I have done the unthinkable. Or, what was at least year would have been considered profligate and a little excessive.
I have bought my 5-year old daughter a laptop. A pink one. And, I love it!
More specifically, I have bought a Netbook. I first saw one of these small black Linux based thingies about 6 months ago and was summarily un-impressed. Really, really could not care. I have a beautiful, small, powerful laptop (a Panasonic ToughBook) that delivers great performance with a full day of battery life. Why would I suffer for a smaller form factor, with cramped keyboards, reduced performance and less battery. Less, Less, Less.
And today, that "Less" is definitely all I need. Now, when we travel the kids can watch videos in the back of car and I don't need to bring my laptop along - just to check my email.
In case you are interested, I bought the Acer Aspire One. The full specs can be found here; http://www.simplyacer.com/Aspire_One_Pink_457153.html
I bought the XP version - really out of the fear of the unknown. I literally have no spare time - and so, my tolerance for any sort of learning/configuration curve is absolutely ZERO right now. Linux may be cool, faster and definitely cheaper - but I still can not afford anytime to even start the journey to learning a new desktop operating system.
That said, others will. Many others will definitely start considering Linux for their "Netbook" needs. This will deliver a double blow for Microsoft. No OS revenue and definitely no Office licenses either. And, perhaps even more dangerous for Microsoft this may be just the crack in the door that Cloud computing requires to really take-off (no pun intended).
Anyways, I did my bit for the economy, got my kid a nice gift and get to play with a new toy as soon as she goes to bed (I have been told to wait until then- to prevent any fights).
This Netbook thing could be the start of something good.