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Microsoft Announces First Mobile Carriers To Support Always Connected PCs (zdnet.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: The push behind the Always Connected PC vision has been ramping up in recent weeks, with manufacturers like HP, ASUS, and Lenovo all joining the fray with their own LTE PCs based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon platform. Now, Microsoft and Qualcomm have announced the first batch of mobile operators that will actively support Always Connected PCs around the world. These initial carriers will help to bring "easy and affordable connectivity plans to consumers on advanced LTE wireless networks," Microsoft and Qualcomm said in a press release. Throughout the first half of 2018 and beyond, the companies say, mobile operators in China, Italy, the UK, and the U.S. will officially support Always Connected PCs. Here's a look at the carriers you can expect to roll out support in each region: China -- China Telecom, Italy -- TIM (Telecom Italia), U.K. -- EE, U.S. -- Sprint, Verizon. In addition to supporting connected PCs on their LTE networks, you can expect each operator to stock Always Connected PCs in their retail store, Qualcomm and Microsoft say.
It's easier for Microsoft's command and control servers to "manage" your computer if they never get disconnected. I wonder what Microsoft will do when they receive a subpoena to "manage" a computer system.
I don't mind my PC being always connected. It pretty much already is. Where I'm going to get really upset is when my PC stops working properly when my internet is down for whatever reason.
Yeah, my first thought was "Microsoft probably wants your machine to be connected all the time so that they can push more ads and collect more telemetry." My second thought was, "Will they introduce some new 'feature' that makes it so these machines won't work when the Internet is unavailable?""
Given Microsoft's track record, neither would surprise me in the least.
They're like the last company selling operating systems. Everyone else just sells hardware and gives the OS away with the machine, either it be Apple's offerings, or your average Android smartphone.
I've had a general theory that Microsoft is planning to make a basic version of Windows free, and maybe even open source. Maybe not a "plan" exactly, but maybe they're entertaining the idea, and even preparing for the possibility in case they want to do it. They've been the embracing open source model more and more, and meanwhile seem to be pulling features from Windows Pro and making them Enterprise-only. I'd suspect Windows desktop licensing is a shrinking part of their revenue, and they've killed off any money coming in from Windows upgrades. The OS you use is becoming increasingly irrelevant.
I could see them making Windows Pro essentially free as a way to promote their other platforms. Meanwhile, they can collect subscription fees for Windows Enterprise, and still sell Windows Server.
The Always Connected PC is just another toll of the death knell of ownership.
Over exaggerating much? How is the idea of something being on, available and connected anything to do with ownership? Currently my desktop PC at home is and Always Connected PC. It's always on, and always connected.
Is it such a disaster to get the same level of functionality on my laptop? Does not having to whip out my phone and enable the mobile hotspot suddenly mean that someone else owns my stuff?
Get a grip.
The Adobe Design suite of tools used to be a fairly expensive product that you paid a one-time license for. Now, it's a subscription model. You just pay monthly. Forever.
You used to be able to buy a cell phone at a reasonable price, and then sign up for service. Now smartphones are so expensive that you take out a 2-year loan on them, paying for the hardware with the service. Because smartphones barely last past that agreement, you now hold a perpetual lease for phone hardware. You just pay that cost forever now. It's just "normal" now for everyone to lease a phone. Wonder how long it will take for that "normal" mentality to bleed over into car ownership? Probably not long. Peer pressure still works at all ages.
Pay one time for the Office suite of software? Nope. Now there's Office 365, your apps served to you in exchange for a monthly perpetual fee.
Pay for a DVD and own it forever? Nope, there's a monthly Netflix charge now. Buy and own CDs? Nope, pay a monthly online music streaming service. And yeah, I get the whole "but I have access to so much more". That argument falls flat when you realize you're being forced to pay for 50 channels of content you want and 500,000 channels of bullshit you don't. Oh, and don't forget the fact that content providers continue to fracture off, so you'll pay multiple vendors to get those 50 channels you want. HBO, Disney, Hulu, UFC, Netflix...the content fracturing will continue because they're winning. You continue to pay more and more because it's "cheap". The Death by 1,000 Cuts tactic will win every time because people fall for it.
Your devices will get dumber, and the cloud will get larger and larger, which you will pay forever to access the services you want. Stop paying? No more access. It's that fucking simple, and if you can't see the painfully obvious patterns regarding ownership and greed being rather addicted to proven revenue streams, I don't know what more to say other than wake up. The disaster is not functionality. The disaster is the $500/month shakedown you'll pay to the service mafia to sustain a "normal" lifestyle in the future. The Always Connected PC is just the next cut out of 1,000.