The trusty PC has revolutionised the way we live our every day lives. For those old enough to remember the early home computers made by the likes of Amstrad and Commodore, it’s easy to see how far the humble home PC has come in the past few decades.
Indeed, it’s perhaps a little too easy to look back at these inferior machines and laugh at their bulkiness, lack of power and non-user friendly interfaces.
However, these early pioneers were essentially trailblazers that laid the foundation for the infinitely more compact, powerful devices that are so widespread today.
The World Wide Web has had a massive part to play in making the home computer relevant to a mass global market. Games enthusiasts, academics and scientists were once the core home PC market, but the internet has managed to bring PCs into countless households, with an estimated 65% of UK homes now wired up to the cyber highway.
As is the case when any technology becomes more sophisticated, the PC has come down in both price and size in recent years. Desktop machines are still in widespread use but have gradually made way for laptops which – in turn – morphed into what are now among the most desired portable, personal computers.
In 2008, netbooks accounted for almost 20% of the total laptop market, with their small dimensions and affordable price-tag grabbing the attention of many demographics. Netbooks are essentially the same as laptops, except their main big advantage is to make personal computers more portable, compact and affordable for everyone.
This is particularly good news for students who often have to move between their parental home, student accommodation, lecture theatres, library…any location that enables them to squeeze in that little bit more studying.
Although netbooks are relatively inexpensive anyway, by shopping around on the internet it’s possible to pick up discount netbooks for even less money than their recommended retail price in the big retailers, which is excellent news for hard-up students on a tight budget.
Netbooks are great for carrying out web-based research and using standard Word-processing applications – essentially anything that doesn’t require a great deal of power. Generally, netbooks have a significantly greater battery life than typical laptops, some of which last up to ten hours on a single charge. This is one more reason why students may find that netbooks are the key to all their computing needs.
Ultimately, the smaller size of netbooks mean that students from all social backgrounds can transport their personal workstation between multiple locations, whilst the smaller price-tag means that they have more money to spend on other important things like books and day-to-day living costs.
