Apple seeks 3G specialist for Macs as subsidy deals near

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 64
    hittrj01hittrj01 Posts: 753member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dr Millmoss View Post


    Subsidies suck! You always pay more in the end.



    Completely agree, but it is unfortunately the nature of the beast, and no real way around it. If you are going to get the service anyway, at least here in the States, there is no reason not to get it subsidized, since you are going to have to pay the monthly service fee anyway. Might as well save a couple hundred bucks upfront.
  • Reply 22 of 64
    ...just as a few years ago if I told you that someone would embed WiFi circuits inside an SD card, you would think me bonkers. ("You're bonkers! Get off this forum you foo!") But a few moons ago, these guys > http://www.eye.fi/ < came along and pulled a big fluffi rabbit out of a hat. And who would have thought you could get a mind blowing touch screen multimedia wireless device with Playstation 1 level 3D graphics in a case 12mm thick - by 2007?



    Whodathunkitindeed!



    'twill happen one day - every device on this planet (and beyond) will - as Sun Microsystems once predicted in regard to the 'Web Tone' & Java - be connected to teh interweb - and teh will be no central server - we'll all be Borged via secure P2P. Et Wuala, we'll all live happily ether after...







    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GTL215 View Post


    What would an LTE ipod shuffle look like?



  • Reply 23 of 64
    dr millmossdr millmoss Posts: 5,403member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hittrj01 View Post


    Completely agree, but it is unfortunately the nature of the beast, and no real way around it. If you are going to get the service anyway, at least here in the States, there is no reason not to get it subsidized, since you are going to have to pay the monthly service fee anyway. Might as well save a couple hundred bucks upfront.



    True enough -- more often than not, you don't get a choice. I wonder how many people realize what a bad deal they are, though. Those monthly charges just go up to cover the subsidy, and then some.
  • Reply 24 of 64
    wigginwiggin Posts: 2,265member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    If they go the internal WWAN route they could always do it like the original Airport cards by making it a small card you install if you want it. This could give buyers the option of having a GSM-based, CDMA-based or no card installed.



    I get 3MB DL from my USB 3G card and 2MB DL from my tethered iPhone, but having an internal card would be worth a Mac update to me for the simplified convenience.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wraithofwonder View Post


    I don't like dongles and no, I don't want to be tied to any specific carrier.



    Apple, come up with a better solution inside the machine.



    I know! Let's call it...just making up a random name...Express Card!



    Ok, ok, so that's not entirely an internal solution. But do you really think Apple has the market share to create and get industry adoption of an entirely new card format? And you'd still need the antennas to be built into the laptop (and I believe the antennas may be different for GSM vs CDMA?). I guess they could build the cards themselves, but it would probably be cheaper for them to just put the chips on the motherboard and include antennas, supporting both 3G formats. But then what do you do when 4G comes along next year?
  • Reply 25 of 64
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wiggin View Post


    I know! Let's call it...just making up a random name...Express Card!



    Ok, ok, so that's not entirely an internal solution. But do you really think Apple has the market share to create and get industry adoption of an entirely new card format? And you'd still need the antennas to be built into the laptop (and I believe the antennas may be different for GSM vs CDMA?). I guess they could build the cards themselves, but it would probably be cheaper for them to just put the chips on the motherboard and include antennas, supporting both 3G formats. But then what do you do when 4G comes along next year?



    1) As I mentioned in my post, Apple has already done this with great success with their Powerbooks back when they sold considerably less unit than they are now.



    2) When 4G comes along you pop in the 4G card, if you wish to get CDMA/CDMA2000/LTE or GSM/WCDMA/LTE or all 5 standards on a card.



    3) LTE won't be coming along next year in any way that matters to most people. It'll be years before it blankets the US while carriers are still only on Category 5 HSUPA and haven't even gotten into HSPA+.
  • Reply 26 of 64
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GTL215 View Post


    we need blu-ray in our portables? I can't remember the last time i watched a DVD in my laptop.



    Really it is about the only thing a laptop is good for on a plane unless you pay for executive class seating.





    Dave
  • Reply 27 of 64
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post


    Really it is about the only thing a laptop is good for on a plane unless you pay for executive class seating.



    Hold up, Dave! The only thing a laptop is good for on a plane is playing Blu-ray movies?!?! Playing movies off the HDD, or any other media type or app I find is great with a laptop while in flight. If it came down to it a DVD wouldn't be so bad on such a small screen but I don't want to use anything that is going to use more juice than I want it to. You'd get a single movie out of a decent computer with a Blu-ray drive. The high-powered BR optical media is the least ideal option for most people while in flight.
  • Reply 28 of 64
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by teckstud View Post


    Speak for yourself always?



    Most people want glossy.
  • Reply 29 of 64
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GTL215 View Post


    hah, right.



    First off, correct me if i'm wrong, but current BDs in laptops are read only. Then (if you're able to get a BD burner) you're gonna pay for blank BD-Rs, and spend time waiting for them to write at 2x.



    Or, you can get a 1TB HDD off amazon for $100. I'll take the HDD.



    Burners these days go to 8x burn. But that's not for a drive that can fit inside a laptop.



    Most people will want to do both.
  • Reply 30 of 64
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by teckstud View Post


    I'm not going to argue with you but the article is about future specialist and improving laptops. Have fun lugging your 1TB HDD around with that laptop.

    If I'm not mistaken Apple helped pioneered the CD/DVD burner in the laptop. They could do the same here with blu-ray.



    You're not mistaken.
  • Reply 31 of 64
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GTL215 View Post


    I'm not saying BD for storage is a bad thing. In fact, I woudl love to have simplified physical backups of my iTunes library - without a doubt. And BD is probably the best way to do that. However, right now, it's (a) too expensive, and (b) not efficient enough. I'd say those two things right there amount to the "bag of hurt" steve jobs is talking about.



    Blu ray is a proprietary format and I'm sure Apple has their sights banking on digital downloads rather than hi-def optical discs anyway. When the tech is affordable enough for their computer lineups, I'm sure they'll include it.



    Every technology out there is, or was proprietary. So what?
  • Reply 32 of 64
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dr Millmoss View Post


    True enough -- more often than not, you don't get a choice. I wonder how many people realize what a bad deal they are, though. Those monthly charges just go up to cover the subsidy, and then some.



    Of course it does. It's like buying on a credit card that continually adds interest month after month.



    But some people can't buy it any other way. Paying $600 to $800 up front for an iPhone is more than many people can handle.



    I don't agree that buying on credit, which is what these plans really are, is always a good way, but sometimes it's the only way.
  • Reply 33 of 64
    bsymacbsymac Posts: 3member
    I am amazed that there has not been a 3G radio in the macbooks already. I hope that there is a reasonable rate for iPhone users to add macbook service. I would hope that it is less than $30 more a month. There really should be a combined flat rate. How much data can one person use at a time anyway?
  • Reply 34 of 64
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GTL215 View Post


    hah, right.



    First off, correct me if i'm wrong, but current BDs in laptops are read only. Then (if you're able to get a BD burner) you're gonna pay for blank BD-Rs, and spend time waiting for them to write at 2x.



    Or, you can get a 1TB HDD off amazon for $100. I'll take the HDD.



    Keep in mind that the 2x is equivalent to about 6.6x on DVD. An 8x burner is similar to 26.4x DVD writing. The write time is still longer for BD, but you're talking a lot of data.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Vision Aforethought View Post


    So if Apple are going to build WAN wireless into their devices, they are going to have to do what they do best (as they did with the iPhone OS & GUI) and jump way into the future (today!) and adopt LTE - in every device they make, from the iPod shuffle to the fully loaded Mac Pro.



    I want to be able to exist in the cloud without hindrance.



    And if Apple don't do it, I will. There is always room for another player when the paradigm is due for shifting again.



    You'll do what? You have the capability to roll out a new wireless standard in a pervasive way? That's what it sounds like you are saying. It's a lot easier to have point to point cabled signal than it is to do it in a wireless way. For example, the fastest consumer Ethernet is at least 5x faster than the fastest WiFi. There is no pro WiFi that I'm aware of that goes beyond n, but it is possible to get 10Gig ethernet.
  • Reply 35 of 64
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bsymac View Post


    I hope that there is a reasonable rate for iPhone users to add macbook service. I would hope that it is less than $30 more a month. There really should be a combined flat rate. How much data can one person use at a time anyway?



    There current unlimited data plan for EC/34 adn USB cards are $60/month for unlimited. Their is technically a 5Gb soft cap, but I use a smidge more than that each month. I've used over 80GB in 23 days.



    With the iPhone 3.0 Betas you can tether for free right now. I figure they will put the kibosh on that before the official launch. If they do and do allow you to tether for a fee, I figure it would be $30/month addition to the regular iPhone data package to bring it inline with their unlimited PC access. It will save me $30/month as I can get rid of my other account and for other users it will save them a costly 3G USB or EC/34 purchase which even when subsidized are still pricey.
  • Reply 36 of 64
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


    Keep in mind that the 2x is equivalent to about 6.6x on DVD. An 8x burner is similar to 26.4x DVD writing. The write time is still longer for BD, but you're talking a lot of data.



    It is considerably more data per second than DVD or CD, but it's much slower than any HDD, it uses a lot more power, it's noisier, any write errors trash a disc and each disc is expensive. Buying a HDD for backup is considerably more ideal for a consumer.





    Quote:

    You'll do what? You have the capability to roll out a new wireless standard in a pervasive way? That's what it sounds like you are saying. It's a lot easier to have point to point cabled signal than it is to do it in a wireless way. For example, the fastest consumer Ethernet is at least 5x faster than the fastest WiFi. There is no pro WiFi that I'm aware of that goes beyond n, but it is possible to get 10Gig ethernet.



    I didn't think his post was real since it doesn't make sense. LTE, which isn't even a finalized standard to be in an iPod Shuffle?
  • Reply 37 of 64
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by melgross View Post


    Of course it does. It's like buying on a credit card that continually adds interest month after month.



    But some people can't buy it any other way. Paying $600 to $800 up front for an iPhone is more than many people can handle.



    I don't agree that buying on credit, which is what these plans really are, is always a good way, but sometimes it's the only way.



    Buying up front is even penalized here. Even if we did buy up-front, that doesn't matter as we don't get a discount on the contract price.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bsymac View Post


    I am amazed that there has not been a 3G radio in the macbooks already.



    I think the Air should have been offered with an optional internal card as it really would play well into the product. It's only rate that I would find a desire for cellular data on my notebook, but if I needed one, I think I might still be put off by the concept of an external dongle.



    Quote:

    I hope that there is a reasonable rate for iPhone users to add macbook service. I would hope that it is less than $30 more a month. There really should be a combined flat rate. How much data can one person use at a time anyway?



    How much do you download or stream? As it is, iPhones use a lot of data, more than any other phone device, supposedly hitting the 3G networks harder than other devices. This is despite the fact that the iPhone WiFi cuts down on the need for 3G, a lot of other phones don't have WiFi to mitigate data use.



    I have to imagine that a wide rollout of Apple computer products is going to cause problems. I think watching a one 22 minute TV show every day on Hulu would bring you near AT&T's soft cap territory.
  • Reply 38 of 64
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    It is considerably more data per second than DVD or CD, but it's much slower than any HDD, it uses a lot more power, it's noisier, any write errors trash a disc and each disc is expensive. Buying a HDD for backup is considerably more ideal for a consumer.



    All true.



    Quote:

    I didn't think his post was real since it doesn't make sense. LTE, which isn't even a finalized standard to be in an iPod Shuffle?



    Yeah, it was pretty pompous. Besides, cellular data on a Mac Pro? How wasted does one have to be to think that one up?
  • Reply 39 of 64
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    It is considerably more data per second than DVD or CD, but it's much slower than any HDD, it uses a lot more power, it's noisier, any write errors trash a disc and each disc is expensive. Buying a HDD for backup is considerably more ideal for a consumer.



    Gee, they said the same thing about DVD when writers first came out.



    Do you expect BD to remain the same price forever?



    As far as write errors go, they trash CDs and DVDs as well.
  • Reply 40 of 64
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


    Buying up front is even penalized here. Even if we did buy up-front, that doesn't matter as we don't get a discount on the contract price.



    That's true, which makes it even worse.
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