a netbook today, due in part to its built-in Infrared and PCMCIA hardware, and its (albeit early) web browsing software. The hardware includes the two (potentially) wireless PCMCIA and infrared network connections, Windows 95 OSR 2 with Internet Explorer 2.0, a whole 16MB of RAM and a 120Mhz Intel Pentium processor (we're flying now!)."
Not the first netbook... (Score:5, Insightful)
... since it was expensive as hell. Small notebooks have existed for a long time. The novelty of the Asus EEEPC was that it was cheap (and flimsy): it demonstrated that there was an untapped market for this kind of computers.
Re:Not the first netbook... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:define define define (Score:5, Insightful)
8) Internal wireless networking.
After all, it is a Netbook. Anything PCMCIA, or dongles hanging out of USB ports, totally kills portability.
Tandy Model 100 (Score:5, Insightful)
The "netbook craze" started with the EEE PC. There was no "craze" before then because small laptops were expensive.
If there was anything like the netbook craze before, it may have been the Tandy Model 100, a small, lightweight, inexpensive computer with built-in modem that's popular even today with writers. In fact, I think a netbook in that form factor (flat, screen and keyboard open, AA battery powered) would still be nice.
http://oldcomputers.net/trs100.html [oldcomputers.net]
Re:Tandy Model 100 (Score:3, Insightful)
In fact, I think a netbook in that form factor (flat, screen and keyboard open, AA battery powered) would still be nice.
I agree, but I think there will be more people complaining then not. For example while I prefer things to be powered with batteries that aren't rechargeable (because when I'm traveling, its trivial to buy a pack of AA batteries, while hard to be near a power source for any extended length of time that is the correct voltage) but a lot of people will look at that as a flaw. There isn't going to be a way to make the screen really... work, unless you have it be more like E-ink, glare is just too much of an issue, just look at the Nintendo Game Boy. Then there is the keyboard issue. Its going to be hard to make a lasting keyboard that is A) Cheap B) Doesn't get junk in between the keys and C) Has room for a trackpad. I can see this being a great product, but I can't see it being popular with the masses like the Tandy 100 was.
Yes, there was a craze... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Not the first netbook... (Score:5, Insightful)
Aah the old media statistics game. It goes a little something like this:
1. Decide what conclusion you want to arrive at.
2. Find a few random facts.
3. Redefine your assumptions so the facts suit your previously decided upon conclusion.
Given a population willing to swallow this BS, why should the modern media concern itself with trivialities like truth and objectivity?
Re:Tandy Model 100 (Score:3, Insightful)
Prior to this we have other small computers, not all cheap. The newton had a PCMCIA slot that could connect it to a network, allowing it to do everything that an average computer user might do. In the previous time frame, Tandy owned the market, with the model 100 and 200. Since the internet did not exist yet in the current form, there was little need for networking on these machines. They provided full functionality for the average user. Even the Tandy pc-6 was a contender in this catagory.
Started? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:HELLO EVERYBODY (Score:0, Insightful)
Cagati addosso, stronzetto.
Re:Nothing is Ahead of its Time (Score:4, Insightful)
Sounds like he's being a bit pedantic on whether the "product" was ahead of its time or the "idea" was ahead of its time.
As for not being able to take something like a netbook back in time, nonsense. Take one of our netbooks back to 1996 and tell someone who just bought a subnotebook that they can have this little computer with better specs for a tenth the price (a fifth the price of ANY computer) and it's going to be a big hit. The problem was, we couldn't build something like that, at that price, back then.
Re:Tandy Model 100 (Score:3, Insightful)
If there was anything like the netbook craze before, it may have been the Tandy Model 100, a small, lightweight, inexpensive computer with built-in modem that's popular even today with writers. In fact, I think a netbook in that form factor (flat, screen and keyboard open, AA battery powered) would still be nice.
I reckon I could build one of those around an atmel microcontroller. LCD display modules are very cheap now. The keyboard could probably be hacked up pretty easily.