Say It Ain’t So! College Students Choosing Netbooks Over MacBooks: It’s the Economy Stupid

Photo courtesy of Apple via Engadget photo

How can this PC World article title be possibly true?…

Mac or a Netbook? Students Chose the Latter

After all, we’ve all heard about college students clamoring for MacBooks and MacBook Pros. We’ve see various photos like the one above. So, how can it be that college bound students are choosing netbooks? Well, as one of the 1992 Clinton campaign slogans said: “It’s the economy, stupid”.

That may not be the only reason though. I usually tote around a netbook running Windows 7 these days because the small light chassis surrounding the 10-inch LCD is a breeze to carry compared to my 5 pound 13.3-inch MacBook. There is a lot to be said for a moderate powered computer that doesn’t cause back and shoulder injuries. The second, though less likely reason, is that these students do not have to lose access to Mac OS X even though they bought a netbook. A number of these netbooks are easy to turn into Hackintoshes (Mac OS X installed on a netbook against Apple usage policy).

Apple really needs to address the netbook market space soon if they intend to stay in the game. I’m doubtful (but also hopeful) that Apple will announce a netbook-killer product during their September event. But, who knows? I’ll be happy to be proven wrong.

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