Intel officially called the smaller subnotebooks netbooks. Matthew Dillon posted an excellent overview of the different models he would classify as netbooks.

Personally, all the different nomenclature is way too confusing. For example, Microsoft announced ULPC and Intel announced netbook. Some reviewers are just as confused. Consider the following terms used to describe the MSI Wind: mini-notebook. minilaptop, and one reviewer put UMPC in the headline. As consumers, do we just choose a term we prefer? In which case, I prefer Mobile PC. Put all of the products into the Mobile PC category and life is simple.

I like simple. OK. No one is going to listen to me because years ago I stated UMPC was the opportunity for large commpanies such as Microsoft, Intel, and VIA to allow consumers choices about their OS (e.g. Linux, XP, Vista, Mac OS, etc). The UMPCs started to take a bad turn and clearly Intel and MS were not getting along. My take was that Intel simply delayed processor shipments and saw the UMPC as a way to clear older inventories. They burned the consumer by shipping slow processors for the UMPCs. In fact, they down right killed the UMPC by putting up a weak site under the most powerful domain name, UMPC.com. Oh well. I should quit the bitching but I merged the UMPCBuzz to this site because I didn't see the industry keeping the UMPC name around much longer.  

Let's re-consider the craze of the netbooks, or whatever you want to call them. I'm not convincved that having a small PC is what I want when no inking is involved. This is just the wrong direction. Manufacturers need to come out with something that increases consumer productivity and not just squeeze down a notebook. Just think of the weight that would be saved if the keyboards were ripped off and a touchscreen was put into the system. Sigh.

I asked yesterday on twitter, am I the only one in a tech funk? I dislike the direction the ULPC or netbooks is taking. Head to the future and not back to the crap. This is why the iPhone took off - it was different. It was unique. It was cool. Where is the cool in a netbook? Yuck.

Loren is at it again. He and Bob started yesterday afternoon and the work is paying off. Yesterday, Loren described adding images to twitter. Today, he is working on ink.

* Display thumbnails of flickr referenced photos where feasible
* Resolve tinyurls and the like so I can see what the links are actually pointing to
* Display thumbnails or web pages that are linked to where feasible
* Support ink drawings in the client which are then posted to flickr (or similar)

Sadly, the client he is using doesn't install for me. Sniff. But I am seeing his work come through on FriendFeed (by and far the best way to follow conversations!)

Everex is in the news again today, announcing a 10.2-inch netbook to ship in November, December, January, or sometime in the future. The real trick is who will sell the product. The Cloudbook had quite a rough start and hopefully the newer products will do better. In fact, a new model of the 8.9-inch, FIC made Cloudbook is expected in August or September.

Choices remain an important feature of the netbooks. Consumers may purchase Linux-based or Windows-based systems; the Intel Atom or competing VIA chip; or a 4-cell or 6-cell battery. I'm not sure if all of the choices causes consumer confusion or more sales opportunities by attempting to provide a product for more people.

And the first unboxing ceremony goes to Stuff.TV. The lucky folks took just a few pictures and wrote only four paragraphs; however, they make an interesting statement: "The keyboard seems to be an improvement on the EeePC, and the specs are very similar."

I wish that these manufacturers would rip out the keyboard and go with Ink. Sigh.

While reading Benjiej's A Filipino Eee PC/Ultra Low-cost PC Blog, there is a post linking to PC Corner's announcement of the MSI Wind arrival. Not everything is perfect on the announcement page. For example, I doubt the statement "certified EEE killer" applies - because - who would certify that?  LOL. Anyway, the arrival is nice to know and hopefully the product is well worth the anticipation by many consumers.

There are two reasons for me to smile this morning. First, I was cleaning up the Apple forum from a mess I made in importing Thredr.com links and two new "members" caught my attention. Both were spammers and their 5-6 threads were deleted immediately. Poof - Banned. I smiled. Second, while looking at the ULPC forum, I found a site copying my RSS feeds into their blog. While some people may be offended, I'm quite pleased that my material is used by others. Thank you. Attribution is not even required because I'm in a good mood. I reserve the right to laugh, though.

Actually, I used to be curious about scrappers but stopped when AP made a fuss about bloggers linking to their stories. Maybe it took such a harsh perspective by someone else for me to re-orient my own thoughts. Since I have nothing unique to say and because other bloggers say write things better - who cares if my material is scrapped? Does it harm any one? No.

So - to all the scrappers out there - go ahead. I'd be honored. Take my blog posts. Please.

ASUS is ready to launch new models of the Eee PCs; models are the 904 and 905. According to DigiTimes, "The Eee PC 904 and 905 will adopt Atom processors and the major difference between the two and the previous 901 model is that they feature a bigger keyboard. Asustek is still evaluating whether to make changes to the two models' battery and storage capacity."

The new models may lower the prices for the 900 and 901 so that inventory is cleared.

Three picture posted by Jav in the Insanely Mac forums shows the MSI Wind U100 running the Mac OS. Very cool.

Teenagers will soon have a dedicated outlet for their technology enthusiasm, Teens in Tech. An interview video on GigaOm provides the future plans. Even Robert Scoble managed to get involved in this project and the success will be predictable - an excellent place to foster future leaders and technology enthusiasts. I love it and wish the project success. I'll be watching the official blog!

According to the blog:

Lora says "July my 8th" and refuses to share her birthday with anyone else. Will she share the day with ASUS? According to Liliputing, the UK will see the Asus Eee  901 and 1000 on July 1 st  and the U.S. release will be July 8. In comparison, the MSI Wind release is pushed back to July 7.