The case for a $149 iPod touch?

I’ve made my case for a $149 iPod touch over at Computerworld.  Thanks for your input ;)

…Many Apple customers (myself included) really wish Apple would build a Netbook.  I want an Apple Netbook not necessarily for the cheapness, but more for the smallness (though the cheapness wouldn’t hurt) and of course to be able to run OSX natively.  Apple has said, again and again, that they can’t make a Netbook that would compete in price with the ASUS, Acer and HP‘s of the world and they’d be proud to produce.  They simply can’t get their margins, design and production costs down to the levels that the PC makers can.  Or they choose not to. 

But, when questioned on this, Apple execs always end up pointing to the iPod Touch and iPhone platforms as Apple’s answer to the Netbook.  And they really have a great point.  The Touch platform has most of the same capabilities as a Netbook but is cheaper and smaller.

Maybe it is time to step it up in this area.  The 8GB iPod Touch is already a great deal for $200.  But really, the purchase is just the beginning of the customer’s relationship with Apple.  Then, there is the iTunes and App store.  While they’d need to sell around $150-$300 of music and apps to break even on a $50-100 price drop, the price point might open Apple up to a whole new level of customer…