It's worth noting that the netbook was originally envisioned and marketed as what the tablet is currently doing.  It was a tiny computer with a simple interface to get a couple of things done without much power.  The fact that it is laptop shaped lead people to assume it should be a laptop, and it slowly evolved into being just a smaller laptop that needs to be able to run WoW or it isn't really a computer.  :rolleyes:
Second, you should notice that on a freshly purchased computer with Windows pre-installed, it also comes bundled with a LOT of trial applications, hereafter referred to as garbage  

 .  Some people actually pay for this garbage when the trial period ends.  The companies that produce this garbage pay manufacturers to pre-install their trial software knowing that some people will pay for it.  The amount that these companies pay to have their garbage pre-installed on your OS is approximately the same as the cost of Windows.  So when you buy a new computer, you aren't actually paying anything for the license, all that trial software gets you a "free" copy of Windows.  Many years ago, I believe it was HP that did the Linux laptop experiment: instead of Windows, you could get a laptop with a branded version of Ubuntu pre-installed.  Unfortunately, no one has paid software for Linux that would be worth a pre-installed trial edition, so there was no companies to subsidize the cost, thus the Linux laptop cost the same as the Windows laptop.  A little bit more as I recall, actually.  The reviews for the Linux Laptop were full of "don't buy this, buy the Windows version and install Ubuntu on it. It's cheaper and you get a free copy of Windows you can dual boot into if you need it".  And then the Linux Laptop was dropped.