[Annihilator]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Annihilator Annihilator:

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

TELUS Silently Adds 5GB Limit to iPad Data Plan:

http://www.intomobile.com/2010/06/01/te ... -plan.html

Now, terms of service change without notification. It's a content delivery system, and people paid $500 + for the privilege.

That ExoPC looks pretty neat. Same with ASUS's new tablet.

Blame Telus, not Apple.

Why not blame both?

Because Apple is not to blame for Telus's decisions.

But if you like to bash Apple for the sake of it without any particular reason go ahead.

[DrCaleb]

Annihilator Annihilator:

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Annihilator Annihilator:

Blame Telus, not Apple.

Why not blame both?

Because Apple is not to blame for Telus's decisions.

But if you like to bash Apple for the sake of it without any particular reason go ahead.

Well, OK then. But, yes it is responsible. By Apple creating the 'must have' toy that must use cellular bandwidth (the most expensive bandwidth on the planet), Telus can change the terms of service to whatever they want, and people will bend over and take it, because so many measure themselves by how many of the coolest toys they have on them. And if the toys don't work because you didn't get the newest 4G connections, well that is socially unacceptable.

See, Apple started out just like IBM and all the others by publishing the specs to all it's hardware, so any old Joe such as myself could add on to the hardware and make it do whatever we wanted it to do. I couldn't tell you how many different peripheral cards I've made for myself to add to my own PC - back in the 8 and 16 bit days. Most of my success was actually with Amigas, same processors as Macs, but easier hardware to interface with.

I don't know how much code I've written to run those cards either. So, back about 15 years ago, Steve Wozniak who was the proponent of open hardware standards got the boot, and Steve Jobs took Apple back over. To his credit, he took the company back from the brink of suffering the same fate as other excellent hardware companies such as Silicon Graphics and digital, and made it into a very innovative and forward thinking company. And financially successful.

But he did it, as I said earlier, by becoming more evil than Microsoft. Gone are the days of the AOL icons on our desktops by default - killing internet access for all who dare open them. Or, are they? Buy an iPod? Well, you need to install iTunes on your PC to use it. Did you read the terms of service as to what you are really agreeing to? No. That's why when you update iTunes, suddenly you got Quicktime and the Safari Browser on your desktop. Because you didn't opt-out of them.

With the iPad, the 'Vertical Integration' is worse than Microsoft. Very lucrative for Apple, but if you like choice, you are out of luck. You will run the Apps Apple says are good for you. Your web experience will be as Apple dictates. You will only use approved by Apple software. And Apple will let you pay for the experience.

This is not the way of the world. Our planet is becoming smaller, and more social. To do that, you need to be able to make the choices that best suit you. To be locked in to what $Big_Company decides is acceptable is a step backward.

Now, Telus. I could rant endlessly about how they were built using my tax dollars, then sold off at virtually no profit, how they have become the evil entity I always knew they could be, and how their government mandated monopoly has set the Internet back to the two-tin-cans-and-a -string days. But my fingers are tired.

[Annihilator]

Still, Apple is not to blame for Telus changing terms of service.

[DrCaleb]

Annihilator Annihilator:

Still, Apple is not to blame for Telus changing terms of service.

So, Telus changing terms of service for iPad users has nothing at all to do with Apple? Where did the iPads come from?

[DrCaleb]

"our photo frame application for the iPad My Frame was to be removed from the Apple App Store. They refused to be pinned down to an exact reason, simply stating that they were doing a cull of any applications that presented widgets to the user. All the guy on the phone would say is how much he liked our application, and how sorry he was, but there was nothing he could do. All we got out of him was that Apple no longer liked ‘widgets’ and wanted all widget apps removed. They refused to say what (if anything) we could remove from our application, or even who we could discuss this with."

http://shiftyjelly.wordpress.com/2010/0 ... fterwards/

[bootlegga]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Well, OK then. But, yes it is responsible. By Apple creating the 'must have' toy that must use cellular bandwidth (the most expensive bandwidth on the planet), Telus can change the terms of service to whatever they want, and people will bend over and take it, because so many measure themselves by how many of the coolest toys they have on them. And if the toys don't work because you didn't get the newest 4G connections, well that is socially unacceptable.

See, Apple started out just like IBM and all the others by publishing the specs to all it's hardware, so any old Joe such as myself could add on to the hardware and make it do whatever we wanted it to do. I couldn't tell you how many different peripheral cards I've made for myself to add to my own PC - back in the 8 and 16 bit days. Most of my success was actually with Amigas, same processors as Macs, but easier hardware to interface with.

I don't know how much code I've written to run those cards either. So, back about 15 years ago, Steve Wozniak who was the proponent of open hardware standards got the boot, and Steve Jobs took Apple back over. To his credit, he took the company back from the brink of suffering the same fate as other excellent hardware companies such as Silicon Graphics and digital, and made it into a very innovative and forward thinking company. And financially successful.

But he did it, as I said earlier, by becoming more evil than Microsoft. Gone are the days of the AOL icons on our desktops by default - killing internet access for all who dare open them. Or, are they? Buy an iPod? Well, you need to install iTunes on your PC to use it. Did you read the terms of service as to what you are really agreeing to? No. That's why when you update iTunes, suddenly you got Quicktime and the Safari Browser on your desktop. Because you didn't opt-out of them.

With the iPad, the 'Vertical Integration' is worse than Microsoft. Very lucrative for Apple, but if you like choice, you are out of luck. You will run the Apps Apple says are good for you. Your web experience will be as Apple dictates. You will only use approved by Apple software. And Apple will let you pay for the experience.

This is not the way of the world. Our planet is becoming smaller, and more social. To do that, you need to be able to make the choices that best suit you. To be locked in to what $Big_Company decides is acceptable is a step backward.

Now, Telus. I could rant endlessly about how they were built using my tax dollars, then sold off at virtually no profit, how they have become the evil entity I always knew they could be, and how their government mandated monopoly has set the Internet back to the two-tin-cans-and-a -string days. But my fingers are tired.

Good post...and yeah Apple is becoming more evil than its competitors, which given that Microsoft is included in that list, makes it hard to believe. I long for the days (like the 80s) when Apple was just a happy go-lucky company trying to make it in the business, not an organization bent on global domination.

I was really happy when Apple turned around and grew strongly in the past decade, but that I guess I was wrong in believing that Apple would be different from IBM, Microsoft and all the other companies that screw everyone over when they get to the top of the tech pyramid.

So much for rooting for the 'little guy'...

[Annihilator]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Annihilator Annihilator:

Still, Apple is not to blame for Telus changing terms of service.

So, Telus changing terms of service for iPad users has nothing at all to do with Apple? Where did the iPads come from?

The iPad comes from Apple, the service from Telus. If you gotta blame Apple for Telus's fault, you might as well blame Telus for hardware malfunction.

[RUEZ]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Annihilator Annihilator:

Still, Apple is not to blame for Telus changing terms of service.

So, Telus changing terms of service for iPad users has nothing at all to do with Apple? Where did the iPads come from?

That's a huge stretch blaming Apple for Telus service change.

[DrCaleb]

RUEZ RUEZ:

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Annihilator Annihilator:

Still, Apple is not to blame for Telus changing terms of service.

So, Telus changing terms of service for iPad users has nothing at all to do with Apple? Where did the iPads come from?

That's a huge stretch blaming Apple for Telus service change.

I didn't blame Apple for Telus changing it's service policy. How could Apple dictate Telus' business decisions?

But Telus couldn't change the service policy for the iPad, unless Apple first created the iPad. So, Apple did have some involvement, as I said. I blame Carl Sagan for making me so pedantic. "If you want to create an Apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the Universe."

Telus cannot change the service policy for the Amazon Kindle (if it worked here) because Amazon pays for the bandwidth. If Apple paid for the bandwidth they used to sell people things, ISPs couldn't change the terms of service after the fact either. So again, Apple has some hand in it.

[DrCaleb]

This is another example of why to not trust Apple.

$1:

Apple Inc. is now collecting the "precise," "real-time geographic location" of its users' iPhones, iPads and computers.

In an updated version of its privacy policy, the company added a paragraph noting that once users agree, Apple and unspecified "partners and licensees" may collect and store user location data.

When users attempt to download apps or media from the iTunes store, they are prompted to agree to the new terms and conditions. Until they agree, they cannot download anything through the store.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technol ... -ipad.html

So, now that people have their iAppliance, are they going to agree to the privacy violation, or stop using their iAppliance?

[bootlegga]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

This is another example of why to not trust Apple.

$1:

Apple Inc. is now collecting the "precise," "real-time geographic location" of its users' iPhones, iPads and computers.

In an updated version of its privacy policy, the company added a paragraph noting that once users agree, Apple and unspecified "partners and licensees" may collect and store user location data.

When users attempt to download apps or media from the iTunes store, they are prompted to agree to the new terms and conditions. Until they agree, they cannot download anything through the store.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technol ... -ipad.html

So, now that people have their iAppliance, are they going to agree to the privacy violation, or stop using their iAppliance?

[DrCaleb]

'Zactly Boots. It's not a big deal, right? Sending a little non-personally identifiable bit of info? No harm, right?

Wrong.