When did laptops became cheaper than netbooks, and netbooks cheaper than cell phones?

The $400 netbook rocked the industry as recently as last year. But this year, you can get a full-size Acer laptop with 2GB of RAM and 160GB hard drive for $250 from Best Buy. That's not far off the new second-lowest price for laptops. Staples and Wal-Mart are selling full-size HP laptops for $300 each.

That's cheaper than netbooks, right? Wrong! The new low in netbook pricing is $199. I know, I know. You can buy no-name Chinese netbooks for the theoretical price of $98 -- but you won't. And you could buy very cheap netbooks with a two-year contract, but you'll pay for it in the end, hidden in your monthly wireless bill. And pay, and pay. I'm talking about a ready-for-the-U.S.-market, no-strings-attached big-brand (Acer) netbook that will be sold at Office Depot on Schnäppchenfreitag for $199.

The problem with such low prices is that if everybody gravitates toward zero margin (or below) electronics, then quality will suffer. Just look at the airline industry. People now use the Internet to book flights based exclusively on airfares. The result is lousy service, no food and overworked, underpaid pilots.

Just too much