Slashdot ran an interesting article a few days ago about “The First ‘Netbook'”: the Toshiba Libretto 70CT. I actually pined for one of these (or was it the 110CT, the faster one?) for quite some time back when I first learned of mobile Internet. While the battery life was less than stellar on them (at least compared to my Eee), a very small computer (at the time I was using a 10″ or 12″ laptop on the road) capable of running a full OS interested me hugely.
Although I wouldn’t have mobile Internet until 2004, I started researching these things around the time I was to enter college, simply because something that small would allow me to carry it with me significantly easier than something larger. However, an “up to date” version of these was prohibitively expensive as it would have to be imported from Japan, so I stuck with just keeping my old laptop as a complement to my desktop til I ordered the Inspiron 8100 (the monster it is) in early ’02. I kept that machine as my primary machine until late ’04 when I determined I needed something lighter to take to conventions, which I found in an Inspiron 600m. Incidentally, this machine didn’t make it to a convention until a year later.
My attempt at returning to college gave me reason to pick up a newer laptop, so I ordered a Vostro 1400, which has served me well. This weighs about as much as the 600m, but is significantly more powerful. It is my machine if I need power on the road, but again, it is still rather heavy with all the other accessories I tote around with it.
Turns out, what’s old is new again. After three laptops, each reduced in weight from the previous (8100 was 10lb, the 600m about 6lb, and the Vostro about 5lb), I took the plunge to pick up a netbook, finally bringing the “very small computer capable of running a full OS” to me, nearly a decade later. The most amazing thing about a netbook is that it is precisely what the old Librettos were 10 years ago: a sub-sub-notebook designed for very limited operations, though I think the Librettos were designed strickly as a “small computer” instead of “web, email, myspace, facebook, definitely not games” that netbooks are.
I may look for a Libretto 110CT on the used market to run FreeBSD or Linux on for wardriving purposes (PC Card slots rock), but for now, I’ll just stick to my Eee PC as my “daily travel” machine.