Apple CEO Steve Jobs denied a couple of months ago that his company has any plans to release a cheap netbook, but the demand for the cheap-and-tiny laptops is high this season, so some folks are expecting one anyway.If you're in the mood for wild speculation to that end then today's your day!

An industry business analyst named Ezra Gottheil just sent out a prediction that Apple will introduce two netbook-like machines at its MacWorld conference next month, and that both of them will be stripped-down computers that would use Apple's online App Store. In a sense, they scould be larger, more robust version of the iPhone, but without the "phone" bit. We've already heard rumors of a small Tablet PC-like Apple device, so it's not out of the question, but this prediction is still a shot in the dark.

If it does happen, though, you'll have to ask yourself: would you use a machine that fell somewhere between an iPhone and a MacBook in power and usefulness? And how much would you pay for it?

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