This is interesting - ComputerWorld is reporting that netbooks (like the Asus EEE) will soon be sold the same way cell phones are: cut rate prices with a 2 year contract for the wireless connectivity. This is going to be a real game changer - and it will impact both Microsoft and Apple. MS, because vendors aren't using Vista on these machines, and Apple, because they have nothing that .lives in that space (there's a huge gap between the iPhone and the low end MacBook). Here's the important bit from the story:

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that HP is already talking to carriers about such an arrangement but didn't say which carriers. And you can bet that if HP is talking to carriers, so are the likes of Dell and Asus.

This should be interesting to watch.

Technorati Tags: windows, netbook