Have Netbook Will Travel

Excuse me for saying this, but if you travel and do not have a Netbook, you are a dumb ass. I was a dumb ass and didn't even know it until this week. I am no longer a dumb ass.

As you might surmise, I took the Softless Netbook on the road this week. I went to Mountain View for the 140tc conference (the Twitter Conference). My experience was a positive one, both at 140tc and with the Netbook.

I boarded American Airlines Monday evening, heading to DFW, then on to San Jose. On the DFW leg I sat in 9D, an aisle seat in coach. Since the flight is only 30 minutes in duration, about 55 minutes gate to gate, I didn't even bother to pull the Netbook out. Historiaclly getting the laptop out is such an event, I now know the Netbook is a breeze to get out, boot, use and put away. Hell, 15 minutes is enough time.

On the second leg, I was in 21D, an exit aisle. I feel guilty taking up so much room when I did not really need it. There were plenty of people struggling with their MacBook, Lattitude or ThinkPad while the person in front of them leaned their seat back into the computer user's lap. What a cool feeling. I did not have to worry that the seat in front of me would come back and mash my screen into small pieces.

I listened to my iTunes library while I worked on the Blog for my work site, and a few other work items. The battery lasted the entire trip (2.5 hours). Even betterwas I got the opportunity to show off to the guy sitting next to me, explaining how I was using an offline document from Google Docs. He didn't come out and say it, but I could tell he was impressed.

It would not be fair not to mention the one downside to the trip. While I was at the 140tc, the wireless service there sucked. It was not even slow, it was non-existent. My colleague and I struggled to stay connected. It was worse the second day.

I noticed that a lot of people had 3G broadband cards and they were Tweeting away. I am now the proud user of a T-Mobile USB Modem. It works perfectly. I would recommended one of these to anyone that has or is thinking about buying a Netbook. There are also NetBook models from HP and Dell that have broadband access built in. That is convinent but would also mean you are locked into the carrier. The only option I have seen so far is Verizon.

I also need to have full disclosure here. I carried my laptop with me. I was a little concerned I would need something on it, so I stuck it in my carry on at the last minute. I never opened it. Lesson learned.

When I say, "No", I Don't Really Mean It

I wanted to order the Softless Netbook with Ubuntu, but I missed that Dell offering by a week or two. Because of that, I am using a modified version of Windows XP. That's OK, not great, but workable. Once I find out the UNR will work with the Mini 10 I may switch, but for now I will stick with XP. It will require some adjustment(s).

First I did the Windows Update thing and got all the latest patches.

I turned off most of the enhanced graphics(icon shadows, and window movement enhancements) to help with performance. While I was at it, I also turned off the Windows indexing for search features. I don't plan to store too much on this thing, and I should know where it all is if I need to find it. This kind of stuff is cool on a lap or desktop, but has no place on a Netbook. It would be too much to ask why it was not already stripped out. My guess is that there will be people that will try to use this thing as if it were a laptop, they will be sorely disappointed.

Next I want to replace IE with Firefox. I really want to replace IE with Chrome, but I have found that some web software (ZoHo and others) do not offer full support for Chrome. Firefox is a good second choice. I added a couple of add-ins right off the bat. Speed Dial, Omni Bar and Little Fox should just be part of the basic Firefox install. They are that good!

I also need some security. I'll use the 30 days of free Norton that came with the Netbook until it runs out, then I will replace it with AVG. Not because I have any data that one is better than the other, it's just I have used AVG for years, it has worked, and if I am anything I am loyal, ask my wife and golf partners.

I added GetDropBox, to keep photos and other files available to me. I don't really have an opinion here either. Again, I have used GetDropBox, it works, that's good enough for me to be a loyal supporter. If you have a better experience with another online file storage and syncing vendor then feel free to comment.

I added iTunes. I know it is client software, but I think it is allowed. If not, I am making an exception. After all, one of the big draws of a small computer like this is that I will finally be able to work on the Nerd Bird when I don't get upgraded. And I have realized, if i can turn on the music, tune out the guy snoring next to me, I can get some real work done.

That's already a lot of software. I plan to add more. But does this software count in the "No Software" kingdom? I am going to consider it infrastructure software. Except for iTunes, everything I installed was done to make the computer assessable and secure.

At some point the online file sync software as well as the security software will just be built into the OS. I know, monopolies and free market. As a consumer I wish I didn't have to go through what I just did to use this Netbook. But, I know if I didn't, we would not have the choice.

Maybe the answer is a configurable install for the OS. I go to a site to order my net appliance, and I select what "infrastructure software" I would like and it is configured before it is delivered. I will leave that to someone else to figure out.

Now that I am set up with a basic system I will begin to incorporate it as part of my everyday travels.

Next week, I'll let you know how my first 7 days go.

NetBook Selection

Deciding what NetBook to use for this project was not as easy I originally thought. The issue was not the lack of choices but the plethora of them.

I think I hit the peak of new Netbook offerings from the hardware vendors. It indicates I am not the only person that believes we are close to a NetBook society.

I started my research reading several reviews online of the latest offerings.

The first stop was TestFreaks.com. The Freaks gave the Samsung NC10 the highest rating, citing the keyboard twice because of its size, something that registered with me when I finally went out to look at the little pc's in person. They also pointed out that it came with a 6 cell battery, something that I probably should have paid more attention to than I did in the end.

Time will tell.

Another candidate that caught my eye was the HP 2140. It also offered a 6 cell battery. The keyboard looks a little distorted, the keys are not as tall in relative proportion to their width. But I really like the way the machine looks to the eye, and it got a very good review from one of my friends on Twitter, @budweisner. She is a graphics designer and is very demanding in terms of performance. She is definitely not "softless" but she had some good advice, part of which I followed.

After my online research and discussions with friends and colleagues I went out to look for myself. I grabbed my trust technical friend and consigliery, @CSakon, and headed for our local BestBuy. They had a pretty good selection, the Asus Eee PC, the HP 2140 and they also had a Dell Mini 10 on display.

The reviews were right, one of the big issues is the keyboard and the Dell felt like home to my fingers. Not that some of the other models did not have larger keyboards, the Dell keyboard just fit my specific hands better. I would suggest that if you plan to buy a NetBook, type on it before you do, it could save you waiting on hold for an RMA number if you order it online.

I did choose the Dell Mini 10. I got the Atom 1.3 processor, the 160 GB hard drive, and I was one week to early to get it with Ubuntu. I am starting with Windows XP home, that may change once I insure Ubuntu UNR will suport all the Dell specific hardware.

About the only option I added was the Bluetooth wireless, I want to have the option of not being cabled to the computer if I choose to listening to streaming music or watching online movies.

I am typing this entry on the machine, while logged into Google.com/Docs. So far so good.

Lastly, I am not to nieve to think I will not need to install some somftware, IE an updated browser. By next week I would think I would have settled in on the base.

I'll update you then.

The Beginning - May 9th, 2009

Every story has a beginning. This one starts with an ending. Actually the beginning of an ending. But an ending just the same.

I am referring to the end of software applications as we know them. The end of downloading, installing and configuring software, at least from an end consumer perspective. Gone are the days when software is built in one place, and executed in another. From this day forward it all happens in the "Cloud". In other words, the client server party is over. Put on your coats, you don't have to go home, but you certainly cannot stay here.

If we dare consume the wisdom that Mark Benioff bestowed upon us 10 years ago, and all that has been pontificated since (by Mark and many others), we should be marching along with Netbooks, actively conducting business.

There should not be a debate. All software, at least for the general population, should exist in the Cloud, and we should not have a second thought when we use it and or access it. We should be working without software, without application bits or bytes on our local hard drives, we should be Softless!

But we are not! I want to know why. I want to know just how difficult it is to unplug and work without software installed from a CD, the Internet, or otherwise.

My mission, if I choose to accept it, and I do, is to purchase a capable NetBook (something supposedly built from the ground up for this task) and perform all of my personal (and most of my professional computing) without installing applications. Essentially work from a browser 100% of the time.

This is a large challenge, I am mostly considered a "power user", not a programmer by any stretch, but I spend most of my normal days on a machine loaded with software. I am fairly competent with general software as well as some tech-centric analytic applications. This is not going to be a walk in the park.

I leave a loophole concerning the professional computing. I cannot dictate to our CIO the change required to replace local applications which are essential in my role at my place of employment. But, I will commit for the sake of the exercise, and because corporate policy would not allow otherwise, that I will use my corporate applications not accessiable directly from the web on a corporate machine.

All other computing will be performed via a Netbook (choice to be discussed) or my home desktop on which I have installed a fresh copy of Vista, iTunes and nothing else. At this point I am doubtful about my success.

I will chronicle my experience. Not so much for entertainment, but more as a log, so I can track the success and failure of my efforts. I have little expectation that this will be much more than a weekly BLOG post over the next 6 months or so.

I hope that you and some of your friends check in on me from time to time.