And perhaps I just want to live in the same world where they shoot the pottery barn catalog photos where a sleek notebook is the only computing device in sight, rather than having enough blinking LEDs to read by when the lights of my office are turned off :)

With the combined gadgets, there’s also more chance of problems with usability and intuitiveness.

“Motorola wasn’t able to tell me how much this device will go for or even how much it might cost to make, but Rob Malnati, a senior manager at Motorola, said it would likely be offered through the carriers as part of the current subsidized model for consumer premise equipment.”

Motorola sold off their factories under the conventional wisdom that outsourcing would save them money. The reality is that they lost the ability to apply six sigma and institute cost containment strategies and much more at the factory level. Plus, they are flat out terrible at negotiating good prices from their suppliers in China. Don’t expect to see this on the shelves at Verizon Wireless anytime soon.