laptop

How popular have netbooks become? Nokia, a company that makes plenty of money with smartphones is looking into making a netbook (GigaOm, Reuters). Of course, many have noted that Nokia's market share dwindles against smartphones from people like Blackberry and Apple, so they may be looking for a new product line. But does this make sense?

We cheered netbooks when they appeared two years ago, and many vendors jumped into that market. But is Two Years On, Netbooks on Verge of a Big Shake-Up really true? I'm afraid it may be, and we can only blame the vendors themselves for poorly managing their newly created market segment.

PC Magazine reprinted an article from last October in a newsletter the other day. The article, 10 Laptop Security Products, focuses strictly on physical security. Part of the reason for the focus may be their mis-quoting of a Ponemon Institute study with the headline Laptop Losses Total 12,000 Per Week at US Airports that made news last fall. PC Magazine's story said that 12,000 were stolen, but that's not true. About 10,200 are just left behind at the X-Ray checkpoints. Many of us are so worried about our shoes we leave our laptops behind. Two in three forgotten or stolen laptops from US airports are never recovered.

I'm speaking both Wednesday and Thursday at the ITEC show in Atlanta. If you're in the Atlanta area, please come say hello.