[timr]

Me too. I bought one for a trip around Europe in 2010 or so. I wanted something:

* small and light

* cheap enough that I wouldn't cry if it was lost or stolen in sketchy hostels

* capable of using the web and checking email

Since there wasn't an iPad back then, and the iPhone was an expensive theft target, the eee was a perfect fit. The fact that it ran Linux was also cool. A year or two later I bought a MacBook Air and used that for the same purpose (more expensive, but I wasn't staying in hostels much at that point).

I'm not sure if the author was a child at the time or what, but these obviously fit a niche.