how-to block ads
|
|
Share Topic
 |
 |
|
|
 SeleniaI love DebianPremium
join:2006-09-22
Lanesboro, MA
kudos:2 | reply to openbox9
Re: If You Need to Load an App, Then.... said by openbox9:said by Karl Bode:some would call it crippling the embedded functionality of a smartphone Since an extraneous app is required for these tethering options, how is this likened to crippling embedded functionality? This claim continues to be bandied about, but yet it only holds merit if you consider paying money for an additional service "crippling". Wrong! Android has native tethering functionality. I have it on my uncrippled ROM, as does the rest of the world outside the United Corporations of America(I have a Captivate, but lookup whether its worldly variant, the i9000, has tethering. Heck, even look at the iphones from around the world). iOS has it natively, too(except, again in the United Corporations of America). In fact, AT&T enables this native function on both phones for a monthly ransom. The only reason these apps are useful is because of the crippling of this native functionality done by the carriers. It's like selling you half the phone the you have to give them recurring monthly extortion payments for them to let you have the rest of it aka remove the crippling they put in place. Part of it, anyways. The stock ROMs still suck even then and don't allow the user system level control. I can see a carrier lock when they are subsidizing the phone, but you pay full price in the end and it should be automatically removed when contract is up. As to saying how I can use my very limited data-that is greed. Excessive usage exits the picture essentially when they are charging people $10/GB. So, they rape you with charges and your phone with crippling. Why do you side with corporations on such obvious issues? You are a smart person, but your logic seems to fail when you hear that ca-ching!
--
A fool thinks they know everything.
A wise person knows enough to know they couldn't possibly know everything.
There are zealots for every OS, like every religion. They do not represent the majority of users for either. | |
openbox9Premium
join:2004-01-26
japan
kudos:2 | Android, iOS, and just about every modern phone OS have native SMS capabilities too. Silly telcos charging customers for premium services. You can use your device any way you want, but when you connect it to a carrier's network, you'll abide by its rules. I've stated it before, but consumers better be careful what they ask for, they might just get it. Just wait for when you're paying $60/mth for that 3GB data plan so that you can do whatever you want with, using any app. That'll be nice 
I'm not siding with corporations per se, but rather discussing reality. So far I haven't heard a real compelling argument to change my viewpoint. Consumer whining doesn't trend to sway my viewpoint much. As for ca-ching, I'm a paying customer with two Droid X's on Verizon Wireless' network, so I'm living this just as much as most consumers. | |
SeleniaI love DebianPremium
join:2006-09-22
Lanesboro, MA
kudos:2 | The sad part is some of these device restrictions do affect the device, even if it is offline. A good example given in this thread was Verizon crippling phones so that you can't transfer pictures directly to a PC. A more modern example is AT&T preventing .apk installs in Android. Let's say you downloaded the .apk, let's say an open source terminal not on the market, over wifi, then install it in hopes to easily mod a few system parameters, maybe via scripting. Then, as it would turn out, nothing to do with the app happened over their network, but they are still trying to prevent you from doing it. Does that sound right to you? The crippling goes far beyond what you do on their network with many phones. I am a happy owner of a custom ROMed Captivate. It has tethering, but I seldom ever use it. I have a Verizon Mifi for that. Still, I do much more with my phone with this custom ROM than I possibly could have with the crippled one. Guess what? Nothing I generally do even bends any of the rules in my ToS. So why should the stock ROMs not allow me to do it if what I do abides by my ToS? Lowest common denominator? While not necessarily greed, they should simply just enforce the ToS, not cripple devices to hell assuming everyone will violate the ToS. A good example is the tethering option being right in front of me at all times, but I don't use it. Only use it ever got was some testing(just curious to see if it worked well, which it did) before T introduced the tethering plans. After that short test, I turned my Mifi back on.
--
A fool thinks they know everything.
A wise person knows enough to know they couldn't possibly know everything.
There are zealots for every OS, like every religion. They do not represent the majority of users for either. | |
openbox9Premium
join:2004-01-26
japan
kudos:2 | said by Selenia:A good example given in this thread was Verizon crippling phones so that you can't transfer pictures directly to a PC. I agree, that was annoying, but that hasn't been relevant for a while now has it?said by Selenia:A more modern example is AT&T preventing .apk installs in Android. Let's say you downloaded the .apk, let's say an open source terminal not on the market, over wifi, then install it in hopes to easily mod a few system parameters, maybe via scripting. Changing most system parameters will require root, which avoids AT&T's limitation on sideloading apps. Having stated that, a vast majority of consumers will never have this issue since they'll be grabbing apps from the Market.said by Selenia:Does that sound right to you? I will agree that AT&T stepped over the line a little on blocking sideloaded apps, but I doubt that will change since as I mentioned, most consumers will even know the restriction exists.said by Selenia:So why should the stock ROMs not allow me to do it if what I do abides by my ToS? Lowest common denominator? Yes.said by Selenia:While not necessarily greed, they should simply just enforce the ToS, not cripple devices to hell assuming everyone will violate the ToS. Ask a hundred smartphone users on the street if they believe their smartphones are crippled and let me know what you find. I'm betting that a vast majority of consumers don't have any issues with their devices and are generally happy. | |
|
