The New New Beetle? (Eee PC)

This entry was composed, edited (probably poorly), published and viewed entirely on my Eee PC. That's not that remarkable if you compare an Eee PC to an ordinary laptop, but it is somewhat interesting if you compare it to a hand-held or pocket computer. Tiny computer bloggers always seem to be making a big deal out of using pocket devices to post weblog entries. I understand this to some extent, as when I live on the technical edge I want to believe that I'm blazing a new path that others might want to follow. But none of this applies to the Eee PC -- it's just a small, workable, no frills laptop computer. Blogging on it is no big deal.

Though it may not be perfect, the Eee PC succeeds because it strips computing to its bare essence. It is just enough computer to type comfortably and see the results on a screen. It can browse the web and handle email competently, if not luxuriously. It can play music and movies and reasonably handle all of the usual mundane personal computing tasks. It's cheap and easy to hack on -- both from a software and hardware perspective. Asus even seems to be encouraging this.

The Eee PC reminds me of the old VW Beetle: cute, fits the task with minimal fuss and no flair, inexpensive, hackable, durable. Using the Eee PC for basic computing tasks (like blogging) is no more surprising that using a VW Beetle for a trip to the grocery store.