Is Apple Creating a Netbook? Is Steve Jobs Heading The Project?

In 2008 Steve Jobs called the netbook market “nascent” and in October he dismissed the entire category saying “We don’t know how to make a $500 computer that’s not a piece of junk, and our DNA will not let us ship that.” Since then Jobs has come around, upgrading his remarks to take a “wait-and-see” approach on the diminutive notebook computers.

According to NPD Group netbooks accounted for 12 percent of (notebook computer) unit volume in December, their highest total of the year. Nearly 50 percent of all netbook sales for 2008 occurred in December.

Less than a year after Apple dismissed netbooks as a “wait-and-see” product it may be getting upgraded to an actively-developed project overseen by none other that Apple’s mercurial CEO Steve Jobs. According to the WSJ the Apple’s netbook-like device will come in at a size larger than the iPhone/iPod touches, yet smaller than any of its laptops.