Netbooks Ready to Take Over

There have been quite a few developments in the world of Netbooks. If you haven't been able to keep up with the ever-morphing world of small, affordable, low-powered, laptop computers, you're not alone. Just three short years ago Nicholas Negroponte launched the . Now, the term "netbook" entered the mainstream vernacular of the tech world. Even this post is being written on a netbook.

Since last fall, when OLPC sold an effective handful of their XO-1 laptops to brave individuals willing to early-adopt the new, tiny tech (buying one for themselves and another for a child in the Third World for $400US+shipping), the Netbook scene has fallen just short of exploding. Even before then, Intel had released the Classmate PC in direct competition with OLPC's diminutive devices. Asus, Acer, Dell and many more companies have jumped onto the bandwagon, conjuring low-end lappies for folks who really just need to be able to surf on-the-go while not having to squint at their display screens.

The aforementioned netbook scene is getting a bit bigger now with a, sort of, bastard cousin, a tiny desktop computer that's been dubbed a "nettop" machine. The Shuttle X27 (pictured above) is just 10 inches by 7 inches by 2.75 inches and sports an awful lot of ports for such a tiny box. 4 USBs, two ps2 ports (remember those?), serial, DVI and a few more ports all do a pretty good job of meeting your compact-computing needs. No word on price yet, but this puppy should be out in September. .

In other netbook news, over at . This version of the Classmate not only does a tablet mode, like OLPC's XO, but also has a touchscreen and a keyboard that is reportedly big enough for adult hands to use. COOL!

Finally, OLPC finally managed to pull off their namesake by getting the tiny . According to , every primary and secondary school student got one. Pretty sweet.

Needless to say, inexpensive, (and mostly) portable computing sure seems to be here to stay.