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Some interesting news for you folks today. Philadelphia Media Network has announced their plans to allow subscribers to get discounted tablets in exchange for two-year membership to digital distributions of the Philadelphia Inquirer and/or the Philadelphia Daily News. The tablets will cost $99 after subsidy.
Plans for subsidizing tablets were revealed two months ago. It was originally slated to begin in August, but it seems the network had to push that date back a bit. We had no idea what sort of tablet folks would be getting for their money, but we’ve finally been enlightened.
Before you go calling up the newspaper company, consider this – it’s an Archos Arnova 10 G2 tablet. We’ve lightly covered the tablet here on Phandroid. It’s an uninspiring model with Android 2.3, a 10.1 inch display and a 1GHz processor. You’re also getting a front-facing camera.
For $99 you can’t expect a whole lot. Tablet subsidy has always been something of great desire. While we saw a bit of that starting with the original Samsung Galaxy Tab last year, subsidized prices were so inflated that you couldn’t even consider signing a two-year agreement for one at retail.
We’re willing to bet the first OEM and carrier (or newspaper or whatever) to subsidize quality Android 3.0+ tablets or $300 or less will attract a lot of business. Some tablets these days cost less than some smartphones so we’re not sure why it’s so difficult to get one in that $200-$300 price range for a two-year agreement. In any case, we’d urge all Philly newspaper subscribers to stay away from this one. [via BetaNews]
I just ordered one. Its less than I’d spend buying the paper everyday.
I think this is a really cool idea but I think that as Quentyn says, they should up the quality of the tablet.