Intel commented on its position on netbooks, reacting to a marketplace that has grown beyond the company's expectations. The release of Intel's Atom processor has largely been the driving force behind the recent swarm of ultra-compact "netbook" laptops. Intel said that it had originally expected these devices to see use by children and in emerging worldwide marketplaces, not as the laptop replacement they've become for many. The company has realized, instead, that netbooks are being bought by European and North American consumers for the device's portability.

Despite the popularity of these computers, Intel still sees them as a limited-use design ideal for short bursts of computing on-the-go, unsuitable for sustained usage due to their compact form-factor and small screen size. This general apathy for netbooks is shared by rival chip designer AMD, which cites customer dissatisfaction with the machines as a reason for concentrating its efforts on processors for slim but full-sized laptops instead. While both companies are hung up on screen-size as an issue, this seems immaterial, as the physical size of the machine's display has little to no bearing on how chips are designed for these netbook-class computers. Do you agree with Intel and AMD, that a 10-inch display is simply too small for any extended, serious computing? Have you abandoned a full-size laptop entirely in favor of a netbook? Let us know in the comments below.

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