Amazon.com will PAY you to buy a Sidekick II
It sounds like a bad joke, right? It is a bit odd that Amazon.com is able to get these incredible rebates that allow it to sell advanced electronic equipment for little or no money, or in this case, giving you money back. $50.01 to be exact. Of course, you also need to sign up for a 1-year contract to T-Mobile. Actually, the Sidekick ONLY works on T-Mobile, so it's not like you could ever switch to another provider.
You may have read my previous missives about the Sidekick and T-Mobile, but if not, I'll try to summarize my current thinking. The Sidekick is a nifty device. I happen to think that T-Mobile has conspired against its users by crippling it for some reason. My guess is that it is some corporate/marketing decision that wants to brand the Sidekick as a hip phone for young people that does some gaming and instant messaging, but doesn't do stuff that's too geeky, technical, or functional, because that would make it seem not as "cool," right? Blech! I do think even so, it is a great device for people who aren't that technically inclined, and really don't like tinkering and learning about new programs. It's very intuitive and easy to learn how to use. If you do get this phone, you really need to get the unlimited data plan, since the main reason to get the phone is for internet stuff like web browsing, IM'ing, etc., and the only T-Mobile data plan that will work with this is their unlimited data for $20/month. If you just want to get this device for mobile internet access and not to use as a phone, you will pay $30/month, which is actually less than what you would pay for unlimited data bundled WITH a voice plan on some carriers, like Verizon.
Considering that the cheapest you can buy a Treo 650 even with rebates is over $300, this does offer another viable solution for people who want a device oriented to real mobile internet usage. Of course the Treo 650 can do a bazillion more things than the Sidekick II, but for many people those things aren't of interest. What I think is unfortunate is that the Sidekick COULD do so much more, but T-Mobile just doesn't LET it by their refusing to offer applications that have already been developed.
Of course the recent news about Paris Hilton's Sidekick being hacked has apparently driven even more people to buy the Sidekick. T-Mobile has been courting celebrities for the Sidekick for a while now, trying again to brand it with that hip, trendy image, and of course their commercials blatantly expose this approach as well.
I may have a solution for T-Mobile's stubborn marketing department, though. How about a Sidekick geared specifically to people who can't stand how the Sidekick is being marketed? They could call it the "Danger IPNet GSM1900" and they could give it a new ugly exterior but open up the operating system and the USB port so that developers could openly create and distribute tons of applications. Yes, many of those buying the device would be over 30, but one day (if not already) we might have kids that slip into that prime target group for marketers. So don't discriminate against us or we won't buy our kids mobile phones. I guess the fact that carriers are more interested in getting new customers rather than holding onto old ones, though, indicates that they're a bit short-sighted and so my ploy wouldn't really work anyway…
Via Operation Gadget
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