Once upon a time in a kingdom far, FAR away people didn’t get free phones.  They had to not only pay for the phone, but also for the service they used (to say the least).  12 – 15 years ago this was also true in America.  I distinctly remember having to pay $200 for my Nokia phone which featured a 24 hour standby time.  It’s great to know that some things have changed.

For most people today, the expectation is to get a discount on the phone and sign their life away for 1, 2, or 3 years in exchange.  The first generation iPhone cost people $299 and that didn’t stop millions from buying it and paying another $80 a month to use it.  You can probably see where I’m going with this and the increasing popularity of netbooks.

Carriers have spent billions of dollars preparing for people to use mobile broadband.  Unfortunately, short of buying ringtones, or sending a text message data usage is far from meeting their expectations.  By taking a $400 netbook, and giving it to someone for $99 providing they keep it and use it for 2 years and pay $90 a month for “unlimited” [Read: 5GB] service would turn things around for all involved.     

If you are unable to get DSL or Cable internet at your home, but are able to get cell phone service, you’re now able to get a cheap laptop and the means by which to use it online.  If you already have Verizon FioS or AT&T Uverse then hopefully you’d get a discount by adding this onto your service and never have to worry about finding internet access when you’re in an airport or traveling.

For the carriers, they are adding subscribers and making a generous profit.  The amount of money to be made from selling minutes just isn’t there like it used to be.  With 3G mobile broadband or 4G with Sprint’s new WiMax network, the cell phone companies would make their investors fall back in love with them since they’d have people paying more than they usually did which is always a great thing for a business to be able to say.

There’s a rumor going on right now that Apple may team up with 02 to do something similar with their Macbooks.

The buzz is almost deafening but there are a few wrinkles that will have to be ironed out.  Specificially:

• Warranties – If they break or get a virus, would people still have to pay their bill?
• Repairs – Once again, people break laptops and handling this won’t be easy unless they work the perfect insurance plan for them.
• Network – Netbooks have USB ports, but a lot of PC makers are starting to bundle wireless pc cards into newer models making this easy.  The problem would arise once you want to leave Verizon and use AT&T or a similiar scenario.

The prospect will be interesting to follow and see what exactly happens next.

1. Verizon Netbook Will Be Available For $199 With Contract

2. LTE Equipped Netbooks From Samsung Gets Shown Off

3. Taiwan Telecom Cos Bets Big On Netbooks With WiMax

4. Will Wireless Carriers Drop Netbooks In 2010 For Phones/Tablets?

5. Error 619 Code With Acer 3G Connection Manager