4 ms·

Would you care to back your prognostication by short-selling AAPL?

malandrew 16y ago
No. Just because I think this is fail doesn't mean I'm bearish on the stock. I'm as much of an Apple fanboy as anyone else (I use a MacBook Pro, Cinema Display, iPhone, etc. I've been using a MacBook Pro since 2003), but I'm not going to give them a free pass on a necessary feature in an ultra-portable laptop.
- zyb09 16y ago
  Well your fault for using an iPhone, just get a Froyo device and make your own WiFi around you!
  - slantyyz 16y ago
    Or, your fault for being an American! You can tether your iPhone in other countries. Well, at least you can get a MyFi.
    - mechanical_fish 16y ago
      You can tether the iPhone in the USA as well. You just have to pay AT&T for the privilege. We'll see how expensive the tethering is after we have carrier-vs-carrier competition for the iPhone in the USA.
- thenduks 16y ago
  They probably couldn't get carriers to agree to a iPad-like 3g plan for a laptop.
  - malandrew 16y ago
    Do they even have to get carrier permission to include a sim card slot for GSM systems? The only reason I can see them leaving this out is because unsuspecting users will end up with a horrible user experience when they get their first month's bill at the end of the month. Apple would have to create a user interface to protect users from themselves by blocking a lot of unnecessary inbound and outbound network access when on 3G and also showing them how much of their monthly bandwidth they have used so far.
    - thenduks 16y ago
      I'm with ya, and I don't think they'd need 'permission'... but usually Apple announces a deal to go along with stuff like that, you know, $15/month 3g plans on iPads. Basically what I'm saying is that the carriers will be super pissed if all the sudden all of their users are using all of their purchased bandwidth because they can shove a card into their laptop. It's like ketchup, the majority of people don't use all 500mb/1gb/whatever of data per month, but they still pay for it. The telecoms want to keep it that way.
      - malandrew 16y ago
        True. True. However something tells me Steve doesn't care what the carriers think or feel. I know I don't care what they think. In fact, putting more stress on the digital networks may give the carriers in the U.S. the ammunition they need to get the FCC to let them abandon POTS. The truth is that money going to support legacy POTS is taking money away from digital network investment. The FCC should allow common carriers to abandon POTS on the condition that all that money get poured back into digital network bandwidth and rural network expansion.
- slantyyz 16y ago
  "I'm not going to give them a free pass on a necessary feature in an ultra-portable laptop." Everyone's use case is different. 3G is not even close to being what I would consider a "necessary" feature. I'm way more disappointed that there's no built-in gigabit ethernet, as I'm generally required to plug in when on-site at a client. The dongle helps, but dongles suck.
  - malandrew 16y ago
    The least they could do is treat the MacBook Air the same way they treat the iPad. They should offer two versions: one with 3G and one without.
    - slantyyz 16y ago
      Apple products tend to have a very opinionated design. They were probably of the opinion that the current market for 3G enabled MBA's was too small to justify adding space to the device's internals and having another SKU.
- raganwald 16y ago
  I'm with you on this one. If I had shorted AAPL because I thought that AppleTV wasn't going anywhere... That would have been an epic investment FAIL, to use your term :-D

No. Just because I think this is fail doesn't mean I'm bearish on the stock. I'm as much of an Apple fanboy as anyone else (I use a MacBook Pro, Cinema Display, iPhone, etc. I've been using a MacBook Pro since 2003), but I'm not going to give them a free pass on a necessary feature in an ultra-portable laptop.

zyb09 16y ago
Well your fault for using an iPhone, just get a Froyo device and make your own WiFi around you!
- slantyyz 16y ago
  Or, your fault for being an American! You can tether your iPhone in other countries. Well, at least you can get a MyFi.
  - mechanical_fish 16y ago
    You can tether the iPhone in the USA as well. You just have to pay AT&T for the privilege. We'll see how expensive the tethering is after we have carrier-vs-carrier competition for the iPhone in the USA.
thenduks 16y ago
They probably couldn't get carriers to agree to a iPad-like 3g plan for a laptop.
- malandrew 16y ago
  Do they even have to get carrier permission to include a sim card slot for GSM systems? The only reason I can see them leaving this out is because unsuspecting users will end up with a horrible user experience when they get their first month's bill at the end of the month. Apple would have to create a user interface to protect users from themselves by blocking a lot of unnecessary inbound and outbound network access when on 3G and also showing them how much of their monthly bandwidth they have used so far.
  - thenduks 16y ago
    I'm with ya, and I don't think they'd need 'permission'... but usually Apple announces a deal to go along with stuff like that, you know, $15/month 3g plans on iPads. Basically what I'm saying is that the carriers will be super pissed if all the sudden all of their users are using all of their purchased bandwidth because they can shove a card into their laptop. It's like ketchup, the majority of people don't use all 500mb/1gb/whatever of data per month, but they still pay for it. The telecoms want to keep it that way.
    - malandrew 16y ago
      True. True. However something tells me Steve doesn't care what the carriers think or feel. I know I don't care what they think. In fact, putting more stress on the digital networks may give the carriers in the U.S. the ammunition they need to get the FCC to let them abandon POTS. The truth is that money going to support legacy POTS is taking money away from digital network investment. The FCC should allow common carriers to abandon POTS on the condition that all that money get poured back into digital network bandwidth and rural network expansion.
slantyyz 16y ago
"I'm not going to give them a free pass on a necessary feature in an ultra-portable laptop." Everyone's use case is different. 3G is not even close to being what I would consider a "necessary" feature. I'm way more disappointed that there's no built-in gigabit ethernet, as I'm generally required to plug in when on-site at a client. The dongle helps, but dongles suck.
- malandrew 16y ago
  The least they could do is treat the MacBook Air the same way they treat the iPad. They should offer two versions: one with 3G and one without.
  - slantyyz 16y ago
    Apple products tend to have a very opinionated design. They were probably of the opinion that the current market for 3G enabled MBA's was too small to justify adding space to the device's internals and having another SKU.
raganwald 16y ago
I'm with you on this one. If I had shorted AAPL because I thought that AppleTV wasn't going anywhere... That would have been an epic investment FAIL, to use your term :-D