Netbook & Notebook ~ is it time to drop the netbook?

What actually defines a netbook… where is the point it becomes a notebook?  I just came across a great blog written by Eric Ogg over at the CNET blog “Crave” that discusses this topic.  As Eric mentions in the blog:

…Which brings us to Dell announcing its $399 Inspiron 11z. It certainly looks like a Netbook and has a Netbook-like price, yet to Dell, it’s not a Netbook. Instead, the company describes it as a notebook with a slightly faster processor, and 1GB of more memory.

Acer says Netbooks “typically” have Atom processors, weigh less than 3 pounds, have screens between 10 and 11.6 inches, and are in the $299 range. HP says Netbooks are smaller than 12 inches and intended as companion devices designed for “content consumption, while the traditional notebook PC is also designed for content creation as well as consumption.”…

It will be interesting to see what the manufacturers actual settle on using.  I tend think the term netbook will be around, but will slowly fade out and only be used to describe models with screens smaller than 10″.

And Eric seems to agree the former flood of netbooks will slow:

“Because the definition of Netbook is so arbitrary, and because you get so much more for your money with thin and light CULV-based Netbooks, it’s really not hard to imagine the former flood of Netbooks to the market slowing down to a trickle.”

What are your thoughts?