Sprint spent a lot of money on their network. And why not, right? A nice network is its own reward. Of course, the costs are murder. But when you can’t get anybody to sign up for your cell phone services (waiting for the Pre, thanks), you start to look around. And what do you find? A sea of devices waiting to be connected. Netbooks, cameras, cars, watches — all ripe for the signing.
Sprint has always liked to pick up these devices, but now that said devices are blowing up, it makes even more sense. And they’ve already got the expertise and infrastructure — why else would Amazon come to them instead of, well, anybody else? Hey, who said “low bid?” Get out of here!
Seriously, though, the number of devices someone has that need some sort of internet connection is increasing incredibly fast, and although it’s not nearly as big of a business as subscribers yet, it’s getting bigger and it’s important for “mind share” as well as market share. “Powered by Sprint” on the back of a powerful internet-enabled device will change a lot of people’s minds about what carrier they wish to join.
Does this mean I’ll finally be able to IM my coffeemaker from my bed in the morning instead of getting up?