If I get charged, again, to tether my iPhone to my laptop, I’m going to be pissed. Where does it end? I’m serious. Why don’t consumers actually get what’s advertised to them, instead of getting fake ads that promise the entire world, but ultimately are only based on half truths? Unlimited bandwith, unlimited cellphone data usage, iPhone 2.0 being 2 times faster than iPhone 1.0.
Now, we’re hearing talk of an iPhone tethering deal with AT&T being in the works. Are you kidding me?
That’s like when you buy a car, but when your car salesman finds out you want to park it in the garage instead of on the street, he hits you up for another–higher–payment.
Or better yet, that’s like buying a CD and trying to put it on your iPod, then you get a letter from some agency telling you that you don’t have that right…oh, wait a minute. I’ve seen this somewhere before.
Here’s the thing. We ‘buy’ a product or a service under the assumption that it’s ours to do what we want with it. It’s how the world works. You pay, you own. I don’t see CD ads with the word lease in it, I don’t see iPhone applications being advertised as leaseable, and I certainly did not see a huge terms and conditions listing of what I can do with my iPhone or data plan.
The last time I checked we “purchase” cd’s, we “purchase” that special iPhone application, and we “purchase” a data plan.
Purchase: “to acquire by the payment of money or its equivalent; buy.”
Lease: “a contract renting land, buildings, etc., to another; a contract or instrument conveying property to another for a specified period or for a period determinable at the will of either lessor or lessee in consideration of rent or other compensation.”
Does Apple have the right to “not” provide applications to consumers that they feel don’t promote their brand properly? Certainly. Does Apple have the right to remove things from our devices after we have purchased them from us? No way in hell.
Does AT&T have the right to charge for their services? Certainly. Does AT&T have the right to require us to pay another fee because we attached a device that we are currently paying for to another device that we have paid for? Hell no! That’s the end of the line for me.
I pay the service to get data. I pay the fee to own the phone. Now, I have to pay a fee to connect the two services? Could you imagine ordering high speed internet, renting a cable modem and plugging it into your Xbox. But, the moment you unplug it from your xbox and plug it into your laptop you are not allowed? You have to pay an “additional” fee for that. That’s just plain corporate greed.
So, I guess the point of this post is to call for clarity. Am I purchasing something or leasing it. If I’m leasing something you better tell me, and chances are if it turns out that I am leasing instead of ‘buying,’ I won’t be walking out of your store with your product in my hand. Catch my drift?
Do they think we’re stupid? I bought an iPhone and 6 gb of data usage to use whenever I see fit (I’m in Canada). If I want to get that usage from my iPhone, my toaster, my toothbrush, or even my laptop, is it not within my rights to do so?
I’m tired of corporate interests telling me what the hell I can and can’t do with devices. I paid for it. Possession is nine tenths of the law right? I’ll tether this iPhone to whatever the hell I feel like, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Just because old men sitting around the boardrooms, house of commons, or the house of representatives can’t tell you what Qik is or likely how it works, and instead see it as another way to make consumers pay more money, instead of realizing that consumers are just using the “bandwidth” that was promised to them. And because the best metaphor some of them have come up with for the internet is a “series of tubes,” should we allow them to form policy that prevents future technology and future innovation? They stymie innovation. They’re clueless. Their time has expired. They have no idea what technology today does. When they think of technology they probably think about that shiny new 8 track that they got in their first car. It’s time we tell them that it’s inappropriate; it’s time we tell them they don’t speak for us. It’s time we force them to have a backbone and stand up to corporate interest, because we all know that they don’t have the balls to do it on their own.
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