The Netbook question – what could be done (IMO)

Many folks recently have been talking about netbooks.  A small, portable, internet capable notebook with a 5”-7” screen, running Linux or Vista, or XP.

I’ve got a better idea.  Possibly easier to implement.

Build a small Netbook, say with a 5”- 7” screen.  Don’t make it a touch device, as that just adds to the complexity.  Make it a 3G capable device, with Edge as a fallback for connectivity.

For an OS, use the Blackberry operating system.  Have a memory slot for use by the Netbook, say 8-16gig.

Enable bluetooth.  Enable the Netbook to be used as a phone.

The GMail client for the Blackberry rocks.  The Gmaps client for the Blackberry is stellar as well.

The only piece of this puzzle that needs GREAT improvement is the browser.

The web browser with my Blackberry Pearl, to put it nicely, sucks eggs.  It’s horrible.  Especially because the Javascript support is non existant or will just plain take the browser/phone down and not work at all.

So, if someone could write a decent browser that was able to utilize Javascript efficiently, in a small 5”-7” screened device, you could use it both as a Netbook and as a phone.

Most of my phone usage (95%-98% actually) is via my bluetooth headset.  So the Netbook wouldn’t even have to leave the desktop. When I’m not using the phone portion (or even if I was, in the case of 3G connectivity), I could be reading/responding to email via GMail. Or browsing the web. I could be use NewgatorGo to read RSS feeds.

Sound plausible?

 

The phone company would be happy, as they would still have a revenue stream from the bandwidth plans and the cellular plans.

RIM, are you listening?  What say you, advocate of the Netbook Kevin Tofel?

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