SDRNews SDR2009-02-03 Smokin’ Netbooks
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Smokin’ Netbooks
by Andrew McCaskey
They are Going to Be Popular
Just not that popular. Unless the rest of the country is surviving the recession with a lot more optimism than I am seeing here in the industrial Midwest.
I am speaking of the proposal by AT&T to treat netbook computers as wireless appliances that will be hung from the ATT 3G network and heavily subsidized, in exactly the same manner as the regular cellphones. Your new PC would cost $99, after $350 rebate and with substantial penalty for breaking a two year service contract.
Here are a couple of reasons why this is going to be a lot more popular with marketeers pitching the concept than it will be with the public. They are great substitutes for EVDO cards and laptops for some traveling business people. They just are not going to provide the kick that the carriers hope for with the general public.
First, consider portability: The smartphone slips into jeans, backpack or jacket and is ready to go at a moments notice. Just like the smooth packaging of the Samsung Xacti cameras, cellphones scream out “take me along”. Even the sleekest netbook doesn’t have that mobility and while the charging cord in the automobile or wall wart is tolerated, a dangling brick charger is definitely not a part of the plan.
Second – Revenue points: The continuous moneymakers are Ring Tones and Bits. While some heavy users of netbooks will consume the bits, they are not going to generate the steady and trendy revenue that Ringtones represent. For every user who will hang on FaceBook or MySpace, through this device, there will be ten who also want to watch Hulu, play music and do a lot of multi-tasking that require more bandwidth and a huskier machine than the netbook is going to be able to provide. Oh by the way.. download some movies at the same time ? Probably not.
Third: The combination of lock-in contract and waiting for the rebate check combines two of the most despised elements of the wireless carrier marketplace. Net books are hot, but they are not iPhone hot when you push them through Radio Shack with an obsolete business model.
Only a marketeer who is smoking netbooks or something close could seek out a business model that pulls up those two elements of a sale in this economy.
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