Sorry, I can't agree with the original post. I respect your point of view, WugFresh, you've clearly pondered the issues for a while, but... frankly, what you're saying reeks of capitulation.
If US carriers' networks are congested with traffic, the answer would be to invest more in infrastructure. It's that simple. Mobile network providers rake in
disgusting amounts of money all over the world (even here in Australia with a mere 22 million people), why should they be permitted to double-dip with absurd tethering fees? They should be augmenting the infrastructure to ensure they can provide the service they’ve advertised, sold, and you're already paying for.
Data coming to a phone, whether it's being forwarded to another computer or not, is still data coming to a phone. What gives carriers the right to charge you more on the basis of how you use that data or where you send it to? My problem is this: if you want to download an app to your netbook via your mobile phone, they'll charge you for the privilege of tethering... but if want to download an app to your phone's SD card, then stick that SD in your netbook and copy the app across, or Bluetooth it from phone to PC, there's no extra fee. The idea of tethering is an
imaginary distinction'; a cynical exercise in scoring a few extra $$$ out of the power user market.
And it's a damned slippery slope from there: the next step from there would be to charge even more $$$ for particular services. So, not only would a roving user have to pay for "tethering" their phone and laptop, but - since they're already sniffing your datastream - if they find you're trying to VPN back to the office (as more and more people are doing these days), they'll slug you a "VPN access fee"... and you can be sure they will. You're advocating a descent into that feeding frenzy by even suggesting any sort of negotiation with carriers. In Australia, I've never seen a tethering fee - mainly because the population would revolt against any "greedy bastard" organisation who even dared try impose one. Even the nastiest of our bunch, Telstra, wouldn't think of it, because their market would evaporate in a heartbeat. Any Australians reading this, please feel free to contradict me on tethering fees in Australia, if necessary.
I spent some time in the UK back in 2009 and 90% of my internet access requirements were met by tethering my laptop to my WinMo device. Virtually unlimited data at 3G speeds, all for 50p
per day, on a pre-paid account! Amazing! Granted, any images I downloaded were resampled to a lower quality on my provider's side - Vodafone - before being sent to my phone (which I wasn't happy about, especially for GMaps), but for the most part I was thrilled with a level of access at such an afforable price. Any Brits reading this, please feel free to contradict me on tethering fees if things have changed since mid-2009.
Replacement parts are factored into the sales cost of the original device (surely). I know of three people who broke their iPhones, went straight down to our local Apple Store, and walked out with new phones - no questions asked. The same is likely true for other vendors. One of those actually went in to return an iPhone she had found in the hopes Apple could contact the owner. She too walked out with a new phone! No questions asked! Apparently she was told "thanks, we'll do that, here's yours". The mind boggles, it really does.
Bricking a phone? There's no reason to have a bricked phone these days. A phone with the itty-bitty equivalent of a "backup BIOS", like desktop motherboards, should be impervious to bricking - even taking back to the vendor and having it looked at, or hard-wiped back to factory defaults, would save manufacturers even more in "replacement hardware" fees.
Overclocking... well, that's just cheating.
But again, vendors factor this stuff into the sales price of the item. Do you honestly think a Xoom is worth the full $800 they're charging?
We should not be punished for getting more value out of older tech. That's like Intel throwing a hissy fit about me turning my old Pentium 2 300MHz into a *nix file server, instead of forking out for a new processor: absurd.
Not exactly. Root users are just bad
for businesses with bad business practices, because we know how they screw everyone else.
Apple will never get another cent out of me. Motorola has, just recently, lost all my business - also permanently (a shame, too, I was all moist for the Xoom). I make it a point to advocate
against these organisations because I do not believe their business models are ethical. It's up to the company to decide if they want my business again.
Just say it: stock users are ignorant. And I don't mean that in a negative way, I mean simply that stock users DO NOT KNOW what their devices are truly capable of. Case in point: the Atrix 4G - and you'll forgive me for focusing on Motorola, but the travesty of the A4G is is big news for me at the moment - is seriously powerful kit, but has been fundamentally crippled with crapware and a (locked/signed/encrypted/whatever-the-right-phrase-is) bootloader, thereby reducing its potential capacity for excellence via homebrew development work. Motorola does this for a number of reasons, but primarily (I believe) to ensure an upgrade path in 2-3 years. I find this an unacceptable practice and one I choose not to support by funding the organisation in question. As far as I'm concerned, an inaccessible bootloader contravenes the open Android ideology/platform, therefore, the Atrix 4G is
faulty. A desktop or notebook computer with a fixed disk you couldn't wipe to install your own operating system - Windows, *nix, BeOS, DOS, Solaris... whatever... would also be considered faulty (and probably wouldn't sell). I don't believe in buying faulty goods. I also less believe in buying faulty goods and then signing away my right to complain about them.
That entire paragraph fills me with a nameless dread.
What you're saying is that the power user community should fight for the manufacturer and/or carrier's business... not the other way around. The concept is so... so
ugly... that I really don't have the words to suitably express it.
If manufacturers/carriers didn’t think Android had pulling power, they wouldn’t be using it. We’d all still be on WinMo or Symbian.
*shiver*
You’re not. You’re front-line. You have Google’s support (more-or-less).
Even better, manufacturers are scared of you and carriers hate you... or is it the other way around? The dev community is absolutely a force to be reckoned with, don’t fool yourselves into thinking otherwise.
Agreed.
People with a common interest, generally, gravitate towards each other.
You’re asking the corporate oligarchy to validate your existence! Totally unnecessary!
Why pretend that every user is automatically like any other user? Everyone’s going to use their technology differently. The whole point of Android was to let the OS evolve to a point where it could provide a viable
starting point for everyone. We’ll all end up in different places.
I don’t appreciate your assumption that all power/dev users are unethical, unprincipled thieves.
I also don’t appreciate your assumption that manufacturers/carriers can’t afford to replace bricked (accidentally or otherwise) phones.
With respect, that’s utter nonsense. An Android phone is a small computer running a fork of Linux.
User: “Dear HP/Dell/Lenovo/etc, Windows failed to install from the recovery disks that came with my laptop - all I did was try Linux! Help! I only bought the computer 14 days ago!”
HP/Dell/Lenovo/etc: “No. You deleted the operating system we gave you, so, you can suck it.”
User: “But... I’m trying to back to that operating system!”
HP/Dell/Lenovo/etc: “So what? We have your money, what do we care?”
It wouldn’t fly on a PC, it sure as hell shouldn’t be permitted to happen for a phone. Trying something other than what the manufacturer issues shouldn’t invalidate your warranty. Manufacturers do not have the right to decide what you can and cannot run on your device. (Unfortunately, Apple has set a killer precedent there with their iDevices, and it’s one every technical community is going to be fighting for years to come.)
It’s a short step from “we do not permit you to run this program on this device” to...
“we do not permit you to store this sort of data on this device”... and then to...
“we will scan your device to ensure you’re not breaking the above two rules.”
IN HELL.
Sorry, but no. You want to get a CEO’s attention? Stop buying what they’re peddling - and when they ask you why, tell them outright: “Your product is crap. See these guys here? Give me more of that.” It’s called the weapon of choice, and from what I read on technical and support forums, it seems a lot of people in the US have forgotten how to wield it.
In Australia we make it a point to Fight the Power, if only in principle - it keeps us sharp and the power in check. I don’t buy Apple (or Motorola), I don’t use Telstra-branded services, I don’t vote for people who aren’t offering fair and responsible solutions to issues. So far as I can tell, it’s much the same in Europe.
It’s the US (and possibly Canada? not sure) where the opposite holds true - corporations get away with bloody murder because people have been indoctrinated and disempowered into believing The Company Is Always Right. I live in a place where the opposite has always been true, and where people stay conscious of it.
Don’t pretend you’re anything more than screaming dollar sign to these companies - you’re in for a world of hurt if you do. You can’t expect them to be rational if their sole motivation is profit. Also, you can’t expect them to play fairly - they’ll just take your ideas and twist them until it suits their purposes. The point is to demand nothing short of total satisfaction - nothing short of excellence. You don’t pay for mediocre service, so why accept it?
That’s the spirit! But don’t just settle for “good enough” - you have to push the companies into giving you what you want. Let their financial departments work out how to provide it, and don’t blindy trust the marketeers to realistically present what’s on offer... they will lie to you.
And when they do, you need to start suing their arses... in Australia, we have the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, the Federal Department of Fair Trading, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission - three different cattleprods to get the public point across (four if you count various TV shows who cover consumer dissatisfaction). They work. I’m not sure what the options are in the US, but whatever they are, they need to be engaged.
I am not a market, not even a niche one. I am a human being who has an inalienable right to use my goods as I see fit. Don’t be just a market.
There has to be a law against that - right? Invasion of privacy?
Anyway, my $0.02. Take it as you will.