Filed under: Editorial Opinion, New Technology | Tags: Asus, Asustek, Eee PC
Soon the world’s emerging markets will start to be flooded with cheap, yet fairly rugged laptop computers.
This, along with other market dynamics will have lasting effects on mobile and wireless computing.
Asustek, previously a major “build only” company based in Asia is now making a pitch to become more than just a manufacturer for well-known brand name consumer electronics. Asustek has finally announced delivery of their own brand into the marketplace with the Asus Eee PC Laptop. These computers are part of the education fray for third worlders, and soon will be joined by competition from China giant Leveno.
Other influences include the upcoming auction of the 7o0 MHz sprectrum, faster and cheaper flash SSDs hitting the market, and a bid from Google to participate in the cellular pie-chart. A lot of things to consider that could shake things up nicely next year for anyone in the laptop sector, not to mention how all this will effect the rugged notebooks niche.
As we keep predicting, while these various devices morph to become smaller, cheaper, and more mobile…they will all have to become more rugged.
Keep watching and keep reading here, because it is happening right now everyday before our eyes. The question is whether these new computers ever can match the current standards for ruggedized, semi-rugged, and fully rugged computers in the market today.
Maybe at some point portable computing devices will become fairly disposable and easily and often replaced. As I recall, the first brick sized Texas Instruments hand-held calculators initially cost at least several hundred dollars. What are your thoughts?
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If computers will become more rugged as a general rule, it may be that people will not spend that much money to buy some that are especially rugged, but spend less buying a normal one that is more rugged because the market went to that direction. If you also see the OLPC initiative, yes, it may be that soon the market have more laptops that are cheap and good enough to use them for our day to day needs.
Comment by Rugged laptops October 18, 2007 @ 9:59 am[...] order more and more XO laptops. It is good, but I have started to wonder, after reading a post on RuggedNotebooksBlog.com about market being invaded with cheap rugged laptops in the future, if this is going to happen or [...]
Pingback by First keep the performance, then the price | About rugged laptops,rugged notebooks and other industrial computers October 18, 2007 @ 10:10 amThis could take some time to actually happen. There will always be specialty computers with military standards. Perhaps military standards will get even tougher.
It just means that consumers will have more choices for rugged, and possibly it will be a different standard.
Everything should get cheaper to make, and get smaller. Moore’s Law.
Comment by Blog Administator October 18, 2007 @ 3:21 pm[...] There is much discord in the Third World Laptop Giveaway. The unsettling news from these two low-cost laptop providers was that the short-lived joint venture of Intel and OLPC was always uneasy. Certainly because Intel makes the Classmate PC, and also provides Intel processors to competitive products like the Asus Eee. [...]
Pingback by Intel Calls It Quits on OLPC Project « The Rugged Notebooks Blog™ January 4, 2008 @ 6:05 pm[...] Rugged Notebooks blog has not revisited the little Asus Eee for some time, but if you are following this entry into the subnotebook category, you certainly [...]
Pingback by How to Trick Out an Asus Eee Subnotebook PC « The Rugged Notebooks Blog™ January 26, 2008 @ 4:22 am[...] for sure the availability, and no tech blog has yet been brave enough to guess the price point, but Asus (ASUSTek) looks to be on a roll with yet another winner in the compact B51E rugged laptop. The [...]
Pingback by Asus B51E Goes Rugged « The Rugged Notebooks Blog™ July 6, 2008 @ 11:46 pmIt’s a fantastic toy…
Comment by MassBob July 21, 2008 @ 1:06 pmhttp://www.eeehacks.com