Still being a netbook enthusiast, I think it’s worth pointing out this little tidbit of news about Asus and its EEE line. Asus will be offering Ubuntu loaded EEE’s in 3 distinct models. I suppose this could mean a few things. For one, Microsoft may be starting to lose some of its clout with manufacturers. For another it could mean that even with whatever subsidies MS is giving Asus, the margins on their products are flagging and Ubuntu offers them a chance to improve the situation. It could also mean that acceptance of Android has diminished the “fear” factor when it comes to Linux. I suppose it could also mean that only hackers are interested in netbooks anymore.
Whatever the reason, I hope the decision meets with some success.
One reply on “Ubuntu to Test Its Fortunes”
Sounds to me like a more plausible, or at least equally plausible, reasoning is that Asus has a huge storage house of Netbooks and they have realized that they are falling by the wayside in the ever growing tablet market. Therefore, if you already have the product built, find more people to sell it to, and Linux is the way to do that by opening more sales avenues. Get rid of the Netbook overstock so that you can put those resources into the next computing wave.
If anything, it could be that Asus misjudged the market, or completely missed the train and now is trying to figure out a way from having the losses pile up. If the top tiers of the op system world aren’t selling your products, move down to the lower tier and dump your trash there!