3 ms·

There's no downside to having this as an option, I just wonder if this feature will drive any consumer demand.

52-6F-62 9y ago
Consider how annoyed people have been at the Apple dongle situation. Sure they'll grunt through it but they want something better and less complicated. To the HN crowd, a phone tied to a computer to access all of the world's information is a large bit of genius (I used to dream about it when I was a kid... before everybody had cellphones), but to most users its just another thing dangling about that they have to connect and disconnect and remember to shut off tether mode and so on and so on. If its in one package, and its as easy as hitting "connect", I think it will sell. That and consider cottage-goers who dislike disconnecting, or people who live outside of highspeed zones. Or even the connectivity-paranoid (script kiddies aren't so likely to start hijacking cellular connections as they are to bite you through an insecure coffeshop wifi). Doctors Without Borders might benefit, and other like travelling charity groups. I'm just spitballing, but I can see cases. Though, a lot of my speculation depends on price points.
- photojosh 9y ago
  > Consider how annoyed people have been at the Apple dongle situation. Do you mean the USB-C with the gazillion required adapters or new cables? It's relevant you bring up Apple, because if you have a MacBook and an iPhone, and pair it via Bluetooth, the a tethering option shows up in your WiFi menu that you can easily select, same as any other WiFi network. The advantage of it being an easy, yet manual process is that you can't accidentally use it and blow through your data. I do wish they would go the extra step and build "limit what you do because you're on a metered connection" support into macOS.
  - 52-6F-62 9y ago
    Good point. I really enjoy how easy it is on a mac when I'm on the train or something. The difficulty for average users is the knowledge that you can tether, setting it up, and remembering to turn it off. The UI's are good at reminding you, but even I've forgotten if I've had to run off the train because I got caught up in work. Metering (with overrides) would help absolutely!

Consider how annoyed people have been at the Apple dongle situation. Sure they'll grunt through it but they want something better and less complicated. To the HN crowd, a phone tied to a computer to access all of the world's information is a large bit of genius (I used to dream about it when I was a kid... before everybody had cellphones), but to most users its just another thing dangling about that they have to connect and disconnect and remember to shut off tether mode and so on and so on. If its in one package, and its as easy as hitting "connect", I think it will sell. That and consider cottage-goers who dislike disconnecting, or people who live outside of highspeed zones. Or even the connectivity-paranoid (script kiddies aren't so likely to start hijacking cellular connections as they are to bite you through an insecure coffeshop wifi). Doctors Without Borders might benefit, and other like travelling charity groups. I'm just spitballing, but I can see cases. Though, a lot of my speculation depends on price points.

photojosh 9y ago
> Consider how annoyed people have been at the Apple dongle situation. Do you mean the USB-C with the gazillion required adapters or new cables? It's relevant you bring up Apple, because if you have a MacBook and an iPhone, and pair it via Bluetooth, the a tethering option shows up in your WiFi menu that you can easily select, same as any other WiFi network. The advantage of it being an easy, yet manual process is that you can't accidentally use it and blow through your data. I do wish they would go the extra step and build "limit what you do because you're on a metered connection" support into macOS.
- 52-6F-62 9y ago
  Good point. I really enjoy how easy it is on a mac when I'm on the train or something. The difficulty for average users is the knowledge that you can tether, setting it up, and remembering to turn it off. The UI's are good at reminding you, but even I've forgotten if I've had to run off the train because I got caught up in work. Metering (with overrides) would help absolutely!