No, netbook manufacturers *forced* Windows on users (or were forced to do so by you-know-who). And because of that, they have LOST a lot of sales they could have made. Everybody loses on that deal (well, everybody except for predatory vendors).

I had to settle for the Eee, but the Foleo II will definitely be a welcome news.

If I can have Windows 7 and Instant On…why settle for a smart phone OS?

Now…if Palm were to make Web OS run on x86 processors for an instant on alternative boot-up, THAT would be a winner and I certainly would pay for it as software.

1. James’ idea: recoup some of the Foleo investment by converting it to an instant-on WebOS Netbook with 3G. Ok, maybe, but it’ll compete with Android, Linux, and XP Netbooks. James says it could be “easily produced using high-end PDA components,” but high-end HP PDAs cost over $400. And the Foleo was going to cost $700, I think. Just another Netbook platform, right? With cost/pricing problems.

2. Foleo concept, of the cellphone being the computer, and the Foleo making it a combined netbook. There are 6 billion people on earth and 3 billion cellphones. Many of those 3 billion don’t own a computer (or car or house or …). The Foleo had pricing problems and maybe assumed too much of their partners’ ability to sync their apps. But the cellphone-as-computer concept is still a good one, if we look at a recent Microsoft for a USB docking solution for cellphones: http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/01/microsoft-paten.html

I’m also looking at a 5″ MID or UMPC. I’m giving the Viliv S5 a serious look. At $600 this device would be far more useful to me than a netbook or laptop.

To recreate the Foleo as a cloud machine would seem to be as big a folly. Again, it’ll be reliant on another source for its (limited) functionality, while adding the necessity of an often expensive (and sometimes inaccessible)data plan to get to this source.

Now, if Palm was to create an instant-on netbook running an OS that was at least as powerful as current netbooks, with a full range of onboard programs and storage and that supported peripherals like printers – then yes, that would be something to consider. Otherwise, why bother?

I also don’t understand why people would want such a thing.
To keep things simple your ‘netbook’ is just the Palm pre with a larger screen, QWERTY keyboard and no phone features (I don’t think you plan to hold a netbook to your ear, and using a headset also isn’t that ideal)
So what’s the benefit over the Palm Pre, iPhone, Win Mobile Phone, Andriod phone. I don’t see any.
You can also attach a small keyboard to your mobile phone, so all you would want is a larger screen. Well, just wait a year, then the pico projectors are more developed and this issue is solved, too.

A netbook gets bought because it is cheap, small and runs Windows and thus can do everything a normal notebook can do. Your netbook is the same just without Windows, what’s the advantage?

I personally use a tablet PC, which is portable and which I carry everywhere around. Then I also have a normal older Nokia phone. My tablet is small enough, fast enough, portable enough. I wouldn’t want a netbook or MID or UMPC. All I would want is a new mobile phone, the size of the Palm Pre with a great OS, best would be the same OS I’ll use on my tablet PC, Win 7, to keep everything as simple as possible.

Moreover, given the nature of WebOs, accessing and presenting the info of one WebOs device onto another is probably very easy. Now this device could operate on its own, or it could be paired with a Pre, in which case both devices could be using the same logical info (recall that Palm knows all about synching) – WOW that would be powerful.

But all this probably has to be priced below the cheapest WinXP netbook of the same size ($400?)… How much for a non-subsidized Pre? Maybe this Celio successor would have a better chance of market success through carriers as a subsidized device…

I think the RedFly is probably a pretty good indicator of where the Foleo would have been. Palm was wise to not release it, and they’d do well to keep it that way.