However, one analyst, --you know, a member of that tribe that gets paid way too much money to say stuff that the rest of us already have figured out for free--says that, based on (to wit: "We don't know how to make a [US]$500 computer that's not a piece of junk, and our DNA will not let us ship that.") that Apple will, for sure, come out with a netbook in the first half of 2009.
Um, what?
So let me get this straight. You think that Steve is pulling some weird reverse psychology trick on you? Dude, Ezra (can I call you Ezra?), sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
And upon what shred of logic is this analysis based?
Gottheil claims that Apple "is addicted to market share," and that with such a cheap computer that essentially the company would take the market by storm. While it is true that Apple's OS and hardware numbers have been on the upswing, and Apple does have a commanding lead in the music market, Apple's been about making money, not about market share. Remember this ? "Apple's market share is bigger than BMW's or Mercedes's or Porsche's in the automotive market. What's wrong with being BMW or Mercedes?"
In short, the netbook? Not gonna happen.