One problem with getting laptops into the hands of students -- especially younger students -- has been the size and weight of the equipment. After all, there is a certain difficulty associated with giving a child a piece of equipment that is over 10% of their weight and 1/3 their height. But now HP is looking to solve that problem.

One more of the world's biggest technology companies is clamoring to enter the growing market for pint-sized computers targeted mainly for pint-sized customers. Hewlett-Packard Co., the No. 1 seller of personal computers worldwide, said Tuesday it's throwing its weight behind a new class of miniaturized laptops, a fledgling market already populated with products from Intel Corp., the world's largest semiconductor company, and Asustek Computers Inc., the world's largest maker of computer motherboards.

The machines are so new the industry hasn't settled on a name for low-cost and scaled-down laptops used primarily for surfing the Internet and performing other basic functions like word processing.

Intel has labeled them "netbooks," and it expects more than 50 million netbooks to be in circulation by 2011.

HP executives say their new machines, which go on sale later this month, are an important piece of the Palo Alto-based company's effort to build market share in schools, where machines had to be smaller and cheaper without losing too many functions.

This will, of course, lead us back to the push for using computers instead of textbooks -- a development I would support. After all, the ability to upload and download various assignments, along with the ability to update texts with new information, would be great for educators and students alike. If we can only get past the cost issue, I think it is doable. And with students currently being issued as much as $500 worth of textbooks every semester, is the cost of a laptop really any more outrageous?

Posted by: Greg at 10:23 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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