Could Server Netbooks Reshape the Market?

"Thanks to web applications, faster networks and technologies such as VNC, GoToMyPC, LogMein and RDC, many applications that need more computer horsepower can be run remotely.

"With such a limited range of needs and applications to cater to, a full blown installation of Windows isn't necessary either: Many netbooks are shipped with simple versions of Linux that make it easy to carry out the limited tasks netbook users expect of their machines.

"So netbooks have gone against the trend of providing more power at a fixed price to providing a fixed amount of power at a lower price. A netbook like the Acer Aspire One, with an Atom processor, 512Mb RAM and an 8GB solid state storage drive offers the power of a state of the art laptop of a few years ago with a price tag of just $319. There's a sort of inverse Moore's Law going on here: a state of the art laptop of today like the 17" Apple MacBook Pro with a Core Duo processor, 4GB RAM and 320Gb hard drive costs $2,799. Something with a similar spec could be the netbook of 2011, at a tenth of the price."

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