The red card at least partially acts like a real cartridge, so I highly doubt we'll ever see .3DS loading without a flashcart.UUhh... Don't forget the card is used for DRM purposes. If Gateway were to implement such a system, I'm sure they'd still require you to have the card inserted to even boot into their firmware, so the idea of "one-time install, then giving it away" sounds retarded to say the least - they're not stupid.
IMO the advantage of having a Gateway card-less way of loading a .3DS is that your battery wont be raped so quickly, as the DRM card has its own in-built CPU which apparently canes at your battery a bit. So really speaking the card would only be used to gain initial access to the CFW, then the user could remove it to save battery. Giving the card away would make absolutely no sense as you wouldn't be able to re-boot into Gateways firmware without it.
If anything, people would RE Gateways firmware to get .3DS support in open-source CFW.
The red card at least partially acts like a real cartridge, so I highly doubt we'll ever see .3DS loading without a flashcart.
Also I don't think the battery drain is anywhere near significant enough to matter. IIRC someone said there was a 5% difference, which is like 10-15 minutes. That's only significant if you're in the habit of draining the battery almost completely.
How about a 'system pop-up' notice on your Nintendo 3DS, informing you their is really truly madly deeply an update out for your GateWait device, so you don't have to keep checking on your PC and refreshing their website, and instead just enjoy playing games on your N3DS until you get the nice big 'pop-up' message from them!
Taking this a step further, how about updating GW straight from the 3DS itself?