Father of the UMPC Otto Berkes- the Asus EEE PC hits the sweet spot
Otto Berkes is one of the true visionaries at Microsoft as witnessed by his UMPC/ Origami project. He’s the brain that pictured what an ultra-portable computer needed to be to fill the needs of consumers. He’s taken a look at the Asus EEE PC and his take on the ultra-portable notebook is spot on.
The Eee adheres to some of the core tenets of the ultra-mobile PC – a low-cost, highly mobile, full-fidelity companion computer. In fact, the Eee PC hits one of the key UMPC targets dead on; there’s one place where all of the other UMPC products missed – price. People expect mobile devices to be affordable! Asus’s R2H UMPC launched at a price point two to three times higher than the Eee, but the basic technology backbone was similar, with a 7” display, low-end Intel CPU/chipset, standard PC I/O and hardware compatibility. Sure, the R2H also has a hard drive, GPS, Bluetooth, a fingerprint reader and runs real Windows but the additional features don’t justify significantly higher cost. A $1000 companion device will have few takers regardless of functionality.
Good product design is ultimately as much about what to leave out as what to include. And with the Eee PC, Asus got a number of things right that they got wrong with their R2H. It’s small enough to toss in a backpack or bag, light enough to carry all day, inexpensive enough to afford as a secondary computer.
Otto (and Asus) gets it.
(via GottaBeMobile)
Agree 100% with Mr. Berkes.
I thought eventually Nokia was going to own the market as the internet tablet keeps upgrading but Asus hit a home run with the EEEPC.
Everun is very close to hitting the price point but is not there yet.
Hey, don’t forget the CloudBook! It has a 30GB HD, which makes UMPC prices look even sillier.
I agree that Asus has done a good job focusing on core functionality to develop a more affordable product. As a business user, though, I’ll glady pay more for better functionality, reliability and speed. I believe there is an untapped opportunity for a sub-$1200, 7″-10″ ultra-portable PC targeted at professionals.
Very good point of view.
He is right : the Eee is a fantastic computer for the price, and it is for me a very good third computer, after my main one and the TC1100 Tablet PC.
I had never bought an UMPC for their price, but I did not hesitate for the Eee !
My two cents from France…
heh, i guess he should look a bit closer to home.
checked some prices and the oqo model 2 have a definite price jump with xp tablet installed vs xp pro.
and when you go vista you have some very “silly” hardware minimums, making the cheap device almost impossible imo.
all in all, dont shoot the hardware people, if the software force them to use higher spec and therefor higher cost parts…