The original idea was a good one. With internet speeds improving and becoming more abundant, why carry around all of your data and the bulky hard drives necessary to maintain them? Why not store just about everything on the cloud and create machines that could be easily transported everywhere to do nearly everything that can be done by a desktop computer?

That was what propelled Asus and other manufacturers to start the netbook revolution in 2007. Their Eee PC was a landmark development in the world of computing, bringing functionality and form to a compact computer that could fill most of our needs when traveling or just stopping by Starbucks.

Unfortunately, the trendy devices never hit a tipping point as hoped. They were slower than expected and many people felt they needed access to the things that a full laptop could deliver. Laptops got smaller, in many cases nearly as small as a 10″ netbook. Then, the death blow was delivered. The iPad and other tablets emerged onto the market and have never looked back.

As the Guardian points out, the netbook era is officially over with the start of this year.

Sayonara, netbooks. The end of 2012 marks the end of the manufacture of the diddy machines that were – for a time – the Great White Hope of the PC market.

You won’t be missed by many.

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“Asus Eee PC” image courtesy of Danny Sullivan.