In article
<da6a83c7-b485-42fd-a42d-3f6ba2d1fb12@d19g2000prh.googlegroups.com>,
ed <news@atwistedweb.com> wrote:

> On Mar 22, 10:51*pm, ZnU <z...@fake.invalid> wrote:
> > In article
> > <be624973-b157-4f59-8944-a0a994793...@y6g2000prf.googlegroups.com>,
> > *ed <n...@atwistedweb.com> wrote:
> > > On Mar 22, 9:57*pm, ZnU <z...@fake.invalid> wrote: <snip>
> > > > Apple is playing for the best outcome within a corrupt system. They
> > > > gave AT&T exclusivity originally because they needed a carrier to
> > > > invest some resources in specific technology (for visual
> > > > voicemail), offer their customers a reasonably priced unlimited
> > > > data plan, and allow them (Apple) wide ranging control over the
> > > > handset. They later gave AT&T exclusivity in exchange for a very
> > > > large subsidy and continued extensive control, including the
> > > > ability to offer apps and content for the device without giving
> > > > AT&T a cut, even when that content is downloaded via AT&T's
> > > > network.
> >
> > > > Here's the key issue: none of these is something a handset vendor
> > > > should have to bargain for!
> >
> > > *sigh*- you keep repeating the same thing with NO SUPPORT WHATSOEVER-
> > > other handset makers manage to offer tethering, offer apps and
> > > content w/out giving at&t a cut, etc with no problems. *apple makes
> > > these deals with the carriers for MORE PROFIT, and THAT'S IT.
> >
> > You appear to have misunderstood my argument about tethering. It wasn't
> > that Apple couldn't offer tethering because AT&T wouldn't let them. It
> > was that in a market that wasn't distorted by the carriers in various
> > consumer-hostile ways, tethering wouldn't need to be a feature
> > implemented by the handset maker and officially blessed by the carrier,
> > and that in such a market it would have been implemented on the iPhone
> > within a week of the iPhone supporting third-party apps.
>
> uh, the "customer hostile ways" you describe is ALL apple's doing; it
> is apple that insists on absolute control of what's allowed on the
> iphone, not on the carrier's side. apple, and only apple controls the
> apple store, and could allow a 3rd party tethering app if apple
> wanted.

That's an utterly baseless statement. AT&T's terms of service disallow
tethering without a data plan specifically supporting it (which AT&T
chooses not to offer for the iPhone), and it's virtually certain that
Apple's agreement with AT&T bans Apple from selling applications which
violate AT&T's ToS.

You seem to have a rather strange habit of attributing bad outcomes to
Apple that Apple would have no conceivable interest in bringing about.
Like Apple is disallowing third party tethering apps or app downloads
larger than 10 MB because Steve Jobs in the Grinch and he wants to ruin
your Christmas or something. Meanwhile, you utterly ignore the fact that
AT&T has a very direct interest in these things being as they are, and
because of the way the market is structured has considerable leverage
over Apple.

> > > > And they have to bargain for this other
> > > > stuff because instead of just providing generic bandwidth, carriers
> > > > want to be in the business of providing specific high-level
> > > > services like messaging, voice minutes, ringtones, etc. because
> > > > there's more money in that.
> >
> > > of course they want to be in the business of providing high margin
> > > services- but they're not the only ones.
> >
> > They use their ownership of the wireless networks to set themselves up
> > as sole providers of certain high-level services. There are very few
> > large cellular service providers and it's a hassle to switch from one to
> > the other, so they can charge high prices.
>
> it's ridiculously little hassle to change carriers- took about 10
> minutes last time i did it. i could have just done it online and had
> the phone fed'exed to me too. it's not like the old days when you
> need a new number of something...

Most people are under contract, and many phones are locked, such that
changing carriers requires changing phones. One generally also has to
pass a credit check, pay a setup fee, and either spend 30 minutes in a
store or wait a couple of days. And one generally ends up under contract
for another two years when the process is done.

Compare this with the market for Internet-based services, where
switching to a new provider consists of typing a different URL into your
browser or possibly spending 30 seconds installing a new app.

--
"The game of professional investment is intolerably boring and over-exacting to
anyone who is entirely exempt from the gambling instinct; whilst he who has it
must pay to this propensity the appropriate toll." -- John Maynard Keynes