Connectable, rather than Connected –iPad challenges pricing
Thursday, February 4th, 2010 Barbara Nelson, CTOIf, as the Apple enthusiasts would like you to believe, the iPad is going to create a whole new product category – the entertainment device – then the average consumer will have at least three connectable devices (their laptop, their phone, and their entertainment device). I say connectable, rather than connected, because it’s not clear that each of these devices needs to be connected to the internet all of the time. It’s also not clear that the consumer should have to pay for a separate subscription for connectivity for each of these devices.
The proliferation of Wi-Fi-enabled devices argues for a shift in how we approach connectivity, where the subscriber can pay for an internet connection, and then use it from any of their devices. The internet connection will no longer be attached to one device, but shareable across all devices. The MiFi personal Wi-Fi hotspot lets you do just that. It provides a shareable 3G connection for all your Wi-Fi enabled devices. Maybe you have three devices this year, but if this trend continues, you could have five or six distinct, connectable devices in the not-too-distant future. At that stage, it will make no sense to buy separate internet subscriptions for each device.
It is interesting that all these new devices are coming with Wi-Fi, whereas just a few years ago, a Wi-Fi enabled smart phone was an enigma. Who needs Wi-Fi when you can have 3G? We heard that battle-cry for a long time, until people began to realize the critical difference in financial models for Wi-Fi and 3G. You pay for Wi-Fi when you need it. You pay for 3G all of the time. It is even more interesting that the first release of the Apple iPad is a Wi-Fi-only device. I will be very curious to see the adoption rates for the Wi-Fi-only device, versus the Wi-Fi + 3G device. Will you pay an extra $130 for a ‘3G-ready’ entertainment device, and an ongoing subscription of $15 to $30 per month?
If so, let me know why.
Tags: iPad, MiFi, wi-fi access
The “iPad app” from iPass is just the normal iPhone iPassConnect app. So that means a user with an account (consumer or enterprise) can install and use it on both. Since the app is the same (currently) for iPhone/iPod and iPad, a user can also go to the http://www.ipassconnect.com, get an account, and use it on either device.
what will be the iPass pricing for the iPad? In conjunction with an iPhone?
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