4 ms·

Just wait. ChromeOS netbooks are gonna be free, with a 3g contract. ChromeOS is dropping this year.

wmf 16y ago
Netbooks are $300-400, while the usual subsidy from a contract is $150-200. Perhaps Google is willing to make up the difference via an advertising subsidy, but I doubt a Google user is worth $100 over 2 years. Also, the idea of getting a separate $2,000 3G contract for a netbook sounds like a terrible deal.
- joebadmo 16y ago
  Doesn't that initial $300-400 include a WinXP (albeit crippled?) install? I think especially at this price range, that could be a significant differentiator.
  - cryptoz 16y ago
    In the netbook market, I believe Microsoft started paying manufactures to install Windows. There was a fast - and from Microsoft's position, scary - rise in Linux netbooks, and to counter that I'm pretty sure that OEMs were paid to install Windows, not the other way around.
    - joebadmo 16y ago
      What a weird industry.
    - ssp 16y ago
      What I heard is that they dropped the price of XP significantly, but not below 0. I'm having a lot of trouble believing that Microsoft would sell Windows at a loss.
    - wmf 16y ago
      MS can't pay anyone to install Windows; that would probably be a violation of their antitrust consent degree. However, there is third-party crapware that pays PC vendors, and the payment for this stuff is more than the cost of an XP license, so effectively Windows is "better than free". Of course, Google kicks back money to Mozilla and Android vendors, so two can play at that game.
  - wmf 16y ago
    You're right; XP for netbooks is $15-35 according to Wikipedia, so a ChromeOS netbook should be slightly cheaper (assuming Google uses creative accounting to hide the development cost of ChromeOS). This doesn't change my argument that a 3G contract subsidy will not cover the entire cost of a netbook.
- seabee 16y ago
  For at least a year there have been mobile broadband deals that come with a free netbook in the UK.

wmf 16y ago

Netbooks are $300-400, while the usual subsidy from a contract is $150-200. Perhaps Google is willing to make up the difference via an advertising subsidy, but I doubt a Google user is worth $100 over 2 years. Also, the idea of getting a separate $2,000 3G contract for a netbook sounds like a terrible deal.

joebadmo 16y ago
Doesn't that initial $300-400 include a WinXP (albeit crippled?) install? I think especially at this price range, that could be a significant differentiator.
- cryptoz 16y ago
  In the netbook market, I believe Microsoft started paying manufactures to install Windows. There was a fast - and from Microsoft's position, scary - rise in Linux netbooks, and to counter that I'm pretty sure that OEMs were paid to install Windows, not the other way around.
  - joebadmo 16y ago
    What a weird industry.
  - ssp 16y ago
    What I heard is that they dropped the price of XP significantly, but not below 0. I'm having a lot of trouble believing that Microsoft would sell Windows at a loss.
  - wmf 16y ago
    MS can't pay anyone to install Windows; that would probably be a violation of their antitrust consent degree. However, there is third-party crapware that pays PC vendors, and the payment for this stuff is more than the cost of an XP license, so effectively Windows is "better than free". Of course, Google kicks back money to Mozilla and Android vendors, so two can play at that game.
- wmf 16y ago
  You're right; XP for netbooks is $15-35 according to Wikipedia, so a ChromeOS netbook should be slightly cheaper (assuming Google uses creative accounting to hide the development cost of ChromeOS). This doesn't change my argument that a 3G contract subsidy will not cover the entire cost of a netbook.
seabee 16y ago
For at least a year there have been mobile broadband deals that come with a free netbook in the UK.