It's a small and cheap laptop that runs everything people need. There is nothing strange about people wanting it. If I sold a small and cheap car that got me where I wanted, people would buy it too.

people don't care about size (witness pressure to build ever larger netbooks) people just want a cheap device that meets their basic computing needs.

this happens all the time. products bloat in features and price, creating a market for devices that fulfill basic needs at a cheap price.

I see the success of netbooks in the same vein as the success of mint.com and the flip camcorder.