It ASTOUNDS me, but according to rumors, Apple is considering putting 3G wireless radios (EVDO/HSDPA) in their upcoming notebook computers, but left 3G wireless out of the iPhone because “the coverage/penetration/adoption/whatever isn’t there yet. People don’t want 3G.”

Sometimes I really wonder what the folks at Cupertino are smoking.

As a long time daily user of 3G wireless (Verizon EVDO for over a year, now on Cingular HSDPA, with Sprint EVDO as a backup), why on earth would I want to have to mess around with carrying and paying for two 3G radios – one in my laptop (with its own SIM card/identity and bill) and one in my phone? Do people not realize that you can EASILY tether a 3G phone to a laptop, over Bluetooth or USB, for use as a high speed modem? I do this every time I travel. Spares me from paying for hotel internet access and saturated/slow conference WiFi. Heck, sometimes I even turn on Internet Access Sharing, and turn my Mac into a wireless access point, to share my bandwidth with others.

Why on earth would I want to pay for two 3G data plans instead of one? Why would I want to be demoted to slow (EDGE) data speeds when I’m only using my phone?

It’s a conspiracy, I tell you. Computer OEMs and cell phone carriers are in cahoots. “Hey, if we embed the 3G radio in the laptops, people will have to activate and pay for a data plan JUST FOR THE LAPTOP! That’s on top of their precious BlackBerries, Treos, and Smartphones! Genius! We’ll be rich twice as fast! Let’s just hope that no one catches on. I hear that Josh over at TinyScreenfuls.com is a troublemaker…”

sigh