Now before you rush out to see if hell is indeed freezing over let me assure you that this is a rare occasion where I find myself in total agreement with Tim Cook; acting CEO of Apple. So what is the cause of this mark it on a calendar moment you ask?

Well it has to do with some statements that Tim made and was reported on by Anthony Ha over at Venture Beat today. It appears that during today’s call discussing how Apple beat Wall Street’s expectations with their 2Q earning Mr. Cook had a few choice words about Apple bringing a netbook to market (emphasis mine)

“For us, it’s about doing great products,” Cook said during today’s call discussing Apple’s (surprisingly strong) second quarter earnings. “When I look at netbooks, I see cracked keyboards, terrible software, junky hardware, very small screens. It’s just not a good consumer experience and not something we would put the Mac brand on. It’s a segment we would not choose to play in.”

Of course, Apple has been making similar statements all along, but Cook’s words today were some of the most dismissive I’ve seen. He closed the netbook discussion with two final putdowns. He said Apple already offers devices that compete with netbooks, because if you want a small device for web browsing and email, well, that’s what iPhones and iPod Touches do; and as for the netbook, “I think it’s a stretch to call it a personal computer.”

I am so glad that I am not alone with the opinion that netbooks while cute and all that are just a way for manufactures to use up old inventory. I may not be the biggest fan of smartphones but at least they make sense when you need something small and don’t want to lug around a laptop. Netbooks are nothing more than marketing creating a need where none needed to be filled.