The new age of connected devices?

Does the iPad herald a new age of connected devices, or is it “just a big iPod”? Reviews have been mixed.

Apple's iPad: With WiFi for $499; with WiFi and 3G for $629

And even if you love it, will you be willing to pay the extra $130 upfront and $29.99 per month for 3G service, or is WiFi sufficient? (Particularly given that a 3G chipset adds only $7-10 to the BOM).

I suspect WiFi is sufficient, and that the price of 3G connectivity is too steep. It is too steep, in particular, because in a new era of multiple connected devices each new device cannot come with its own expensive data plan. It is one thing to pay for home broadband ($40-50) and a smartphone data plan (~$30). It is another to add a netbook, a MiFi, a connected camera, an eReader, and/or an iPad and have each of these carrying its own contract.

Would you buy a separate data plan for each of these devices?

My family looked at netbooks for Christmas this year, and chose to buy without the subsidy and wireless broadband contract. The most common use cases for netbooks and iPads are still likely to be in places with WiFi connectivity: Home, office, hotel, café. And if you own more than one connected device, then you are better off buying a MiFi portable WiFi hub (from Verizon or Sprint) and sharing 3G connectivity across multiple devices than having a 3G connection for each device.

With this in mind, it actually could make more sense for wireline broadband providers to subsidize netbooks and iPads and connected consumer electronics than for wireless companies to do so. In our case, the netbook bundled with FiOS Internet or Comcast’s DOCSIS 3.0 service would have been more compelling than the 3G offer. For the iPad, a purchase for less than $499 with WiFi and a bundle of pre-loaded apps and services (such as Verizon Media Manager or a Comcast TV Everywhere app) from a broadband service provider would be interesting indeed.