Will we build our own Tablet PCs and UMPCs some day?

CNet has an article which seems to just now recognize the fact that the PC hardware market has gone through some massive changes over the last couple years. In the article Trouble on horizon for ‘white box’ PC makers, the author points out how there really aren’t any good ‘build your own’ options for notebook buyers. 100% correct. But it’s not because Intel and others haven’t tried to inspire this market. They have. They’ve tried working with the channel to bring about standard notebook components. But it hasn’t worked. Why? Because I think Intel and others have focused on lagging designs rather than the prosumer market. That’s where the action is.

Case in point: Any whitebook (build your own notebook) has to have good display options. Let me snap in a plain vanilla display or one with a digitizer. There has to be an upgrade path–not just here’s a display to snap in when you first build your unit or when you find a bad pixel or two. Simple swapping isn’t what people want.

Here’s another example: Battery life. Give me options. Some manufacturers do it right with swappable bays. A good whitebook has to be at least that clever.

Also: Thin is in. Give me two or three laptop case designs to pick or upgrade through. One has to be super thin. One has to be super expandable.

Another example: Connectivity. It better come with a new model for paying for WiMAX or EVDO or whatever. I want to build two or three whitebooks or at least migrate through a handful of machines. I don’t want to pay $60/per laptop.

And another lagging indicator: Where are the UMPC or MID whitebooks. Don’t these make a ton of sense? At least the UMPCs are fairly bulky. Don’t tell me the platform couldn’t be more flexible. Want capacitive touch for the display? Swap it out. Want an active digitizer? Or EVDO? Or a Flash drive I can upgrade as the prices drop. With a stock motherboard, can you imagine the variety of case designs people might buy and try? First a swivel case, then a slate design, then a miniature looking notebook.

Isn’t this all obvious? It is. But I think the market convinced itself that the prosumer market wasn’t interested. It is. But the prosumer market is going to go where the value is–and right now that’s Apple and its closed systems.

One more point–about dollars and cents. I think the mainstream notebook makers are ripping the market off right now. For the most part the notebooks are holding margins and I don’t think they want to see whitebooks and the market drop. That’s why it should.

Intel has had it right to try to inspire the whitebook market. Where they went wrong is trying to build boring designs. That’s where the low end of the market is. And that’s where it’s all about price. I’m hoping as Apple kicks everyone’s butt over the next year, that Intel and others will figure this out.