Yes, they seemed like a good idea - they were really cheap, and had decent battery life for the time - but the compromises were such that you really wouldn’t want to buy another netbook if you could. After the first few releases, the MacBook Air became what the non-cheapskate buyers of netbooks wanted.
> compromises were such that you really wouldn’t want to buy another netbook if you could.
This is directly contradicted by the existence of Netbook fans.