All you mobile nerds are getting excited about that new Sidekick, right? Yeah, right. I’m actually shocked that T-Mobile even has plans to make a Sidekick 3 now that smartphones have become the wave of the future. If I can get an Android handset or an iPhone for the same price (or cheaper), why bother with an expensive data plan for what is essentially a hardware gimmick at this point?

It seems 471,000 consumers agree with me. That’s the number of subscribers T-Mobile has lost in the first quarter of 2011. That’s not the full story – the company did sign 372,000 to new contracts, but that’s still some 99,000 short of growth. In any case, it’s not good news. Maybe AT&T is right about the buyout. Does T-Mobile need Big Blue to keep itself afloat?