As I’ve said in these columns on more than a few occasions, the media is desperate to convince Apple to build a netbook. They see the apparent success on the Windows side of the computing universe, and they feel Apple is losing big time not to have their own contender.

Well, maybe so, except I think the jury is out as to whether netbooks are going to prove to be major successes or passing fads. Indeed, that’s a question that may not be fully answered until later this year, when a hopefully improving economy and the holiday season allows the public to demonstrate its real preferences.

The other model being talked up is the so-called tablet computer. Now a common iteration of a tablet is a notebook with a swivel screen and the ability to write on the display courtesy of a stylus. In that sense, you might consider it a grown up version of a Palm Pilot.

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Make no mistake about it. Other than close partners and contract equipment manufacturers, very few people outside of Apple know the truth about their future plans. By being exceptionally secretive, however, Apple feeds the rumors big time simply by saying nothing. The less they say, the more people talk.

So we have stories in recent days suggesting that Apple is in heavy talks with Verizon Wireless to add a second carrier to the U.S. once their contract with AT&T ends, and that’s reportedly in 2010.

On the surface this appears credible. After all, Verizon, by dint of its acquisition of Alltel, has emerged as the number one wireless carrier in the U.S. Even better, they have a reputation for superior network reliability and customer service. Indeed, some suggest that Verizon may have been a better fit for a company such as Apple, since it prides itself on offering an excellent customer experience.

On the other hand, Verizon uses the CDMA standard, one supported by far fewer companies worldwide, whereas building GSM-based product for AT&T allows Apple to manufacture one model that can work with dozens and dozens of carriers around the world.

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I’ve been extremely hard on Microsoft in recent years. First, I’ve criticized them for their bait and switch and other shady marketing schemes, and then I’ve even gone so far as to suggest they are doomed to fail big time in a few years.

I don’t think many of you agree with me about Microsoft’s potential for future irrelevance. After all they still have billions in the bank, and they make huge profits on their software. All right, they are laying off 5,000 people, but maybe they were simply overstaffed and used the state of the economy as an excuse to dump unproductive workers.

But I’m quite serious about what I say, and I think Microsoft’s sordid history is sufficient to warrant some close scrutiny by the authorities. We in the states shouldn’t depend on the European Union to do the heavy lifting when it comes to fining Microsoft for various and sundry offenses.

Sure, the Department of Justice also clamped down on the company more or less, but the regulation-free environment of the Bush administration probably lessened the penalties. For example, efforts to break up the company were quickly abandoned.

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Once upon a time, Apple courted the Mac press big time, particularly the major magazines. When a new product was being readied, editors would receive an early preview under a confidentiality agreement, so they could get a full feature story on the new product that would be published around the time of the actual release date.

Of course, that’s long ago and far away, except for a handful of “favored” mainstream outlets. These days, the Internet has taken over, and you can read Apple’s official press release and interviews with their product people within moments after a new product announcement. If there’s an actual media event of some sort, you may even have a chance to see a QuickTime video of the presentation shortly thereafter.

The other resource for new product information is the Mac rumor sites, which are nowadays often quoted in the mainstream media. Indeed, the the traditional outlets frequently have their own stories about such things, and I do suspect some of them are actually fed by Apple to raise interest in the possibilities of a new product to a fever pitch.

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