Agreed, but a small form factor netbook shares many more similarities with the iPad than a full-fledged laptop. My 9" EeePC is light and comfortable to use on the couch, in bed or even standing in line at the DMV. The keyboard is too small to do a lot of typing, but it's fine for quick emails or chat. The screen is too small and the processor too slow for Photoshop. Granted the iPad surely has a nicer screen. And if a netbook keyboard isn't being used, it's "dead weight" so to speak. But I've also used my netbook for work in a pinch (ftp, notepad++, vnc). So I suppose my EeePC falls _between_ an iPad and a laptop, which is good enough for me.
That doesn't mean either of our use cases are optimal.