Others are saying the MID is a reincarnation of Larry Ellison's idea of the 'Network Computer' - a dumb terminal, thin client type of thing which would have little internal memory or processing power but would get its information, processing power, programmes and storage facilities through the Internet (from a database, hopefully, run by Oracle software).
The new name for Ellison's old idea is 'Cloud computing'. Cloud computers, like the Network Computer, would, of course, be a blow to Wintel, because mobile computer-uses wouldn't need lots of software on their computers, nor clunky microprocessors to run it.
But the whole Cloud/Network notion basically pisses off the computer industry because it just means lower margins all round.
Intel sells Atom for less than half the price of normal laptop processor and seems to be uncertain why it's in the market at all. Sometimes it says it sees this MID market as a route to getting into smartphones. But it doesn't seem very sure of this.
Microsoft clearly didn't want to be in the MID market but was fearful when the Eee came out with Linux and raised the spectre of loss of market share for Microsoft.
And the computer makers themselves, like the Fujitsu manager, just want to keep on selling laptops which are as expensive as they dare to make them.
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