Android on a Netbook
Before the end of the year, it'll be possible to download an Android LiveCD ISO for commodity PCs. Soon after that, all netbook vendors will abandon their custom Linux distributions and begin shipping Android instead.
Android is the Linux desktop that the Linux community has been waiting for. It's the chrome around the kernel that makes Linux usable by everyone's kids and everyone's parents. But unlike Apple's OS X (which is also chrome around an open-source kernel), Android will be open source.
Long: cloud computing, Intel, Amazon, Google, and small app development shops.
Neutral: Apple, Adobe, Yahoo.
Short: Microsoft, Symantec, Intuit, Computer Associates. Probably Garmin.
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So are you Long/Neutral/Short on http://www.ubuntu.com/products/mobile ?
Antony,
Real quick since I just lost my long, thoughtful reply to your post:
I'm neutral on MID et al. Will go long if Linux app developers treat the small screen, used by a person with no mouse, as a first-class citizen during their testing. I have used eeebuntu and find it remarkable that the _display settings_ control panel won't even fit on an 800x480 screen. If I have to alt-drag dialogs to see all their content, I'm uninstalling.
I think Android will naturally cause developers to consider the small-screen case, so the netbook case will also be a natural fit.