As soon as my laptop weighs 2 pounds and runs for 8 hours, or my smartphone does vnc/nomachine without a zoom&scroll-a-thon, I'll be inclined to agree.
As it is now, my eeePC does things that my laptop and smart phone could never hope to. I suppose it you're used to dedicating an entire 2ghz core and 1 gig of ram just to run your freaking "virus scanner", a netbook might not seem to fill much of a need, but in the right hands, the netbook is a very important niche application that's just not being filled by other platforms.
I have a theory that netbooks is much less about the form factor and much more about the price and battery life. observe how much more popular the large form netbooks are. everyone wants the 11 inchers and I bet there will be pressure to make 12 and 13 inchers. 99% of the notebook market doesn't want or need a desktop replacement, they just want a cheap notebook that works for office and the net.
As it is now, my eeePC does things that my laptop and smart phone could never hope to. I suppose it you're used to dedicating an entire 2ghz core and 1 gig of ram just to run your freaking "virus scanner", a netbook might not seem to fill much of a need, but in the right hands, the netbook is a very important niche application that's just not being filled by other platforms.