If the networks in the US can not handle something as simple as tethering, then they are in sad shape. Why does it have to cost for a service that all other operators allow for free?
What other operators are allowing tethering for free?
I don't give a flying fig about CDMA versus GSM. I was just commenting on Nokia's lack of effort in the USA. There's a reason most of the board don't really know about or care about Nokia. It's amply demonstrated with the 7% marketshare figure (a downward trend too). It's amply demonstrated with Nokia only offering a small fraction of their portfolio through American carriers, selling N-series phones unsubsidized, and not even trying for the CDMA market (which is half the market, but I understand the business reason for not doing so).
Samsung, LG and Motorola are better regarded here among consumers, let alone RIM.
Then why did you raise CDMA if you don't give a fig about it?
The reason they don't try in the CDMA market (you raised it again) is because Qualcomm stopped them from doing so. Also from the fact that internationally the CDMA (2000 style cdma) use is declining with a number of countries removing the networks and changing to GSM based networks.
Also, selling the phones unsubsidised has something to do with the network providers as well, as they have to subsidise them
Well actually you are wrong. There are a number of basic phones that have things like BT, or IRDA, which can be used to tether a device to the phone for data (say for SFA applications).
Also, for most business users, the companies want them to have basic features, the majority don't need data, don't need a fancy interface, don't need installable applications. They need a device that can make phones calls, and receive text messages. They don't like them spending unnecessary money.
Why don't they write that app for the iphone then I hear you say, hmm, background applications work really well when someone rings you...
I consider the iPhone a failure in the same way i consider Apple screwing up their other products, especially in Europe, they try and continue with an American sales method, which doesn't work here
Well, if selling one million 3G iPhone in just 2 days is a failure and if a 25% to 30% year to year computers sale increase is a failure then I would love you to tell me what you consider a success!!
It is common business sense to focus in areas where your sales are high and US represent 50% of Apple total sales. Even Apple can't make international transition overnight.
Well, if selling one million 3G iPhone in just 2 days is a failure and if a 25% to 30% year to year computers sale increase is a failure then I would love you to tell me what you consider a success!!
And in which market did they do the majority of those sales?
What other operators are allowing tethering for free?
Hi Jeff,
All of my co-workers, including myself, that have purchased and iPhone, also have a second phone that tethers with our personal laptops or work computers. Right now I have co-workers in: Belgium, Spain, France, Qatar, Germany, The UK, Poland, Czech, Estonia, Israel and a few other countries and they are all tethering their devices and phones. They purchase a local card with data and away it goes.
I was reading that Apple and AT&T are being sued for locking the phones. I hope the suit pushes them to simply unlock the phones so that it can be realized for its full potential. If AT&T was such a great network then they would not be afraid to compete. Service speaks.
I have been browsing this forum for a bit off and on and it never ceases to amaze me that people will defend AT&T and Apples practices as though they are doing us a favor by selling us products and services. We have the money, they should come to us for it. Not the other way around.
Quite a lot, although not for free (you still have to pay for the data usage, not additional to for tethering)
Exactly my point.
Charging for tethering is like charging someone for breathing but the fact remains, American cell phone users will pay for it, so why not let the operators screw them over?
Well, if selling one million 3G iPhone in just 2 days is a failure and if a 25% to 30% year to year computers sale increase is a failure then I would love you to tell me what you consider a success!!
It is common business sense to focus in areas where your sales are high and US represent 50% of Apple total sales. Even Apple can't make international transition overnight.
You are correct in your assessment, however the problem with Apple is that they are trying to force a US biz model on the rest of the world and this will not fly.
Why not allow non-US carriers to have the ability to tether the iPhone to laptops, or other devices? Why not enable bluetooth so that it really functions, rather than just supporting the headset profile? It is as though Apple is dumbing down things for consumers or Apple considers consumers to stupid to use more sophisticated functions and services.
BTW, I do not think Apple is trying to make an international transition. They want thing to transition to Apple.
Charging for tethering is like charging someone for breathing but the fact remains, American cell phone users will pay for it, so why not let the operators screw them over?
I wanted to make sure you weren't comparing something like DSL with cellular internet.
It's great if you aren't charged extra for tethered use. However, I do understand why the US operators would want to charge more for a notebook unlimited plan vs. a phone unlimited plan, it's much easier to be a heavy data user on a notebook than it is on a phone for the same amount of time. I might very well use a thousand times the data on my computer as I do on my phone. If they only charged by amount of data used, then a different price per bit for data on a phone vs. data on a notebook using the same network is silly.
It's great if you aren't charged extra for tethered use. However, I do understand why the US operators would want to charge more for a notebook unlimited plan vs. a phone unlimited plan, it's much easier to be a heavy data user on a notebook than it is on a phone for the same amount of time. I might very well use a thousand times the data on my computer as I do on my phone. If they only charged by amount of data used, then a different price per bit for data on a phone vs. data on a notebook using the same network is silly.
NO. I am talking about unlimited GSM/3G data.
I guess we will have to agree to disagree. I think there is nothing wrong with an unlimited data plan. PERIOD. Data is data. If they operators that charge have crappy networks that can not handle that bandwidth then this is their fault. I don't make excuses for them. For AT&T to go this route simply shows that their network is a piece of crap.
Addabox, is there a correlation between the number of post's one has, and the breadth and depth of their knowledge? would it be more 'classy', in your opinion, if i waited for 3 or 4 posts and then declared myself an 'expert', which incidentally...I didn't. It was stated in my post for precisely this reason. 'Fanboys' take irrational swipes at anyone who voices an opinion which differs from theirs.
i'm not imposing my opinion upon anyone; I'm merely telling everyone to hold back the hounds because i'm not an 'applehater'
THT,
1. I'm not a nokia fan.
2. I didn't say nokia is a 'has been' or a 'never was'. I said they're the largest cellphone company in the world. I doubt you can refute that.
3. I didn't say there were any subsidized N-series phones in the U.S
4. Nor did i say how much they are / will be subsidized by.
What i did say, and i will reiterate here, is that the 58xx series has historically been a low to mid range phone with emphasis on music. I didn't say the tube was going to compete with the iphone because in the past, it has not been a smartphone. I'm not saying that Nokia will dent the u.s market. What i am saying....is that nokia is going to sell a ton of these phones.
My previous post was based on facts. if you want a debate, a debatable observation is that in the past, nokia hasn't been popular in the u.s because the u.s market prefers flip phone / clam shell devices, which nokia doesn't have too many of in their lineup. we can sit and lock horns about that (constructively) all day long.
Yes I did, I answered it with a question, namely, where were did these sales take place?
Success is success. If you are making a 30% growth globally when everyone else is declining then you are making something exceptional, don't you agree? You cannot say Apple is doing good products for the US only because they have 50% of their sales in the US!! Apple might not be making the same sales overseas but they are not losing money overseas either.
[/QUOTE]Apple have been in business for a long time now, they are not a start up, they have had a lot of "overnights" to move into the international market.[/QUOTE]
True, but you seem to forget that Apple almost went bankrupt 10 years ago! they have been in business but they have been struggling to stay in business with less than 1% PC market. Look at them now, they are at almost 7% and doing much better than the competition. Don't you think maybe the are doing something right?!
Even with Edge and no official third party access, the 1st generation iPhone had 19.5% marketshare in the US in 2007 (Since it was only available at the US in 2007). Maybe Apple is not doing much overseas for some people, but that doesn't mean their products are not innovative and a head of the competition.
Success is success. If you are making a 30% growth globally when everyone else is declining then you are making something exceptional, don't you agree? You cannot say Apple is doing good products for the US only because they have 50% of their sales in the US!! Apple might not be making the same sales overseas but they are not losing money overseas either.
In what product line did they have a 30% international growth in?
Maybe the price they try and charge for some of there overseas market helps with their money making
Quote:
Originally Posted by NasserAE
True, but you seem to forget that Apple almost went bankrupt 10 years ago! they have been in business but they have been struggling to stay in business with less than 1% PC market. Look at them now, they are at almost 7% and doing much better than the competition. Don't you think maybe the are doing something right?!
They moved to the high priced sales area, you get enough people paying extra for a machine (me included) and you can make a profit (eg BMW etc)
Quote:
Originally Posted by NasserAE
Even with Edge and no official third party access, the 1st generation iPhone had 19.5% marketshare in the US in 2007 (Since it was only available at the US in 2007). Maybe Apple is not doing much overseas for some people, but that doesn't mean their products are not innovative and a head of the competition.
Only in the smartphone side of things, for all phone sales they are barely 1% (it was all phones that Steve mentioned in his little talk).
And what is the point if you product is that much better than the competitions if you can't sell it?
Addabox, is there a correlation between the number of post's one has, and the breadth and depth of their knowledge? would it be more 'classy', in your opinion, if i waited for 3 or 4 posts and then declared myself an 'expert', which incidentally...I didn't. It was stated in my post for precisely this reason. 'Fanboys' take irrational swipes at anyone who voices an opinion which differs from theirs.
i'm not imposing my opinion upon anyone; I'm merely telling everyone to hold back the hounds because i'm not an 'applehater'
THT,
1. I'm not a nokia fan.
2. I didn't say nokia is a 'has been' or a 'never was'. I said they're the largest cellphone company in the world. I doubt you can refute that.
3. I didn't say there were any subsidized N-series phones in the U.S
4. Nor did i say how much they are / will be subsidized by.
What i did say, and i will reiterate here, is that the 58xx series has historically been a low to mid range phone with emphasis on music. I didn't say the tube was going to compete with the iphone because in the past, it has not been a smartphone. I'm not saying that Nokia will dent the u.s market. What i am saying....is that nokia is going to sell a ton of these phones.
My previous post was based on facts. if you want a debate, a debatable observation is that in the past, nokia hasn't been popular in the u.s because the u.s market prefers flip phone / clam shell devices, which nokia doesn't have too many of in their lineup. we can sit and lock horns about that (constructively) all day long.
@ GenericPosts,
thank you.
Make no mistake, this is a fanboy site without exception. There are several here that can argue a point without becoming emotional but many to most can not. In many cases facts never come into play. Just that "Apple rulz" and others are crap. Apple products get benefit of the doubt while other products don't get this luxury. Now I know how Obama feels.
As for the 58xx, it will sell by the boatload to the very same people that do not want an iPhone. This is one thing that is NEVER taken into account. There are actually people who do not want an iPhone. It would be safe to say that there are more people not wanting an iPhone than those that do, and this is the market that the 58xx series will appeal to. These are the people that will see the 58xx series as a low to middle end phone that is more complete than the iPhone. With the ability to add any software you like, tethering, a complete VoIP solution (not just VoIP via wifi), and being unlocked, this will appear to most as a more complete and compelling package. The keys selling points for me are the unlocked sim, the tethering, and VoIP, not to mention more robust telephony. To respond, and they must, Apple will be forced to address the basics that I mentioned above.
I wasn't intending to insult the US cell phone industry. I am just stating facts. If the facts come across as insults, I would say that you need to get with your cell operators and have them fix the facts.
You didn't state any facts. You stated an opinion as to why Nokia doesn't do well in the US market. At least yb1 gave a decent opinion (Nokia doesn't do flip phones) of why while yours was a rather laughable: Nokia is just doing the minimum or the USA market isn't worth the effort.
Quote:
I know that VoIP over wifi is available. But this is limited. I do not happen to have a wifi base station in my pocket, but I have a ubiquitous cell network that is everywhere. If the networks in the US can not handle something as simple as tethering, then they are in sad shape. Why does it have to cost for a service that all other operators allow for free? To simply shrug this off as the way the game is play, sort of makes you part of the problem, not part of the solution. Operators are in biz because of us, not in spite of us. Try a one week, or even one day boycott of making cell calls and see how they respond.
I'm pretty sure a boycott of making cell calls will pretty much do nothing. Try not renewing a cell phone contract or not buying a cell phone instead. Moreover, like is done elsewhere, it can only be done through legislative fiat. Unfortunately, carrier behavior is the least thing on our government's minds.
All of my co-workers, including myself, that have purchased and iPhone, also have a second phone that tethers with our personal laptops or work computers. Right now I have co-workers in: Belgium, Spain, France, Qatar, Germany, The UK, Poland, Czech, Estonia, Israel and a few other countries and they are all tethering their devices and phones. They purchase a local card with data and away it goes.
Please name an operator, and the plan as well. Business plan? Consumer plan? Pay as you go? I'm curious.
Also, what kind of card? SIM card? PC Card?
My work phone, obviously a business plan, allows me to tether, but it comes at a cost of at least 15+ dollars more than consumer data plan.
Quote:
I was reading that Apple and AT&T are being sued for locking the phones. I hope the suit pushes them to simply unlock the phones so that it can be realized for its full potential. If AT&T was such a great network then they would not be afraid to compete. Service speaks.
That's not what the suit is about. It's perfectly legal to lock phones here in the USA. It's also legal here to unlock phones (at least until the DCMA exemptions expire in 2009), it's just that the carriers don't really advertise it and don't out of their way to advertise it.
Quote:
I have been browsing this forum for a bit off and on and it never ceases to amaze me that people will defend AT&T and Apples practices as though they are doing us a favor by selling us products and services. We have the money, they should come to us for it. Not the other way around.
You do realize this is Appleinsider? What are you expecting? It's really not that odd. You can go to Crackberry.com, TreoCentral.com, Symbian-Freak, AllAboutSymbian, MSmobiles.com and witness the same fan behavior. For the most part, Apple forums are interesting and lively due to lots of people participating. The other sites, not so much participation, hence, not so fun. I'm sure you're more than welcome to go the other sites and say Blackberries suck, Nokia sucks or MS sucks all you want. Just don't expect people to play nicey-nicey with you.
Comments
If the networks in the US can not handle something as simple as tethering, then they are in sad shape. Why does it have to cost for a service that all other operators allow for free?
What other operators are allowing tethering for free?
I don't give a flying fig about CDMA versus GSM. I was just commenting on Nokia's lack of effort in the USA. There's a reason most of the board don't really know about or care about Nokia. It's amply demonstrated with the 7% marketshare figure (a downward trend too). It's amply demonstrated with Nokia only offering a small fraction of their portfolio through American carriers, selling N-series phones unsubsidized, and not even trying for the CDMA market (which is half the market, but I understand the business reason for not doing so).
Samsung, LG and Motorola are better regarded here among consumers, let alone RIM.
Then why did you raise CDMA if you don't give a fig about it?
The reason they don't try in the CDMA market (you raised it again) is because Qualcomm stopped them from doing so. Also from the fact that internationally the CDMA (2000 style cdma) use is declining with a number of countries removing the networks and changing to GSM based networks.
Also, selling the phones unsubsidised has something to do with the network providers as well, as they have to subsidise them
Well actually you are wrong. There are a number of basic phones that have things like BT, or IRDA, which can be used to tether a device to the phone for data (say for SFA applications).
Also, for most business users, the companies want them to have basic features, the majority don't need data, don't need a fancy interface, don't need installable applications. They need a device that can make phones calls, and receive text messages. They don't like them spending unnecessary money.
Why don't they write that app for the iphone then I hear you say, hmm, background applications work really well when someone rings you...
I consider the iPhone a failure in the same way i consider Apple screwing up their other products, especially in Europe, they try and continue with an American sales method, which doesn't work here
Well, if selling one million 3G iPhone in just 2 days is a failure and if a 25% to 30% year to year computers sale increase is a failure then I would love you to tell me what you consider a success!!
It is common business sense to focus in areas where your sales are high and US represent 50% of Apple total sales. Even Apple can't make international transition overnight.
What other operators are allowing tethering for free?
Quite a lot, although not for free (you still have to pay for the data usage, not additional to for tethering)
Well, if selling one million 3G iPhone in just 2 days is a failure and if a 25% to 30% year to year computers sale increase is a failure then I would love you to tell me what you consider a success!!
And in which market did they do the majority of those sales?
What other operators are allowing tethering for free?
Hi Jeff,
All of my co-workers, including myself, that have purchased and iPhone, also have a second phone that tethers with our personal laptops or work computers. Right now I have co-workers in: Belgium, Spain, France, Qatar, Germany, The UK, Poland, Czech, Estonia, Israel and a few other countries and they are all tethering their devices and phones. They purchase a local card with data and away it goes.
I was reading that Apple and AT&T are being sued for locking the phones. I hope the suit pushes them to simply unlock the phones so that it can be realized for its full potential. If AT&T was such a great network then they would not be afraid to compete. Service speaks.
I have been browsing this forum for a bit off and on and it never ceases to amaze me that people will defend AT&T and Apples practices as though they are doing us a favor by selling us products and services. We have the money, they should come to us for it. Not the other way around.
Quite a lot, although not for free (you still have to pay for the data usage, not additional to for tethering)
Exactly my point.
Charging for tethering is like charging someone for breathing but the fact remains, American cell phone users will pay for it, so why not let the operators screw them over?
And in which market did they do the majority of those sales?
You still didn't answer my question!
Well, if selling one million 3G iPhone in just 2 days is a failure and if a 25% to 30% year to year computers sale increase is a failure then I would love you to tell me what you consider a success!!
It is common business sense to focus in areas where your sales are high and US represent 50% of Apple total sales. Even Apple can't make international transition overnight.
You are correct in your assessment, however the problem with Apple is that they are trying to force a US biz model on the rest of the world and this will not fly.
Why not allow non-US carriers to have the ability to tether the iPhone to laptops, or other devices? Why not enable bluetooth so that it really functions, rather than just supporting the headset profile? It is as though Apple is dumbing down things for consumers or Apple considers consumers to stupid to use more sophisticated functions and services.
BTW, I do not think Apple is trying to make an international transition. They want thing to transition to Apple.
And in which market did they do the majority of those sales?
Was it the US market?
Exactly my point.
Charging for tethering is like charging someone for breathing but the fact remains, American cell phone users will pay for it, so why not let the operators screw them over?
I wanted to make sure you weren't comparing something like DSL with cellular internet.
It's great if you aren't charged extra for tethered use. However, I do understand why the US operators would want to charge more for a notebook unlimited plan vs. a phone unlimited plan, it's much easier to be a heavy data user on a notebook than it is on a phone for the same amount of time. I might very well use a thousand times the data on my computer as I do on my phone. If they only charged by amount of data used, then a different price per bit for data on a phone vs. data on a notebook using the same network is silly.
It's great if you aren't charged extra for tethered use. However, I do understand why the US operators would want to charge more for a notebook unlimited plan vs. a phone unlimited plan, it's much easier to be a heavy data user on a notebook than it is on a phone for the same amount of time. I might very well use a thousand times the data on my computer as I do on my phone. If they only charged by amount of data used, then a different price per bit for data on a phone vs. data on a notebook using the same network is silly.
NO. I am talking about unlimited GSM/3G data.
I guess we will have to agree to disagree. I think there is nothing wrong with an unlimited data plan. PERIOD. Data is data. If they operators that charge have crappy networks that can not handle that bandwidth then this is their fault. I don't make excuses for them. For AT&T to go this route simply shows that their network is a piece of crap.
i'm not imposing my opinion upon anyone; I'm merely telling everyone to hold back the hounds because i'm not an 'applehater'
THT,
1. I'm not a nokia fan.
2. I didn't say nokia is a 'has been' or a 'never was'. I said they're the largest cellphone company in the world. I doubt you can refute that.
3. I didn't say there were any subsidized N-series phones in the U.S
4. Nor did i say how much they are / will be subsidized by.
What i did say, and i will reiterate here, is that the 58xx series has historically been a low to mid range phone with emphasis on music. I didn't say the tube was going to compete with the iphone because in the past, it has not been a smartphone. I'm not saying that Nokia will dent the u.s market. What i am saying....is that nokia is going to sell a ton of these phones.
My previous post was based on facts. if you want a debate, a debatable observation is that in the past, nokia hasn't been popular in the u.s because the u.s market prefers flip phone / clam shell devices, which nokia doesn't have too many of in their lineup. we can sit and lock horns about that (constructively) all day long.
@ GenericPosts,
thank you.
You still didn't answer my question!
Yes I did, I answered it with a question, namely, where were did these sales take place?
You said
Even Apple can't make international transition overnight
Apple have been in business for a long time now, they are not a start up, they have had a lot of "overnights" to move into the international market.
Yes I did, I answered it with a question, namely, where were did these sales take place?
Success is success. If you are making a 30% growth globally when everyone else is declining then you are making something exceptional, don't you agree? You cannot say Apple is doing good products for the US only because they have 50% of their sales in the US!! Apple might not be making the same sales overseas but they are not losing money overseas either.
[/QUOTE]Apple have been in business for a long time now, they are not a start up, they have had a lot of "overnights" to move into the international market.[/QUOTE]
True, but you seem to forget that Apple almost went bankrupt 10 years ago! they have been in business but they have been struggling to stay in business with less than 1% PC market. Look at them now, they are at almost 7% and doing much better than the competition. Don't you think maybe the are doing something right?!
Even with Edge and no official third party access, the 1st generation iPhone had 19.5% marketshare in the US in 2007 (Since it was only available at the US in 2007). Maybe Apple is not doing much overseas for some people, but that doesn't mean their products are not innovative and a head of the competition.
Success is success. If you are making a 30% growth globally when everyone else is declining then you are making something exceptional, don't you agree? You cannot say Apple is doing good products for the US only because they have 50% of their sales in the US!! Apple might not be making the same sales overseas but they are not losing money overseas either.
In what product line did they have a 30% international growth in?
Maybe the price they try and charge for some of there overseas market helps with their money making
True, but you seem to forget that Apple almost went bankrupt 10 years ago! they have been in business but they have been struggling to stay in business with less than 1% PC market. Look at them now, they are at almost 7% and doing much better than the competition. Don't you think maybe the are doing something right?!
They moved to the high priced sales area, you get enough people paying extra for a machine (me included) and you can make a profit (eg BMW etc)
Even with Edge and no official third party access, the 1st generation iPhone had 19.5% marketshare in the US in 2007 (Since it was only available at the US in 2007). Maybe Apple is not doing much overseas for some people, but that doesn't mean their products are not innovative and a head of the competition.
Only in the smartphone side of things, for all phone sales they are barely 1% (it was all phones that Steve mentioned in his little talk).
And what is the point if you product is that much better than the competitions if you can't sell it?
Addabox, is there a correlation between the number of post's one has, and the breadth and depth of their knowledge? would it be more 'classy', in your opinion, if i waited for 3 or 4 posts and then declared myself an 'expert', which incidentally...I didn't. It was stated in my post for precisely this reason. 'Fanboys' take irrational swipes at anyone who voices an opinion which differs from theirs.
i'm not imposing my opinion upon anyone; I'm merely telling everyone to hold back the hounds because i'm not an 'applehater'
THT,
1. I'm not a nokia fan.
2. I didn't say nokia is a 'has been' or a 'never was'. I said they're the largest cellphone company in the world. I doubt you can refute that.
3. I didn't say there were any subsidized N-series phones in the U.S
4. Nor did i say how much they are / will be subsidized by.
What i did say, and i will reiterate here, is that the 58xx series has historically been a low to mid range phone with emphasis on music. I didn't say the tube was going to compete with the iphone because in the past, it has not been a smartphone. I'm not saying that Nokia will dent the u.s market. What i am saying....is that nokia is going to sell a ton of these phones.
My previous post was based on facts. if you want a debate, a debatable observation is that in the past, nokia hasn't been popular in the u.s because the u.s market prefers flip phone / clam shell devices, which nokia doesn't have too many of in their lineup. we can sit and lock horns about that (constructively) all day long.
@ GenericPosts,
thank you.
Make no mistake, this is a fanboy site without exception. There are several here that can argue a point without becoming emotional but many to most can not. In many cases facts never come into play. Just that "Apple rulz" and others are crap. Apple products get benefit of the doubt while other products don't get this luxury. Now I know how Obama feels.
As for the 58xx, it will sell by the boatload to the very same people that do not want an iPhone. This is one thing that is NEVER taken into account. There are actually people who do not want an iPhone. It would be safe to say that there are more people not wanting an iPhone than those that do, and this is the market that the 58xx series will appeal to. These are the people that will see the 58xx series as a low to middle end phone that is more complete than the iPhone. With the ability to add any software you like, tethering, a complete VoIP solution (not just VoIP via wifi), and being unlocked, this will appear to most as a more complete and compelling package. The keys selling points for me are the unlocked sim, the tethering, and VoIP, not to mention more robust telephony. To respond, and they must, Apple will be forced to address the basics that I mentioned above.
I wasn't intending to insult the US cell phone industry. I am just stating facts. If the facts come across as insults, I would say that you need to get with your cell operators and have them fix the facts.
You didn't state any facts. You stated an opinion as to why Nokia doesn't do well in the US market. At least yb1 gave a decent opinion (Nokia doesn't do flip phones) of why while yours was a rather laughable: Nokia is just doing the minimum or the USA market isn't worth the effort.
I know that VoIP over wifi is available. But this is limited. I do not happen to have a wifi base station in my pocket, but I have a ubiquitous cell network that is everywhere. If the networks in the US can not handle something as simple as tethering, then they are in sad shape. Why does it have to cost for a service that all other operators allow for free? To simply shrug this off as the way the game is play, sort of makes you part of the problem, not part of the solution. Operators are in biz because of us, not in spite of us. Try a one week, or even one day boycott of making cell calls and see how they respond.
I'm pretty sure a boycott of making cell calls will pretty much do nothing. Try not renewing a cell phone contract or not buying a cell phone instead. Moreover, like is done elsewhere, it can only be done through legislative fiat. Unfortunately, carrier behavior is the least thing on our government's minds.
Quite a lot, although not for free (you still have to pay for the data usage, not additional to for tethering)
Please name an operator. I'm curious what the small print says.
All of my co-workers, including myself, that have purchased and iPhone, also have a second phone that tethers with our personal laptops or work computers. Right now I have co-workers in: Belgium, Spain, France, Qatar, Germany, The UK, Poland, Czech, Estonia, Israel and a few other countries and they are all tethering their devices and phones. They purchase a local card with data and away it goes.
Please name an operator, and the plan as well. Business plan? Consumer plan? Pay as you go? I'm curious.
Also, what kind of card? SIM card? PC Card?
My work phone, obviously a business plan, allows me to tether, but it comes at a cost of at least 15+ dollars more than consumer data plan.
I was reading that Apple and AT&T are being sued for locking the phones. I hope the suit pushes them to simply unlock the phones so that it can be realized for its full potential. If AT&T was such a great network then they would not be afraid to compete. Service speaks.
That's not what the suit is about. It's perfectly legal to lock phones here in the USA. It's also legal here to unlock phones (at least until the DCMA exemptions expire in 2009), it's just that the carriers don't really advertise it and don't out of their way to advertise it.
I have been browsing this forum for a bit off and on and it never ceases to amaze me that people will defend AT&T and Apples practices as though they are doing us a favor by selling us products and services. We have the money, they should come to us for it. Not the other way around.
You do realize this is Appleinsider? What are you expecting? It's really not that odd. You can go to Crackberry.com, TreoCentral.com, Symbian-Freak, AllAboutSymbian, MSmobiles.com and witness the same fan behavior. For the most part, Apple forums are interesting and lively due to lots of people participating. The other sites, not so much participation, hence, not so fun. I'm sure you're more than welcome to go the other sites and say Blackberries suck, Nokia sucks or MS sucks all you want. Just don't expect people to play nicey-nicey with you.