Not sure what carrier you’re on, but I pay $35/mo per line with Verizon and have 2 SIM cards for my phone. Granted we have a family plan, and my wife pays $60/mo cause she wants her latest iPhone, but it usually works out cheaper to buy a phone online outright a year or two after release and then I’m not paying the recurring finance charges.
Automatic unlocking sounds like a pipe dream given the American business landscape, but there shouldn’t be any barriers to unlocking, even if the customer has to request it. People are likely stuck in the mindset of yesteryear where phones weren’t transferrable between carriers (especially with band compatibility of GSM vs CDMA), and I’d wager that many people don’t even realize it’s possible these days. I can’t say I blame carriers for wanting to maintain the illusion, and I don’t necessarily think they should be forced to advertise it, but the option should be plain and simple for those who want to exercise the right.
Out of curiosity, I would imagine that if someone goes the carrier-financing route, they’d still be on the hook for the cost of the phone even if they jumped to a different carrier? I don’t want to sound like I’m in support of at&t, but it doesn’t seem terribly unreasonable to keep a customer in place while they still have a balance on the hardware, or is there something else I’m missing?
As well, software packages have to be ported to the new architecture, which in some cases is easier said than done. Sure basic Unix utilities are portable enough, but more advanced and complicated software might have some issues, unless an efficient compatibility layer could be developed.
I mean, different use cases yeah? There’s certainly a big market for people that just do the basics on their devices, ie email, web browsing, documents/spreadsheets etc that don’t need a full blown powerhouse computer, nevermind that they have no clue what an operating system even is nor do they care, as long as they get their memes and cat videos in between work tasks.
I’ll bet there will always be an x86 segment of the market for gamers, power users, tinkerers, and the like. Though, that market may unfortunately shrink in the coming years that could lead to vendors abandoning the space, which could lead to fewer choices and higher component prices. On top of which, major venders might see it as an opportunity for lock-in and advertising, so yeah it’ll be interesting to see what happens.
The sliver of hope here is that the hacking community has always found ways around proprietary bullshit, and we can only hope and support that those efforts continue, lest we further our race in to a stupid corporate dystopia.
Speak for yourself, I’m here for the candy
Hell yeah. That’s the same reason I dump money into my homelab; I have never been in IT, nor plan on it, but maybe one day I’ll finally get back into home automation and could possibly sell something to a client as a complement to my electrical business. But it’s damn fun to tinker with!
But you’re teaching yourself a valuable skill!
For some reason AA doesn’t work on my phone. I suspect it’s a USB permissions issue, but I’m not motivated enough to dig into it any deeper lol.
Depends on the manufacturer’s implementation, but yeah in recent years they’ve made it really difficult if not impossible to remove
It took me 6 months to find a newer truck that had no Internet connectivity at all, and it was a royal PITA.
If they’re the type that sit on the floor, that’s amateur hour. Hard mode is the ones in the ceiling.
As much as my dogs can be a nuisance, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Why under $100?
The babies yearn for the mines
We found out a while ago that plumbing pipes aren’t the best way to ground a house for a variety of reasons, and this is why ufers (grounding to foundation steel) and ground rods are now the NEC standard. Also, this is why bonding wires are important as well. If the plumbing were bonded to a proper dwelling ground system, the current would find a direct path to ground and trip the responsible breaker, instead of using the gas lines as a big ass resistor and creating the light show we see here.
Better yet to just have a bond to the gas and water pipes. In this instance, any current introduced to the plumbing has a direct connection to ground, which will allow current to flow freely and trip the breaker.
Overruled!
Good call!