There seems to be quite a bit of confusion regarding just what a “notebook” actually is when talking about the differences between them and laptops in general. Where netbooks were born only a few years ago and have clearly separate design aspects, notebooks and laptops have been around for decades, with so many similarities between them that some have begun to believe that the terms are one in the same. Thanks to this, the two terms are often used as synonyms today, with no regard to their differing historical meanings.
The term “notebook” was first used in 1989 to describe a slightly smaller form of laptop that was, incidentally, the size of a typical A4 paper notebook (the first two being the NEC UltraLite and the Compaq LTE line of notebooks). The notebook was popularized by the IBM ThinkPad in the early 90’s. Laptops before then (and many since) generally have larger dimensions for things like increased screen size or to include additional components within the system.
For a while after this initial introduction, the term “notebook” continued to refer to these smaller laptops, which were really popular among businessmen and students who were on the go a lot thanks to their lighter weight and reduced dimensions, making them much easier to carry around and manage. Thanks to this reduced size, however, there was another thing that notebooks became known for.
Notebooks essentially traded ease of use and comfort for raw processing power, as the smaller portables generally contain weaker, more power efficient chips within their framework. This created a slight segmentation of the market, as notebooks made good companions but poor replacements for desktops, whereas the more powerful laptops can equal all but the most powerful desktops on the market. This remains somewhat true even today, years after notebooks have lost their original A4 size in favor of physical sizes that make them more or less indistinguishable to the more general laptops.
This does mean that notebooks are by and large “in the middle” of the scale, with laptops on one end and the new and very affordable netbooks on the other. Netbooks have become the lowest denominator in all respects, making them increasingly popular with the frugal crowd, which has been the notebook’s primary market for decades. Netbooks, however, are a bit more limited as to what they can actually do, whereas notebooks can perform almost any task a laptop and desktop can.
With notebooks and laptops becoming more similar and converging on the same territory, it is possible that within a few years there will not be any difference between them at all, and that netbooks will come to be the new notebooks of the 21st century.
On a final note, it should be mentioned that there remains one distinct difference between the two that has actually increased within the last couple of years. This difference is that an increasing percentage of notebooks now come with a touchscreen for hand writing notes and messages. While there are a few laptops out there that also have this technology on their screens, this has, for the moment, remained a notebook advantage, and one that can be immensely useful.
Matthew Kerridge is an expert in electronic products. If you want more information regarding notebooks or are searching for notebooks please visit http://www.ebuyer.com
