Telcos are jumping into the netbook/data plan business with a vengeance. AT&T is offering netbooks for $99 with a two-year service contract at your local Radio Shack, with Verizon rumored to be next in line. (Several European vendors have also rolled out such offers.) Like with cell phones, the strategy is to subsidize the notebook (the razor) so customers will buy lots of data services (the razorblades.) One reporter points out this makes the actual cost $1,500 over the life of the contract, and with basic Internet access going for $50-60 a month per household, it may indeed not be a bargain. But for some customers, being bled by the month will be preferable to paying up-front for a $300 netbook or $500 notebook.
No word yet on whether, or when, the telcos might take the much bigger step of offering hollowed-out netbooks (no processor, no disk drive, no operating system) and delivering the entire application stack over their 3G wireless broadband services. Earlier this month I reported on SIMtone, which hopes to provide the delivery platform telcos will use to push applications and data out to these ultra-small PCs. SIMtone predicts we’ll see the first such offerings by the end of the year. Me, I’ll hold onto my real notebook until my cell carrier stops dropping my calls…
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