8.9" netbooks go the way of the dodo

Le sigh:

Asustek Computer will completely phase out its 8.9-inch Eee PC netbooks in 2009 since 10-inch models are becoming the mainstream specification in the market, according to Benson Lin, president of Asustek's Asia-Pacific division.

Of Asustek's 2009 Eee PC shipments, 10-inch models will account for 95%, while the other 5% will be 7-inch models for telecom service operators, Lin said.

Looks like the 901 I have will probably be the last of its kind. Shed a tear, lay a rose and ponder the meaning of the life, death and the universe.

I put a lot of effort and research in choosing the Eee 901, one of the fateful 8.9 inch netbooks.

The 7 inch Eees were fine for their size, but the low processing power put me off a fair bit. However, the real deal-breaker was the disk space: I couldn't survive on anything less than 10 GB. For the retro gaming, programming (and compiling), web browsing and the dozens of customisations I use, those 7 inchers were too short on space and oomph.

The 10 inch Eees were another story. I came very close to purchasing one of these, due to the slow shipment of Eees to Australia. It had the oomph. It had 40-80 GB worth of disk space, depending on the model. It was almost perfect. Almost. But there was one thing and one thing alone that put me off.

Size.

I took the trouble of looking up the specs of the 701, 900/901 and 1000/H Eees. I drew their footprint dimensions on paper to compare sizes. I looked at and handled the machines myself. But part of the excitement of getting an Eee was having a really tiny computer that I could still use for things, and to me, 10" != tiny.

The Eee 901 was love at first sight. A form factor small enough to feel "tiny", and a processor that could pull its weight and conserve power. It was perfect.

I did compromise in one area: I got the 12 GB Windows model instead of a 20 GB Linux model. I wanted to use it for university study, and the semester had already started. Coupled with me waiting anxiously for the things to arrive on these southern shores at all, and I went and did the early adopter thing. The Windows one was there. The Linux model was not. If the Linux one had been there, I'd have purchased it, no questions.

I'm saddened by the news, because I feel I might want to buy the Linux one proper, if only for the bigger disk space and asserting that I didn't choose Windows to the computing industry.

Meanwhile, I'll take good care of my 901: the little Eee that could. It has an extra slot for 1 GB more RAM. It's also one of the rare models with a ZIF slot, so I can mod it with a larger drive fairly easily.

My netbook feels a little lonelier in the universe.