I still remember when the first Windows CE ‘Pegasus’ handhelds arrived, and a number of folks ran out to grab the first Casio, NEC and Compaq devices. And I also remember that very soon afterward forums were buzzing with people who were upset that they couldn’t load Windows programs or fully utilize their Microsoft Office files because of the stripped down versions of the Office Apps on the Windows CE devices. Apparently history is repeating itself to an extent as more and more people buy the devices popularly known as ‘netbooks’.

According to a recent survey buy the NPD, “60 percent of consumers who purchased a netbook instead of a notebook thought their netbooks would have the same functionality as notebooks.”

From the report’s press release:

That confusion about functionality is leading to some dissatisfaction. Only 58 percent of consumers who bought a netbook instead of a notebook said they were very satisfied with their purchase, compared to 70 percent of consumers who planned on buying a netbook from the start.

Satisfaction was even harder to ascertain among 18- to 24-year-olds, one of the main demographics manufacturers were hoping to win over with the new products. Among that age group, 65 percent said they bought their netbooks expecting better performance, and only 27 percent said their netbooks performed better than expected.

My question – are we really surprised? It is one thing to be very tech-centric as many who would have an innate interest in a site like Gear Diary in the first place – that tends to come with an innate curiosity that would make you seek out specs and functionality and build a set of appropriate expectations.

But when you look at the consumer market, it was only a few years ago that folks would line up hours in advance on a cold November morning for their one shot at getting a $399 laptop in a Black Friday sale, yet now there are fairly competent laptops at that same price point released every day.

Something else interesting is the intended use – according to this chart from the reportnearly 60% of buyers have portability as their key motivator, compared with 41% who cite price.

Yet the report goes on to say that in spite of this, abut 60% of people will only use the netbook at home. I think it is here that things break down.

People are getting used to more and more ‘rich media’ content in their day to day computer usage. They expect to watch movie trailers, clips of their friends’ kids, new reports, and so on, all while also chatting in Facebook and Twitter and updating their resume and emails in Microsoft Word and Outlook. Perhaps they were even expecting to load up the new Sims 3 game so they could sit in bed and play at night.

Some retailers have already started trying to differentiate in how they market and position the netbooks compared to traditional laptops. As tech junkies we know through years of experience that every advantage comes with a disadvantage that we need to weigh. For netbooks you get amazing portability at the expense of full-functionality.

Certainly the functionality of netbooks is rapidly advancing, but so is the capability of other computing devices. The problem is more one of positioning and educating consumers to know they are getting a product that is focused on delivering a more portable experience at the cost of lower performance and reduced capabilities. Until manufacturers and marketers succeed at this, the ‘netbook dissatisfaction’ reports will continue.

Source: Business Week