The History of Netbooks

The invention of netbooks is relatively new, however it started with an idea in 2005, when Mary Lou Epson decided to create an inexpensive laptop for underprivileged children that would include a keyboard, a screen with color and WiFi. She was determined to create a computer that would cost those low income families approximately $100. In her resourcefulness, she chose to go with cheaper parts that would use less energy and cost much less than normal laptops. Once she came up with a useable design she set out to create this inexpensive computer.

The program she was making the computer for called "One Laptop Per Child" took the design one step farther by hiring a company from Taiwan called Quanta, who finished the design and cured the engineering problems in Epson's original design. In 2007 they had a mini computer they could use. Another company called Asustek came along and designed an even cheaper model that was mainly for surfing the Internet and checking on your email. Their intended market of poor underprivileged children and the elderly were not the people who actually purchased this product. Instead the netbook was bought by the middle class, which made it an instant success. Because of this, many other companies wanting to keep up with the new trend, designed and marketed their own netbook that was super convenient and cost much less than the laptop computer.