I'm not sure the phone companies are even locking them any more [...]
Here in the US, subsidy locking is still common practice.
However, at least with the big GSM operators - AT&T and T-Mobile - you can generally call them and request the codes needed to undo the subsidy lock. You just can't do it right after you get the phone, you need to wait a couple of months. I've done that with last 3 BlackBerrys I've had through AT&T. It takes more than a week sometimes, but you don't have to fight them to get it (except when you get an idiot customer service rep). They even e-mailed me instructions on exactly how to do it.
I have no idea how the big CDMA operators (Verizon, Sprint, etc) handle this.
So saying that I "own" an iphone is disengenious, when they can legally (?) charge $20 extra for identical service.
It sounds to me like you do own your phone. The $20 more per month is what you must pay to use your phone. Granted, it's a fairly thin line, but unfortunately, that's what you get with this kind of vendor lock-in. I do agree, though, that it's an incredibly sad state of affairs.
MP3 player, calendar, organiser, GPS, ebook reader, camera, bomb, those can all converge as much as they like. Just not with anything that needs a SIM card.
I can see where you're coming from, but hey, so-called "convergence" is beneficial... Obviously the point is that it's more "convenient," as you only have to carry one thing with you instead of several.
I would personally qualify that argument: It's not generally the SIM card that exerts full control over the device. Now, I wouldn't be surprised if when AT&T turns off your iPhone's SIM card, the device is not usable. However, most other smart phones that I have experienced are pretty usable even if the SIM gets blocked or your account is terminated. Hell, my BlackBerry works pretty well even without a SIM card in it at all - I'm a nerd, so of course I tried it - I just can't do anything that requires the use of the cellular network. But I can still play the media on it, play games, use apps (that don't require data, of course), read e-mails I've already received, and take pictures and videos.
But once again, we circle back to the real point here. I'm a big believer (as I'm sure most people on/. are) that my device is my device, and I should be able to do whatever I want with it (assuming it's legal, and I'm not violating any contract that I knowingly signed).
On the other hand, I wouldn't ever try to modify the baseband on my BlackBerry... first, it's illegal... second, I actually enjoy being able to use the "connected" features it offers... and being able to make phone calls. Also, I'm not a terrorist or a whack-job.
I don't know about anyone else, but my standalone Magellan better allows for "doing as few things as possible" when I get into my car.
Let's take the simplest of GPS operations: Getting the GPS unit up and running and displaying a map with my current location on the screen.
My BlackBerry: * Unlock the keyboard * Type in the password if it's been long enough since I used it last * Scroll to my "downloads" folder * Scroll to Google Maps or whatever other GPS app and start it * Place the BlackBerry in my windshield mount * (Maybe) plug the charging cable in
My Magellan Maestro: * Turn on car.
This might be a little simpler on an iPhone. For example, maybe you could put your GPS app on the first page of your home screen, so you just have to unlock the keyboard, start the app, mount it on the windshield, and (maybe) plug in the charging cable. Still sounds like more things to do when you get into the car.
First, let's be honest, it's a phone FFS. And Apple denying certain apps (for whatever reasons, evil or otherwise) hardly constitutes control.
ALL companies are interested in their bottom line - that's kind of the point of being in business. Some companies go about it differently though, that's for sure!
And nobody is forced to buy an iPhone. Some people are okay with Apple's app store policies, some aren't. I'm part of the latter group - I was a BlackBerry user before iPhone, and I'm still a BlackBerry user. That was my choice, because I'm allowed to buy whatever phone I want.
When you call an 800 number to place an order or walk into a store, unless you hear a modem dial out, your account information is *probably* being sent over the public internet.
That doesn't mean it's necessarily insecure (the industry has serious standards they have to follow - see PCI-DSS), but it's likely that your details are going over an encrypted connection to a processor.
Many web sites use the exact same protocols to talk to the payment processors as brick and mortar stores do.
You don't have to even get the "Free" phone, you can just purchase a SIM card from most providers (I know you can do it with AT&T and T-Mobile). But of course, that doesn't reduce your monthly costs - but it may get you out of signing the 2-year contract.
XP Pro and Vista Home Premium and above do have "remote desktop" and "remote assistance" capabilities built-in. You can also install one of the multitude of freely available remote access solutions... including SSH.
I've also found that configuring GUI-based remote access on Windows (with Remote Desktop) is easier than on Linux... walking the user through that would probably be easier.
I agree fully with that. I have friends who complain about reception in various places, and I almost always have reception in places they don't... even though we're on the same provider.
Another thing to note is that some of those lower-end phones might not support all of the frequencies (for example, some GSM phones in North America only do 1900MHz, but most of the providers use both 850MHz and 1900MHz).
Am I the only person who replaces his keyboards on a yearly basis? I'll admit it, I eat at my desk... and my keyboards get dirty... so I just replace them every year.
I've got two laptops, a Dell for home and an HP at work. When I can, I use an external keyboard, they tend to be more comfortable to me for some reason.... but the laptop keyboards aren't that bad.
What I really hate about laptops is the damn track pads and nipple mice (or whatever the pointer in the keyboard is called). I can't stand those. I always carry a small portable mouse in my laptop bag and I have an external trackball on my desk.
I'll give you kudos to the old Microsoft pointing devices. I go through keyboards fast (I get fed up with how dirty they get and replace all my keyboards about once a year).... but I've had this Microsoft Trackball Optical (the big one, with the ball on the left side, and back/forward buttons and a scroll wheel) for probably 10 years now. It's the best trackball I've ever used. I do not look forward to the day this thing dies, the closest second is the Logitech TrackMan Wheel, but it just doesn't feel quite as good.
The only legitimate use for the NUM Lock key is so you can tell if your computer is frozen. I don't think I have ever pressed that button for any other purpose.
As for my keyboard, I'll just throw this in here: I have a cheapo Microsoft "Comfort Curve" keyboard at home, and a Natural Keyboard Elite 4000 at work... I like both of them. The nice thing about the Comfort Curve keyboard is that it is spill resistant, and cost $20. Oh, and it's comfortable too...
"WE DO NOT GUARANTEE YOU UNINTERRUPTED SERVICE OR COVERAGE. WE CANNOT ASSURE YOU THAT IF YOU PLACE A 911 CALL YOU WILL BE FOUND." [...]
They then go on to basically say that they are not liable for any interruptions in their service for pretty much any reason.
They do state, however, that if your service is interrupted for more than 24 hours, you can call them and ask for a refund.
My experience is that even if you're out for less than 24 hours, they'll sometimes give you a small refund if you just ask nicely.
Basically, with cell providers (and consumer-grade ISPs, and anyone else that normally provides a continuous service), they obviously want to have as close to 100% uptime as they possibly can, but they don't want to be sued if they don't. These clauses in the contract prevent them from being sued... but they can't prevent them from losing customers. What keeps them as reliable as they (normally) are, is market forces. If you're too unreliable, you'll lose customers.
My ISP, who will go nameless, is a great example... Now, they've been incredibly reliable for me, but when I signed up and read their terms of service, it basically says that they could provide zero uptime for an entire billing period, and you still have to pay them. Again, I really think that's just so they can't be sued, and I have no doubt that they make every effort to keep their network up and running as well as possible.
I agree. Although cell phones are generally very reliable, land lines rarely go out. I still have a land line (although I have no phone connected to it), I've got the most basic calling plan which is about $15/month. I have a phone nearby that I can connect to it if I need to call 911 and my blackberry is out.
There are two things at play here: The ability to control network selection on the handset, and what the cellular networks allow you to do.
On GSM devices, there's a flag on the SIM card that tells your phone whether or not to show you the "manual network selection" menu. With AT&T, their SIM cards are configured to disable this menu when you're in the US, but enable it when outside the US.
However, on many devices, you can force them to ignore the SIM setting and have manual network selection enabled always. With Motorola phones, you can do it via SEEM editing, and there's obviously a way to do it on Symbian as well. This is what Lumpy is doing.
Shakrai, what you're talking about is the actual roaming agreements between providers. This also affects network selection. Providers can specify which phones are allowed on their network. Legally, all phones must be allowed to associate with all GSM towers to provide 911 capability, but they can be limited to just that. For example, when I only have T-Mobile coverage, my AT&T BlackBerry shows "SOS" where the signal bars usually are.
AT&T and T-Mobile have been doing this for a while. They had roaming agreements where specific cell sites would allow the other operator's phones in areas where the other operator's coverage was spotty.
So when Lumpy uses manual network selection on his phone, which he had to enable by modifying something, the rules that the operators set forth on their networks still apply. If he tries to associate with a T-Mobile tower in certain areas, he will most likely get locked out, but in other areas he may not.
Most of the holsters and cases made for blackberrys (and all of the holsters and cases made by RIM for blackberrys) have a special magnet in them that automatically locks the keys when the device is in the holster.
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I'm not sure the phone companies are even locking them any more [...]
Here in the US, subsidy locking is still common practice.
However, at least with the big GSM operators - AT&T and T-Mobile - you can generally call them and request the codes needed to undo the subsidy lock. You just can't do it right after you get the phone, you need to wait a couple of months. I've done that with last 3 BlackBerrys I've had through AT&T. It takes more than a week sometimes, but you don't have to fight them to get it (except when you get an idiot customer service rep). They even e-mailed me instructions on exactly how to do it.
I have no idea how the big CDMA operators (Verizon, Sprint, etc) handle this.
So saying that I "own" an iphone is disengenious, when they can legally (?) charge $20 extra for identical service.
It sounds to me like you do own your phone. The $20 more per month is what you must pay to use your phone. Granted, it's a fairly thin line, but unfortunately, that's what you get with this kind of vendor lock-in. I do agree, though, that it's an incredibly sad state of affairs.
MP3 player, calendar, organiser, GPS, ebook reader, camera, bomb, those can all converge as much as they like. Just not with anything that needs a SIM card.
I can see where you're coming from, but hey, so-called "convergence" is beneficial... Obviously the point is that it's more "convenient," as you only have to carry one thing with you instead of several.
I would personally qualify that argument: It's not generally the SIM card that exerts full control over the device. Now, I wouldn't be surprised if when AT&T turns off your iPhone's SIM card, the device is not usable. However, most other smart phones that I have experienced are pretty usable even if the SIM gets blocked or your account is terminated. Hell, my BlackBerry works pretty well even without a SIM card in it at all - I'm a nerd, so of course I tried it - I just can't do anything that requires the use of the cellular network. But I can still play the media on it, play games, use apps (that don't require data, of course), read e-mails I've already received, and take pictures and videos.
But once again, we circle back to the real point here. I'm a big believer (as I'm sure most people on /. are) that my device is my device, and I should be able to do whatever I want with it (assuming it's legal, and I'm not violating any contract that I knowingly signed).
On the other hand, I wouldn't ever try to modify the baseband on my BlackBerry... first, it's illegal... second, I actually enjoy being able to use the "connected" features it offers... and being able to make phone calls. Also, I'm not a terrorist or a whack-job.
I don't know about anyone else, but my standalone Magellan better allows for "doing as few things as possible" when I get into my car.
Let's take the simplest of GPS operations: Getting the GPS unit up and running and displaying a map with my current location on the screen.
My BlackBerry:
* Unlock the keyboard
* Type in the password if it's been long enough since I used it last
* Scroll to my "downloads" folder
* Scroll to Google Maps or whatever other GPS app and start it
* Place the BlackBerry in my windshield mount
* (Maybe) plug the charging cable in
My Magellan Maestro:
* Turn on car.
This might be a little simpler on an iPhone. For example, maybe you could put your GPS app on the first page of your home screen, so you just have to unlock the keyboard, start the app, mount it on the windshield, and (maybe) plug in the charging cable. Still sounds like more things to do when you get into the car.
Put them in aeroplane mode?
Most of the smart phone GPS apps out there do not store their map information on the device itself and require a data connection to work.
There are an increasing number of applications that do not require this, but a large portion of them still do.
Oh come on. Not all people who use Apple products are ignoramuses.
First, let's be honest, it's a phone FFS. And Apple denying certain apps (for whatever reasons, evil or otherwise) hardly constitutes control.
ALL companies are interested in their bottom line - that's kind of the point of being in business. Some companies go about it differently though, that's for sure!
And nobody is forced to buy an iPhone. Some people are okay with Apple's app store policies, some aren't. I'm part of the latter group - I was a BlackBerry user before iPhone, and I'm still a BlackBerry user. That was my choice, because I'm allowed to buy whatever phone I want.
When you call an 800 number to place an order or walk into a store, unless you hear a modem dial out, your account information is *probably* being sent over the public internet.
That doesn't mean it's necessarily insecure (the industry has serious standards they have to follow - see PCI-DSS), but it's likely that your details are going over an encrypted connection to a processor.
Many web sites use the exact same protocols to talk to the payment processors as brick and mortar stores do.
First, it's old news, they've always done this on DRMed and DRM-Free tracks.
Second... what's wrong with putting your name on things you own? Remember when your mom made wrote your name on the tags of all your clothes? :)
Yep - just ask for a SIM card instead of a phone. The salesperson should know what you're talking about.
You don't have to even get the "Free" phone, you can just purchase a SIM card from most providers (I know you can do it with AT&T and T-Mobile). But of course, that doesn't reduce your monthly costs - but it may get you out of signing the 2-year contract.
XP Pro and Vista Home Premium and above do have "remote desktop" and "remote assistance" capabilities built-in. You can also install one of the multitude of freely available remote access solutions... including SSH.
I've also found that configuring GUI-based remote access on Windows (with Remote Desktop) is easier than on Linux... walking the user through that would probably be easier.
I agree fully with that. I have friends who complain about reception in various places, and I almost always have reception in places they don't... even though we're on the same provider.
Another thing to note is that some of those lower-end phones might not support all of the frequencies (for example, some GSM phones in North America only do 1900MHz, but most of the providers use both 850MHz and 1900MHz).
Probably. But then how would you know if your computer is frozen?
Am I the only person who replaces his keyboards on a yearly basis? I'll admit it, I eat at my desk... and my keyboards get dirty... so I just replace them every year.
I've got two laptops, a Dell for home and an HP at work. When I can, I use an external keyboard, they tend to be more comfortable to me for some reason.... but the laptop keyboards aren't that bad.
What I really hate about laptops is the damn track pads and nipple mice (or whatever the pointer in the keyboard is called). I can't stand those. I always carry a small portable mouse in my laptop bag and I have an external trackball on my desk.
I'll give you kudos to the old Microsoft pointing devices. I go through keyboards fast (I get fed up with how dirty they get and replace all my keyboards about once a year).... but I've had this Microsoft Trackball Optical (the big one, with the ball on the left side, and back/forward buttons and a scroll wheel) for probably 10 years now. It's the best trackball I've ever used. I do not look forward to the day this thing dies, the closest second is the Logitech TrackMan Wheel, but it just doesn't feel quite as good.
Wow, I guess land line service isn't reliable everywhere. I had always figured it was!
The only legitimate use for the NUM Lock key is so you can tell if your computer is frozen. I don't think I have ever pressed that button for any other purpose.
As for my keyboard, I'll just throw this in here: I have a cheapo Microsoft "Comfort Curve" keyboard at home, and a Natural Keyboard Elite 4000 at work... I like both of them. The nice thing about the Comfort Curve keyboard is that it is spill resistant, and cost $20. Oh, and it's comfortable too...
Yep -
All service providers have clauses in their contracts that get them out of liability for these situations. From AT&T's wireless service agreement (go to http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/articles-resources/wireless-terms.jsp, then click on "Terms of Service"):
"WE DO NOT GUARANTEE YOU UNINTERRUPTED SERVICE OR COVERAGE. WE CANNOT ASSURE YOU THAT IF YOU PLACE A 911 CALL YOU WILL BE FOUND."
[...]
They then go on to basically say that they are not liable for any interruptions in their service for pretty much any reason.
They do state, however, that if your service is interrupted for more than 24 hours, you can call them and ask for a refund.
My experience is that even if you're out for less than 24 hours, they'll sometimes give you a small refund if you just ask nicely.
Basically, with cell providers (and consumer-grade ISPs, and anyone else that normally provides a continuous service), they obviously want to have as close to 100% uptime as they possibly can, but they don't want to be sued if they don't. These clauses in the contract prevent them from being sued... but they can't prevent them from losing customers. What keeps them as reliable as they (normally) are, is market forces. If you're too unreliable, you'll lose customers.
My ISP, who will go nameless, is a great example... Now, they've been incredibly reliable for me, but when I signed up and read their terms of service, it basically says that they could provide zero uptime for an entire billing period, and you still have to pay them. Again, I really think that's just so they can't be sued, and I have no doubt that they make every effort to keep their network up and running as well as possible.
I agree. Although cell phones are generally very reliable, land lines rarely go out. I still have a land line (although I have no phone connected to it), I've got the most basic calling plan which is about $15/month. I have a phone nearby that I can connect to it if I need to call 911 and my blackberry is out.
There are two things at play here: The ability to control network selection on the handset, and what the cellular networks allow you to do.
On GSM devices, there's a flag on the SIM card that tells your phone whether or not to show you the "manual network selection" menu. With AT&T, their SIM cards are configured to disable this menu when you're in the US, but enable it when outside the US.
However, on many devices, you can force them to ignore the SIM setting and have manual network selection enabled always. With Motorola phones, you can do it via SEEM editing, and there's obviously a way to do it on Symbian as well. This is what Lumpy is doing.
Shakrai, what you're talking about is the actual roaming agreements between providers. This also affects network selection. Providers can specify which phones are allowed on their network. Legally, all phones must be allowed to associate with all GSM towers to provide 911 capability, but they can be limited to just that. For example, when I only have T-Mobile coverage, my AT&T BlackBerry shows "SOS" where the signal bars usually are.
AT&T and T-Mobile have been doing this for a while. They had roaming agreements where specific cell sites would allow the other operator's phones in areas where the other operator's coverage was spotty.
So when Lumpy uses manual network selection on his phone, which he had to enable by modifying something, the rules that the operators set forth on their networks still apply. If he tries to associate with a T-Mobile tower in certain areas, he will most likely get locked out, but in other areas he may not.
These people provide my benefits.
Time to start ordering credit reports every month, yay!!
Most of the holsters and cases made for blackberrys (and all of the holsters and cases made by RIM for blackberrys) have a special magnet in them that automatically locks the keys when the device is in the holster.
Agreed. I'm on my 3rd personal blackberry (which i'm verry happy with), but I do remember getting a work blackberry replaced.
"I'm sorry, boss, but my Blackberry doesn't work in the pool."