Really for sure, no Apple netbooks

Apple's position has long been that they will watch the netbook market, but have no intention of entering it anytime soon. They don't really need to, of course. They're selling iPhones like crazy and enough professionals are willing to spend $2800 on a laptop that $500 netbooks don't even need to hit their radars.

That doesn't keep a lot of us from wishing for low-cost offerings from Cupertino and junctions like MacWorld, CES, and investor calls are always worthy of a glimmer of hope. Investor calls, like the one that took place yesterday, however, are about the bottom line. As a post in NetworkWorld points out,

For the time being, though, Apple seems to be doing just fine without an iPhone Nano or a netbook. This past quarter, Apple recorded over $10 billion in revenue for the first time in its history, while also recognizing its largest quarterly profit in company history. Analysts who steadfastly argue that Apple needs to release either of the above-mentioned products need to remember that more market share does not always equal greater profits.

And there you have it. Apple COO, Tim Cook, made it abundantly clear that, really for sure, most definitely, the company would not be entering the netbook market anytime soon. He pointed out the inherent compromises in a netbook (an "inferior user experience"), explaining that Apple's customers were willing to pay for the best hardware and software.

That's probably true. Apple's profits certainly bear that out. Some of us, though, are more than happy to make some compromises. Apple's bottom line may not demand compromise, but mine does. To quote Avenue Q (I just saw the musical in Hartford and the songs are still stuck in my head),

...You'll be faced with problems of all shapes and sizes. You're going to have to make a few compromises... For now... For now we're healthy. For now we're employed. For now we're happy... If not overjoyed...