eeePC’s competitor gets journalists’ smackdown
“Why are you launching such a stupid product?”
Fortunately (or unfortunately), the question posed by a chinese newspaper editor was only for the ears of media who sat through the whole farce of a press con (complete with launch gambit involving kids from an orphanage) and gathered together right after to bitch about it.
The product in question is a Malaysian-branded smartbook (a kind of net top that Intel is promoting) and also heard was, “Yea lar…why are they doing it for?”
Similar in specs to the popular ASUS eeePC, this particular smartbook is instead narrowing their potential market to students and more especially kindergarten kids. The result is a toy-like 7-inch or 9-inch notebook complete with kid-safe features like rounded corners and not much else.
Not even a single parental control or some sort of guidance software.
Other features include Wi-Fi, 512MB, 40GB HDD or 2GB NAND Flash memory aaaaaand… a Linux OS.
There is option to upgrade to a very trimmed-down Windows XP Starter Edition for RM99 and when asked if the specs could support a full-blown Windows XP OS, the rep claims that it can.
If it really IS able to support at least Windows XP Home Edition, I would consider getting one. But at same time I don’t want people to mistake that I’m using my niece’s or nephew’s toy!
Such a shame.
