Macs With 3G — More Connectivity, More Problems 73
narramissic writes "In a recent blog post, Josh Fruhlinger muses on the possibility of 3G radio receivers turning up in future Mac notebooks (as foretold by Apple job postings and the mention of WWAN hardware in Snow Leopard beta releases). 'At first glance,' says Fruhlinger, 'this seems like a reasonably awesome idea.' But will the target market be willing to take on the additional telecom charge? 'And, more to the point,' he says, 'most of us have gotten accustomed to the idea of one Internet connection per household, shared with a wireless router. The latter idea could be covered by a router that connects to the Internet over a 3G connection — something like the MiFi hotspot. It wouldn't surprise me if Apple had such a thing in the pipeline, an Airport station (Airport Mobility?) that didn't need to be plugged into the wall. That would explain the search for 3G experts, anyway.'"
Nothing new here... (Score:5, Insightful)
The submission makes it sound as if there's some big mystery about adding 3G to a laptop that Apple has to solve. But there are other laptop makers out there besides Apple, and almost all of them have been putting 3G in their notebooks for years now. This is a feature that Apple is just behind on, and especially if they want to keep *any* semblance of a business market (and designers and photographers run businesses too - and a lot of them are freelance, working outside), then it's something they really need to catch up on.
It's a big and obvious mistake to suggest that 3G connectivity is meant to replace wi-fi. 3G connectivity is meant to replace, well, not having any connectivity. Laptops are meant to be portable, and they can go lots of places where wi-fi doesn't exist.
I can't believe I actually even have to explain this.
Why a peripheral? (Score:4, Insightful)
"It wouldn't surprise me if Apple had such a thing in the pipeline, an Airport station (Airport Mobility?) that didn't need to be plugged into the wall."
Surely there is no point (yet) in using 3G in a household? Especially due to the (much) higher connectivity cost - the only real reason to use it at the moment is on-the-go, which renders an additional device redundant if it's built into the machine. I'll be surprised if such a peripheral is introduced (this year/soon)
Not exclusive, stupid summary (Score:5, Insightful)
I have a Dell XPS notebook with built-in 3G card. I also run it on wireless and even connect the ethernet port from time to time. I use the 3G modem when I'm in a train to/from work, waiting at the station, attending meetings, conferences or when I'm on vacation. Of course the data plan costs extra, but being able to connect at all times is really, really convenient. I can even share out the internet connection effectively letting my notebook act as an access point.
Summary makes it sound like this is exclusive or that there isn't a market for it. Of course there is. Having broadband/fiber connectivity in your home does not mean that don't need on-the-road connectivity as well.
Laptop seems more likely. (Score:5, Insightful)
But will the target market be willing to take on the additional telecom charge?
Well, plenty of laptop computers have built in 3G modems, but inserting a SIM card and using the 3G connection is optional. And it's not like they found it hard to get people to buy the iPhone, even though there was a telecom charge involved.
'most of us have gotten accustomed to the idea of one Internet connection per household, shared with a wireless router. [...] It wouldn't surprise me if Apple had such a thing in the pipeline, an Airport station (Airport Mobility?) that didn't need to be plugged into the wall.
I think most people accustomed to one internet connection shared with a router already have a wired internet connection. Given that a 3G connection costs more per megabyte, and may be less reliable, I don't think many people accustomed to wired internet would switch to a 3G connection for their home internet connection.
Now, people who travel around with a laptop, I can understand. But why would such a person choose a 'personal hotspot' with its size, and its own battery in need of charging, when they could have the 3G modem built into their laptop?
Granted, there might be a market where groups of people were travelling for business, or for individuals who preferred WiFi to USB or Bluetooth as a means of connecting to a modem, but if I was Apple a laptop with a 3G modem in it would be a much more logical thing to release than what's being proposed here.
Re:Nothing new here... (Score:5, Insightful)
And let's not forget that 3G is a marketing term, not a technology. Do they mean UMTS, HSPA, or LTE? Adding 3G support to a laptop intended for worldwide distribution is likely to cause difficulties as different countries (and even different states in the USA) have different levels of deployment of 3-4G technologies.
Re:Why, that's a nice gift horse (Score:4, Insightful)
what's he smoking? (Score:4, Insightful)
most of us have gotten accustomed to the idea of one Internet connection per household, shared with a wireless router.
Yes, and so what?
You may not have noticed if you've been living under the rock these past few years, but Apple's biggest success is in the notebook market. The MacBook Pro was even lauded as "the best windows notebook on the market today" when it came out.
If you have a notebook, it makes a lot of sense to have a 3G connection built-in. Those USB dongles are a pain, and as with most additional stuff, you just want less of it to lug around all the time. That's for when you are away from home, you know?
As for the "3G router" - in some areas that would indeed be a market (some of Scandinavia has better wireless than wired connections, as does much of Africa) but it would very likely not be a new product, but more of an additional option for the Airport Extreme.
As for "additional telco costs" - bullshit with cream. Just because you have the hardware built-in doesn't mean you have to have a contract. When you buy an UMTS package today, they'll gladly sell you additional hardware (those USB dongles, etc.) but you can already buy both hardware and contract alone.
Re:Why, that's a nice gift horse (Score:4, Insightful)
For example, you would get the laptop for cheap, say $500, but then you would be tied in a 2 year contract with AT&T (or some other cell provider) to get "unlimited" data that really isn't unlimited, costs you a fortune, and theres no other way to buy the laptop.
I have never had a portable subsidised by a phone company, and I don't think the mere presence of 3G should mean a subsidised system. Steve Jobs has already indicated that phone companies should simply concentrate on the connectivity, ie the service side of things. I believe he is going to try to force the phone companies to accept the new reality, whether they like it or not.
Re:Why, that's a nice gift horse (Score:5, Insightful)
I know I find it confusing that my MacBook has both bluetooth and wifi. It also has an ethernet port! All these network connections are confusing my poor Mac-addled brain.
Or, you know, you could turn the 3G off if you didn't want to pay for it? Like MobileMe.
Re:Nothing new here... (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually OS X supports some 3G cards OK.
E.g. here's a guide to install OS X on a Dell Mini 9
http://i.gizmodo.com/5156903/how-to-hackintosh-a-dell-mini-9-into-the-ultimate-os-x-netbook [gizmodo.com]
Follow this tutorial [mydellmini.com] to get your mobile broadband working if your Mini 9 has it. Network preferences should recognize it out of the box.
Now what's interesting about this is that the Dell 5530 wireless card is supported the bundled OS X drivers.
Off-topic - mod with a laser, not a sledge hammer (Score:4, Insightful)
I use the "old-school" UI, and didn't know there was a WYSIWYG editor. Fortunately, the "ol" tag works, so marking up your own text is still the better option imo (less strain, too, not having to keep reaching for a mouse or touch pad).
Further off topic to whomever moderated my parent and gp OT. I know those comments were off the subject of this story. The gp made that clear by putting "OT" in the subject line. The author also gave a concise summary of the content of his comment, so people who could actually address his question - like my parent - could take the time to read it and respond.
If the gp had simply replied to the same "Why, that's a nice gift horse" thread as everyone else, modding him OT would have been appropriate. But he didn't. He started his own thread, labelled clearly and asked his question. There is nowhere else to post a question that many slashdotters are likely to see, unless you're in the habit of reading journals (I'm not). From the looks of things he got some advice that may also be helpful to others who are having trouble with the UI.
Modding him and my parent OT
These types of moderations used to be addressed with meta-moderation, but unfortunately, that's another off topic rant about a UI that has devolved into an unuseable state.
Re:Why, that's a nice gift horse (Score:4, Insightful)
And the excuse of, well the others wouldn't give Apple enough freedom... Is total crap. If Apple came up with the specs for visual voicemail, published them, went first to the company that would provide it first, made a hit like the iPhone, I can guarantee you that a year or so later every single company would have implemented visual voicemail and had the iPhone, and the iPhone would have dominated.
Re:Why, that's a nice gift horse (Score:3, Insightful)
That's where the Qualcomm GoBi devices come in. They're able to be switched from CDMA 1xRTT+EvDO to GSM EDGE+HSUPA with a firmware change, and I think they technically support a dual mode firmware just it's never been seen in the wild.
Those new Sony netbooks have the GoBi cards configured in a Verizon-only mode in the US, but there are a number of threads in various phone forums discussing how to load a GSM/HSUPA firmware and use it on AT&T. tnkgrl has some info on her blog (too lazy to find link, google it if interested).
If I can buy my next Macbook Pro with a cross-provider 3G card (or 4G if there's a decent rollout by then) I will do it. I've dealt with too much shit getting Bluetooth tethering working on my current and past phones. I just never want to be tied to a provider (though ironically this effectively sticks me to AT&T, since no unlocked phones work on the CDMA carriers and T-Mobile's 3G and rural coverage are both dog shit).
Re:what's he smoking? (Score:3, Insightful)
Because you don't?
What makes you think everyone has a 3G phone, much less one that makes tethering possible, and a mobile contract that allows that?
By my estimate, a lot less than "everyone".