Wired - How's this for some technological wizardry? Take a $350 netbook and turn it into a $1,500 device without changing anything inside.
That's exactly what Acer, RadioShack and AT&T have done with their latest netbook offer. On Friday, the trio said they will offer a netbook for $100 upfront -- but with a $60 per month, two-year data contract on AT&T. Over the two years of the contract, that adds up to a total of $1,540, or more than four times the list price of the netbook alone.
With the move Acer became the first company to bring a netbook on contract to the U.S. The offer is modeled on how most cellphones are currently sold, and follows similar netbooks-on-contract offers overseas.
"It is interesting move," says Bob O'Donnell, a vice president with research firm IDC, "but it won't make a huge dent in the marketplace right away. "The price points they are available today are way too high for most people."
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