Star Trek PADD photo courtesy of Memory-Alpha.org

The speculation of some kind of Apple's netbook-category busting tablet entry has heated up over the the few days. Here's a report from AppleInsider...

Apple to answer netbook market with $500-$700 tablet - report

After reading this and similar reports, I tweeted...

I really really want this Apple netbook/tablet rumor to be true. But, 2010? Want one now (or at least next month)!

A friend tweeted this response...

Just build a Hackintosh for a bargain - I've already built 3 out of 2 Dell Mini's and 1 Acer Aspire One.

But, this misses Apple COO Tim Cook's widely quoted comment (ComputerWorld link) about netbooks...

When I look at what is being sold in the netbook space today, I see cramped keyboards, terrible software, junky hardware, very small screens, and just not a consumer experience, and not something that we would put the Mac brand on, quite frankly. And so, it's not a space as it exists today that we are interested in, nor do we believe that customers in the long term would be interested in. It's a segment we would choose not to play in.

If Apple wanted to sell another me-too netbook based on current hardware designs, it would already be out there. But, Apple clearly wants to produce a breakout product that redefines the ultraportable market the way the original iPod redefined the MP3 player market.

Like I said in my tweet, I hope the Apple Tablet appears in 2009 instead of 2010.