Analysts at Gartner sounded the death knell for the laptop late last week, charging that the machines aren't well-suited to the needs of the social-networking crowd. It's only a matter of time before mobile PCs resemble large smartphones--in other words, tablets such as the iPad or Xoom, writes Brooke Crothers and CNET.

The typical laptop today is heavy, and its battery can't keep it powered all day, Gartner noted. What's more, it isn't conducive to immediate or constant connectivity, unlike standard 3G/4G capable devices. As more powerful chips from Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices find their way into smaller, lighter computers, more people will want to use them, Crothers predicts.

While the Netbook is sufficiently mobile, it initially did not come with a long-lasting battery or standard 3G capability. Also, Crothers notes, the performance wasn't up to par for someone using it as an "everyday machine."

"The Netbook was ahead of its time but has always been hampered by Intel's too-specific ideas about what a Netbook should and should not be," he writes. "For better or worse, it's going to take a company like Apple to take the lead in redefining the high-mobility laptop."

For more:
- see Brooke Crothers' post at CNET

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