Radio Shack used to bundle Compaq computers at a discount with MSN when I managed a store in Southern California. The company lost big in the proposition, because it was right at a time when broadband was coming on strong - thousands of people walked away from MSN dialup.
Now this is occurring, and the 'white spaces' controversy is not over, nor is the WiMax rollout finished. How many people will get locked into 2 years of poor performance with AT&T (which in my area, is egregiously bad) and then jump ship? With the possibility of free service (white spaces) or vastly improved speed (WiMax) in the very near future, why take the chance?
RadioShack to sell Acer netbook for $99 - with 2-year contract
Summary
RadioShack will put an Acer Aspire One 3G Netbook on sale Sunday for $99. But there's a catch. You also have to buy a two-year AT&T DataConnect contract.
Topics
RadioShack will put an Acer Aspire One 3G Netbook on sale Sunday for $99. But there's a catch. You also have to buy a two-year AT&T DataConnect contract.
The Acer Aspire One grabbed 38.3 percent of Netbook market share in the third quarter, propelling it past industry pioneer Asus and its Eee PC 4G.
Acer's Aspire One normally sells for about $300.
The RadioShack-AT&T offer, as previously reported, is valid through December 20. The 2.44-pound, 9.8-inch by 6.7-inch Netbook includes:
• Built-in 3G capability
• 802.11b/g wireless (Wi-Fi)
• 8.9-inch LCD screen
• Built-in Webcam
• Intel Atom processor
• Windows XP Home
• 1GB memory
• 160GB hard drive
• Built-in memory card readers (dedicated SD and 5-in-1)
Other players in the Netbook market include Hewlett-Packard and Dell.
Talkback Most Recent of 11 Talkback(s)
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chrome_slinky@...12th Dec 2008 -
Poor analogy...
Dialup was obviously on the way out, AT&T's 3G is going to be around and in use for much longer than 2 years. If Apple is confident in depending on AT&T subsidy then Radio Shack should be fine.
This is all good news.
T1Oracle12th Dec 2008 -
actually the analogy is a very good one
because in my area (San Bernardino county, Southern California) AT&T service is spotty to stinky, so I can see it happening here - and - as I stated, why pay for service when the Whitespace coalition may allow you free, if limited, access, or WiMax comes along and makes AT&Ts 3G look sick?chrome_slinky@...13th Dec 2008 -
I'm on the same page, here, regarding the analogy...
RadioShack has a knack for jumping on the wrong tech-wagon, without due diligence...
Cue:Cat, anyone?
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuecat]
Actually, in that case, when customers found alternative ways to use the thing, the company (Digital Convergence Corporation, at least, don't recall what RS did), took overly aggressive measures to prevent them. An early example of DMCA-style tactics attempt enforcement of a failing business model.
Justthisguy18th Dec 2008 -
Bad link
nt
Patanjali29th Dec 2008 -
When will the other netbooks catch up?
We've been hearing about this being speculated but so far only Radio Shack, Acer, and AT&T have bitten. Where's the rest of the market?T1Oracle12th Dec 2008 -
RE: RadioShack to sell Acer netbook for $99 - with 2-year contract
As other sites reported, this netbook will end up costing over $1000 after the two year contract is up. Definitely not worth it in the long run unless you use the 3G plan constantly!
jnave12th Dec 2008 -
It should be FREE
Signup and cancel the contract for $150 making the laptop $250... $50 cheaper than off the shelf.
Maarek15th Dec 2008 -
In the UK it's free
In the UK can you have a choice of laptops or webbooks with a 2 year data contract for FREE.
So why is this news?
alec.wood@...17th Dec 2008 -
RE: RadioShack to sell Acer netbook for $99 - with 2-year contract
Considering the relative costs between an iPhone and a netbook, it's a logical move.
Except that you can't make a phone call from the netbook (without more stuff).
Except that AT&T data coverage is worse than everybody else's.
Except that an iPhone does some neat things that netbooks don't, but then I'm not going to edit a business report on an iPhone, but I could do it on a netbook.
Each to his own. I won't be surprised to see similar offerings from HP at Bestbuy, or ASUS online or in Sprint kiosks.
terry flores24th Dec 2008 -
Patanjali29th Dec 2008
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