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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
 ·Comcast
| Re: Wireless Industry Is Correct said by SD6  :Sorry, but you are wrong about this. In the US, an uncrippled phone generally costs about 50% more than it does in many other countries (where all phones are uncrippled). That doesn't mean they are not available, as people seem to think. And besides, in most other countries, you pay more for the phone because it is not subsidized by a service contract. Most people in the USA would rather buy a cheap phone and be tied to a provider than deal with the hassle of making a phone work with a different provider.
said by SD6 :And the availability and variety in the US is greatly diminished. Ebay.
said by SD6 :The phones no longer just get the subsidy lock; they are becoming locked in such a way that it requires a hack and it is technically illegal to unlock them. At worst you void your phone's warranty. No one is being arrested and persecuted for modifying their own cell phone, even if it violates the letter of a dumb law.
said by SD6 :The terms of service are restrictive, apply regardless of the device you use, and there is no way around it. Certainly, not by paying full price for a phone. Again, you can get a pre-paid phone if you don't like restrictive agreements, and if the provider pisses you off, you can throw the phone away and not have to be bothered by it anymore.
said by SD6 :The real point is the economics of the market where consumers are losing billions of dollars on service using federally granted wireless spectrum, not the technicalities of whether you CAN do an end around the various barriers to competition. But again, most cell phone customers don't care about these things. They just want a phone that works.
said by SD6 :The large cellular companies are vertical systems with operating profits of about 30%+. It prima facie is NOT a competitive market, rivaled only by some of the oil companies. What's wrong with companies making "30%+" profit? If i am a shareholder, I would want my company making infinity percent profits all the time. If companies don't make profit, they go under. If cellular as an industry was not profitable, no one would have a phone at all.
said by SD6 :It prima facie is NOT a competitive market, rivaled only by some of the oil companies. I agree here, but who allowed these mergers, in both industries? It was the government. This proves that government is part of the problem here and that more intervention by the government will make things worse.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. | |
|  nasadude
join:2001-10-05
Rockville, MD
·Comcast
| Re: Wireless Industry Is Correct said by pnh102 :...I agree here, but who allowed these mergers, in both industries? It was the government. This proves that government is part of the problem here and that more intervention by the government will make things worse. 1. run against big government and get elected
2. appoint idiots, fools and industry sycophants to positions of power in the govt
3. the idiots, fools and sycophants proceed to give industry anything it wants, with disastrous results
Voila! "the government will make things worse"
The problem here isn't "the government", it's those idiots, fools and sycophants that are running it. Government has been competent in the past and will be again (someday), when it is run by competent people. | |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| Re: Wireless Industry Is Correct said by nasadude :The problem here isn't "the government", it's those idiots, fools and sycophants that are running it. Government has been competent in the past and will be again (someday), when it is run by competent people. Government has been run like this in the USA since 1789. Keep dreaming if you think it will change.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. | |
| | | nasadude
join:2001-10-05
Rockville, MD | Re: Wireless Industry Is Correct so in your opinion, the government has never done anything good and never will? | |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| Re: Wireless Industry Is Correct said by nasadude :so in your opinion, the government has never done anything good and never will? Did I say this?
I believe that the federal government can do a great job at tackling the responsibilities with which it was tasked in the US Constitution.
Making iPhones work with Verizon is not one of those responsibilities.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. | |
| | | | | nasadude
join:2001-10-05
Rockville, MD
·Comcast
| Re: Wireless Industry Is Correct said by pnh102 :... Making iPhones work with Verizon is not one of those responsibilities. did I say this?
if the carriers weren't allowed to have closed systems, or if competition were sufficient to prevent it from happening, nobody would have to "make" the iphone work with Verizon - it would be designed to work with any carrier. In fact, I thought it already was, but it gets locked by ATT so it won't. | |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| Re: Wireless Industry Is Correct said by nasadude :if the carriers weren't allowed to have closed systems, or if competition were sufficient to prevent it from happening, nobody would have to "make" the iphone work with Verizon - it would be designed to work with any carrier. In fact, I thought it already was, but it gets locked by ATT so it won't. Well, a kid in NJ already solved this problem, with no need for government intervention.
The idea that government should mandate that the iPhone would work with Verizon or any carrier other than AT&T is ridiculous. Impose enough regulations and we won't even have a cell phone industry anymore.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. | |
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dnoyeB
Ferrous Phallus
join:2000-10-09
Southfield, MI
| Re: Wireless Industry Is Correct said by pnh102 :... The idea that government should mandate that the iPhone would work with Verizon or any carrier other than AT&T is ridiculous. Impose enough regulations and we won't even have a cell phone industry anymore. I agree with you in cases where the resource is not government granted and/or tax payer supported.
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dnoyeB
"Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom [is] despised, and his words are not heard. " Ecclesiastes 9:16
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