The original netbooks promised basic computing at a budget price. It was a promise worth making, in the pre-touchscreen-smartphone age, when Internet usage was growing and many couldn’t afford a full-fledged laptop or even had a need for much of its power or features.
Even though netbooks were not recommended as a primary PC, I found myself using the little Intel Atom-powered device to also edit small videos. Not the best device to do that, but it, with some effort, did deliver.
After a few years in the limelight, the netbook quietly faded away, unable to make space for itself in a new era of Internet connected devices. A year ago Asus, the netbook pioneer, announced that it was ending production of the Eee PC series.