Steve Jobs isn’t interested in Netbooks – just ask him


Analyst Ezra Gottheil from Technology Business Research (TBR) needs to find another job.

If you can make it through this very long winded article on Apple Insider, what you’ll find is that Gottheil is certain that Apple is going to release a $599 netbook sometime in the first half of next year.

He bases this on the fact that “It is too much to ask consumers to pay more than twice as much for a PC in these times,”

In other words, he’s pulling it out of his ass.

If he’d been on the last quarter conference call, he would have heard Jobs speak very clearly about not only netbooks, but also about low-end computers. Steve Jobs was very clear.

He’s not interested.

He’s not interested in making a low-end Mac. He went so far as to say that there are certain markets that Apple is simply not interested in participating in. He downplayed the netbooks, and commented that they had some ideas but that he needed to see it actually become a viable market first.

Jobs even pointed out that the iPhone fulfills many of those netbook needs.

The fact that Jobs was even talking about netbooks is a clear indication that there won’t be a netbook from Apple anytime soon. We all know the man is notoriously secretive about that kind of thing, and we’ve seen no indication that his habits have changed.

Don’t hold your breath for anything resembling the current netbooks to ever come out of Apple. If Jobs and co. did produce anything in this range, it would most likely be modeled more after the 12 inch Powerbook…and I doubt it will ever be anywhere close to $599. $799…maybe…but not $599.

Now, granted, I’m pulling that out of my ass too – but at least I’m telling you that upfront – and not telling you to expect to see it early next year.

While we’re all pulling things out of various places – what do you think? Is a netbook going to happen? If so, what will it be like? If not – why not?


Kokou Adzo

Kokou Adzo is a stalwart in the tech journalism community, has been chronicling the ever-evolving world of Apple products and innovations for over a decade. As a Senior Author at Apple Gazette, Kokou combines a deep passion for technology with an innate ability to translate complex tech jargon into relatable insights for everyday users.

9 Comments

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  1. “The fact that Jobs was even talking about netbooks is a clear indication that there won’t be a netbook from Apple anytime soon.”

    Anytime soon = the next 6 to 9 months. But after that, all bets are off.

  2. I am dissapointed in this. If I want to do reall work, I will get big mac with 24”, but if I want to travel i will go for small netbook, that is not heavy and smaller than A4. hope they will change their mind

  3. I say Apple will likely go with a tablet instead of a netbook. I think that Apple’s multi-touch technology would be more suitable for a tablet and profit margins would be greater by eliminating a keyboard and hinged display. The netbook arena is getting crowded and I think that Apple would have a much better chance (although with higher risks) of starting a tablet revolution. The iPhone has done very well, and hopefully it can scale up and still do well. My only concern is how do they protect a tablet screen if it’s going to be put in briefcases or knapsacks. Maybe some sort of rolling cover such as roll down cover that desks use to have. Apple could go with a virtual keyboard just as used on the iPhone. It could offer an alternative of handwriting recognition, but I’m not sure that technology has improved much at Apple since Newton times.

    Look for an Apple tablet to cost $700-$800. Nothing cheaper than that. I’m not making any predictions. I’m just expressing my opinions on a way Apple can stand out from the crowd of netbooks.

  4. I don’t want to see a netbook from Apple. “Netbook” is pretty much a synonym for “cheap underpowered laptop in a small package.” Why pay a few hundred for a computer that can’t do everything a computer should do? A laptop needs to do more than email, internet, and word processing…and you should be able to type on it.

    I don’t like this whole netbook trend. I’m sure it will all go away in a few years, but until then I guess I have to just sit through the madness an wait.

  5. what about an ipod/iphone accessory that you put the plug the iphone into and turns it into a netbook. it would be like a macbook shell with no drives or memory, just display and keyboard. the iphone/ipod would be placed in a port where the trackpad is generally and would act as the trackpad for the device(multi-touch). users would be able to access and interact with music, movices, pictures and other data contained on the iphone/ipod, while also interfacing with data stored on mobileme (documents, etc) I think this is a great solution. thoughts>?

  6. Apple also said they weren’t interested in entering the phone market.

    I still think the iPhone is still too much of a toy to be taken seriously as a netbook. They need to open it up more. I was quite shocked to find out recently from a friend how difficult it is to use and access the hard drive. The original iPod would show up on your desktop as a hard drive and you could put files on it and even make it into a bootable drive for your mac. Why did apple remove that funtionality?

    Why is there no Finder type app on the iPhone?

    And Apple is also being a little too dictatorial on apps. Safari is far from the best browser on a Mac, allow more options on the iPhone. It’s starting to smell a little to much like the Microsoft bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows, which lead to their anti-trust lawsuit.

  7. I think Steve was trying to stop the “Apple netbook coming ” rumors. The company has been negatively impacted by rumors in recent years and is getting more aggressive about stopping them before they can do any harm.

    Let’s also remember that Steve said in the past that Apple wasn’t interested in doing set top boxes or cell phones and look what happened.

    Apple is always looking for the next great thing and for opportunities to take ideas that have been poorly implemented by others and turn them into the next great thing.