We’ve been going on lately about how much sense netbooks make.  Evidently, some smart people out in Cupertino might think so too: within the last 2 days, the online rumor-mill about all things Apple has kicked into full gear again, this time started by reports that a Taiwanese firm has just signed an agreement to begin supplying large touchscreens to Apple later this year.

What we’re talking about here is essentially a large (9″ or 10″ screen) iPod Touch - physically, it could well end up looking very much like this mock-up concept imagined by gizmodo (at left) - but under the hood (or ‘glass’, rather), I wonder if it will run a stripped-down version of the Apple OS or follow the closed iPhone/iPod Touch “App Store” model - in other words, will it allow traditional fully-installed applications, or will it allow only the more limited (but easier and safer) widget-like software products (running one layer up on a virtual machine) available on the iPhone?

Either way, I believe that unlike the iPhone and iTouch, this device will (finally) run Adobe Flash, the ubiquitous streaming application behind Hulu and YouTube.

I’ve written before on what an ill-suited viewing platform I feel the PC and web browser make for internet video - but if the rumors are true and this sleek full-screen “net tablet” runs Flash (which it will), it could make the whole web video experience a lot nicer - and a lot less tied to the workplace and/or desk…