As I type this on my Eee PC, I really think it’s time to say,  Netbook, Netbook, Netbook, cause that name for the little laptops we’ve come to love, is not ours to use. Well that’s not exactly correct, we are not allowed to profit from the use of the term. This is probably one of the  most bizarre turns of events in internet glossary editing I’ve ever come across.  The range of little notebook/laptop devices that have come under the “netbook” label recently is enormous.  Many hardware developers, from Asus to Dell to Acer to MSI, Lenovo, to name a very small few, have picked up the form factor that we’ve been calling “netbook” for quite a while now.

Apparently though, long time hand held device manufacturer Psion, actually coined the phrase/name, a long time ago, and are taking umbrage at the use of the term, a little late. I mean, that netbook was not made famous by Psion, I actually believe that the advent of full featured itty bitty laptop devices, focused on the main functions utilised by everyday PC users, brought the name to a globally recognised term.  Before that. I hadn’t heard of a netbook. Had you? The legal ramifications of something like this are, well, Psion are telling people to “Cease and Desist” but it’s evolved since then, and it seems you are not allowed to gain profit from using the term netbook.

When you said in your 23 December blog that I’d written to ‘some netbook enthusiast sites’ asking them to cease and desist using the ‘Netbook’ registered trade mark, many readers assumed that these letters had gone to people simply commenting on the tech scene.  One of your early posters, called Andy, even said:  “Why go after a bunch of bloggers? It’s not like they’re profiteering off the name.”

What is actually happening here? Do I own a netbook, a small PC, a laptop, I’m a little bit unsure right now. One thing I do know, it’s a fully fledged computer, that lets me post on the site, it beats my old PC for performance, and Psion can keep their netbook. What defines the thing we can’t talk about. hit the link below for a best buy look at itty bitty computers! 

Hit this link for a review of the actual netbook

Best Buy on NetBooks, oops, itty bitty computers