Right now your netbooks are just miniature low powered laptops. No real innovation. You sacrifice processing power for the small size and cheaper cost. They just shrunk a laptop. But what apple should do is make something bigger. Namely the iPhone. That's right make the iPhone into a netbook rather then make a MacBook into a netbook. I think the process would be so much easier. Instead of trying to pack all of the MacBook features into a smaller form factor, see how many features you can add to the body of a larger iPhone.
The iPhone already has all of the basic features that you would want with a netbook and more, it also has an operating system that is one of the most advanced on any mobile device. By making it larger you could easily increase the overall processing power and give it a vibrant screen.
Connectivity
Wireless options? Heck everyone wants WiFi and built in 3G. The iPhone already has those. So use the same wireless chipset in the Apple Netbook. That solves all of your connectivity issues. You also have Bluetooth already built in. Sure the iPhone has limitations with the Bluetooth options but in the Apple Netbook you can remove them. Let it support additional peripherals and head phones.
Screen
This has always been my struggle with netbooks. You are trying to use an operating system that was meant to be viewed on a minimum of a 1024x768 resolution screen and not cramped onto some 10inch miniature screen on a netbook. The Apple netbook could fix this problem by being a 12 inch tablet. Use the same touch screen and multi touch gesture interface that they use on the iPhone just bigger. Though the iPhone screen is smaller then other smart phones and with a lower resolution, the simplicity of the gesturing in the operating system makes it feel larger. On windows mobile you feel like you should almost have a mouse to properly work on the touch screen. But the iPhone feels like the OS was designed around a smaller screen. If it was expanded to 12inches you would feel even more productive and you could add additional functionality and shortcuts that you couldn't offer on the iPhone.
Keyboard and Input
This is where a Apple netbook modeled after an iPhone would excel. It would be the first netbook tablet that actually had a functional on screen keyboard. Have you ever tried to type on a tablet or netbook that was running windows? Just terrible. Here Apple could use the same style keyboard and predictive text system they use on the iPhone. In portrait mode the keyboard is just right for one handed typing in web page addresses or short comments. Then turn it to Landscape mode and flip out the small attached stand to prop it up just like a traditional keyboard. See the images at the left.
Finally you are done working mobile style and you want to go home and work at your desk. Now just flip the Apple Netbook upside down and the same stand that helped the Apple Netbook at the right angle for typing holds it straight up for using it as a display. Your wireless apple keyboard and mouse are now connected giving you a full desktop PC experience.
I hope Apple does this, or maybe they will read my ideas and implement them ;-) Apple you have all the technology pieces and you have an army of followers looking for the final link between mobile and desktop. I know you can do it. Anyone have any comments on how to poke holes in my design?
