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Apple Disables Egyptian iPhones' GPS
floydman writes "Apparently the Egyptian government is paranoid about its community using GPS devices, to the degree that it demanded Apple remove any GPS functionality from its iPhone 3G.
They claim that 'GPS functionality should be limited to military purposes.' Egyptian blogger Ahmed Gabr brought this issue up in another article, and talks about how this does not make sense, since Google maps and the like can be used. I also happen to know for a fact that most of the modern cars in Egypt have built-in GPS systems."
Non sequitur. There might be very few new cars, but most of that few might have GPS.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
True, but let's imagine you have a car, a tank full of gas and are lost in the middle of some desert. You have enough fuel to reach anything within 100 miles but what is within 100 miles? More important, is there anything within 100 miles (hopefully you were clever enough to only use up to half your tank's contents...)?
But let's imagine your car broke down and you're in the middle of the desert. Let's also assume you were smart enough to bring along a sat phone for emergencies (like this one). What do you want to prefer to tell a potential rescue team? "I'm in the middle of the Sahara, try to find me" or "I'm at xxxx'N, xxxx'E, come pick me up"?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Other than, say the ability to drop a UAV bomb on government buildings or open markets from hundreds of kilometers away ?
Meh it's cheaper to have a true believer strap explosives to himself and guide himself there. When you have that kind if resource at your disposal why would you pay for iphones and predator drones.
They don't fear terrorists, they fear rioters.
GPS and GSM is the first thing countries like China cut off when a riot occur.
The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
Motre or less. Plus it's not uncommon for poor countries to have a very uneven weath distribution (yes Zimbabwe, I'm looking at you). Top of the range Mercedes with all the extras for the ruling clique, and nobody else can afford a car at all.
In that case 100% of new cars have GPS, climate control and gold-plated ashtrays.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
True, but let's imagine you have a car, a tank full of gas and are lost in the middle of some desert....
Full tank? Ask the guy at the station for directions.
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