[Outrigger#WN]

There are plenty of people purchasing high end phones priced at $400 and up. Just look at some of the Nokias, SE, Blackberry..etc. But the majority of Americans still just have a dumbphone that makes phone calls and text.

[gadgetluva]

There are plenty of people purchasing high end phones priced at $400 and up. Just look at some of the Nokias, SE, Blackberry..etc. But the majority of Americans still just have a dumbphone that makes phone calls and text.

Whom wouldn't be the target market for a smartphone anyways, making this whole argument moot...

[bhtooefr]

Rather, they wouldn't be the target market for a Pre.

They are the target market for something like a Centro.

[dbpaddler]

I get over 6hrs of life out of my Samsung NC10. I charge it overnight and don't even bother to take the ac adapter during the day. The only time I ever use my Dell XPS now is when I'm at home. The NC10 is always in my bag or car during the day. A cell phone would never replace it, and I picked it up for $350 which would make it comparable to the better redfly, but more useful. I wish the res was a touch better, but it's good enough for 90% of the things I do.

The redfly concept is pretty cool though similar to the Foleo which wasn't necessarily a bad idea, just bad timing on Palm's part when most people wanted to see a new phone.

Yeah that's fantastic - for the two hours life of the netbook... and to be honest I feel a little stupid when I'm in a nightclub and I'm lugging a bag around...

[midmofan]

No reason to argue, people just are not getting it.

Its not the the netbook is a better solution or that people shouldn't get a Pre. I personally would rather have the Pre (if it does what i think its going to do).

AGAIN ITS NOT WHAT IS BETTER OR WHAT PEOPLE SHOULD DO AND ESPECIALLY NOT WHAT TC-TYPES LIKE ME WILL WANT!

Its that IF the Pre is priced too high, a large section of people will go with what APPEARS to give them more for their money, a $400 Computer instead of a $400 phone. Remember the average customer is not the average TC'er. The target market for the device is in a world of hurt economically.

Can little Johnny do his homework on the Pre? Can I do lots of long typing of reports I bring home from work on a phone? How many movies can I store on a phone? Is the screen big enough to look at the web for hours at a time? A computer will do more and, since most people already have a phone to do voice, a computer to do lots of the other things will be very tempting when they decide they are only going to buy one of them.

Might not have been this way a year ago, but I believe it is the case today. Spending is way down and if somebody sees that, despite the trade offs, they have a choice between a phone that does a lot of what a computer does, or they can keep the free phone they already have and get a computer that does a lot more than what any phone can do (except for the voice calls), many will opt for the computer and have two devices that are more inconvenient than one but which together do more for the same perceived price.

The fact that high end phones have done will in the past is not an answer either. Until the crash this was not as big of an issue and a lot of 4th quarter sales by business users were decided before things really hit the fan. Also until the 4th quarter the netbooks were not really out there. Lets see how they do in the first quarter of 2009. Netbooks took a huge chunk out of the laptop market for the Xmas season and I suspect the next to feel the impact will be phones priced higher than the netbook.

NOTE: Recent reports/rumors have the Pre at a much lower price which would largely solve the problem, which, of course, was my point to begin with!

[erwos]

If Celio has a Pre driver for the Redfly that doesn't suck, that makes me so much closer to buying one. I love the concept, I just didn't want to be married to Windows Mobile by buying one. The fact that they're going after Android, the iPhone, and now Pre is extremely encouraging.

But netbook as smartphone replacement? No way, and I suspect people who think it is don't have a smartphone or an unlimited data plan on one. If I'm standing in a grocery store line, I can check my mail or random blogs by just whipping out my smartphone. You're never going to be able to do that with a netbook, even the tiny ones like the Fujitsu U810.

[theog]

The REAL question is do you want to look like one of these people while walking down the street:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/12/v...pocket-friend/

[dbpaddler]

If the point of this thread is to point out a high price point and compare it to buying a netbook, I just don't see it. I think it's making a leap to put the two as an either/or decision thinking that one or the other is going to be a necessity. I have a 13" dell xps, and it just became to cumbersome to fit in my bag along with everything else I needed to carry. So a netbook became more of a necessity. I don't care how convenient and easy to use a phone is, it is not a pure joy to use for extended use compared to a laptop of any kind. Just the sheer size of the screen and the comfortableness of touch typing make it a no brainer. But I can't whip out the netbook in the middle of working, while in the car, in line somewhere, while walking anywhere. There isn't the instant use with a laptop. And if I'm already carrying a phone that needs to be a PIM, I might as well have the most useful one (for me) as possible.

So maybe there's a difference between the customer that needs a smartphone and the customer that wants one.

And the only ones that will pay $400 plus for one will be the GSM crowd when unlocked ones finally hit the market. And the casual user will most likely never pay that for a phone regardless of the economy unless they readily had the dough regardless.