Rather than build its own handheld from scratch, Apple could buy into the market. A prime target would be HandSpring, the surging maker of the Palm-based Visor. Sure, Apple could do that, and I could buy a Gulfstream Jet. That doesn't mean I'd know how to fly it. Buying companies outside your area of expertise is a tricky and time-consuming business.
Silicon Valley is littered with the remains of such efforts.
Netscape became a shell of its former self. The same could easily occur at an Apple-controlled HandSpring. Don't forget that HandSpring's founders Jeff Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky bailed from Palm when it was spun off from 3Com. The lesson here is clear. Apple should stick to its knitting, digitally speaking.