Netbooks Not a Fad, Panel Says

NEW YORK- Are netbooks a technology that has staying power in the marketplace, even as the economy improves? The answer is yes, according to a panel of top executives who deal with netbooks, which convened as part of the Digital Downtown To Go conference here Tuesday.

Participants in the panel included HP Senior Manager of Product Marketing for Business Notebooks Sarah Bussell; Intel General Manager Nettop and Netbook Computing Noury Al-Khaledy; Samsung Director of Product Marketing and Development Mobile Computing Todd Bouman; Verizon director of data marketing Bruce Simon, and Creative Strategies President Tim Bajarin. Laptop Magazine editor Mark Spoonauer was the moderator.

The panel asked the question: "Netbooks, Fad or Change Agent," and perhaps unsurprisingly, the panelists opted for the latter. Several panelists pointed out that the idea that customers are only buying cheaper netbooks due to the weak economy is something of a myth, mostly because the companies behind the devices have mostly positioned them as "companion" devices.