Tablet Data Connectivity
If you were going to sell a tablet that needed an internet connection,
then it does seem like Wi-Fi wouldn't be enough. You'd want people to
use it wherever they were. Amazon realised with the Kindle that
expecting people to pay a monthly fee on top of an already expensive
device isn't something that people are going to be happy doing, that's
why their whispernet connectivity is included for life with the
device. People are used to doing that for a phone, but expecting them
to do it for a media tablet as well seems unlikely. What if Apple were simply to go to the cell carriers, whom I'd expect
to be Verizon and AT&T in the US (because you'd want to combine them
for the best nationwide coverage), and offered them a cut of
everything sold through the iTunes store in return for a free ride on
their networks? For the consumer, free internet, no contract. For
Apple, an always connected gateway to their store. For the carriers, a
cut of the most popular online media store. The rumours also say that if these were the two carriers then Apple
would produce both CDMA and GSM versions of the tablet, but that seems
unlikely, and it's not Apple's style. There'll be one device, and both
chipsets will be included. Apple's friends at Samsung already have a
number of dual-band phones, and producing two devices seems like an
expensive overhead and bound to cause customer confusion.
then it does seem like Wi-Fi wouldn't be enough. You'd want people to
use it wherever they were. Amazon realised with the Kindle that
expecting people to pay a monthly fee on top of an already expensive
device isn't something that people are going to be happy doing, that's
why their whispernet connectivity is included for life with the
device. People are used to doing that for a phone, but expecting them
to do it for a media tablet as well seems unlikely. What if Apple were simply to go to the cell carriers, whom I'd expect
to be Verizon and AT&T in the US (because you'd want to combine them
for the best nationwide coverage), and offered them a cut of
everything sold through the iTunes store in return for a free ride on
their networks? For the consumer, free internet, no contract. For
Apple, an always connected gateway to their store. For the carriers, a
cut of the most popular online media store. The rumours also say that if these were the two carriers then Apple
would produce both CDMA and GSM versions of the tablet, but that seems
unlikely, and it's not Apple's style. There'll be one device, and both
chipsets will be included. Apple's friends at Samsung already have a
number of dual-band phones, and producing two devices seems like an
expensive overhead and bound to cause customer confusion.
