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Many of the possible outcomes would lead to more flexibility for Apple, who will then immediately start shipping a feature that most pro users would benefit fro

Many of the possible outcomes would lead to more flexibility for Apple, who will then immediately start shipping a feature that most pro users would benefit from.

bradknowles 3y ago
Unfortunately, the key arguments that have to be made with Apple are: 1. How much more profit can you show that they will make if they take the decision to implement your suggestion? 2. How will this help them better meet their regulatory requirements? For #1, you don't really have an answer. You would be one customer who would be affected, and you might choose to buy their hardware instead. But how likely is that? Can you prove that? And how many more people are there in the market who feel the same way? For #2, your suggestion actually makes the regulatory situation worse, since you're now adding a cell phone modem to what was otherwise "just" a computing device. And that brings a whole host of additional regulations into the mix, including import laws and tariffs. And any lawsuit that is filed against Apple that could involve protectionist measures against intrusion of external businesses into local cell phone politics would now be able to stop all imports of all laptops of this type, since any of them could presumably have a cell phone modem in them. For Apple as a corporation, I'm seeing effectively no upside here, and all downside. For you personally, there would be a lot of upside. And people like me would also benefit. I just don't see a compelling argument that would convince Apple.
- mcculley 3y ago
  You are clearly convinced that this was a decision made based on the market. I don’t believe that. I believe that as soon as they are not paying a percentage of every device to Qualcomm, Apple will ship this obvious feature. As for the fear over regulation, why do Dell laptops and Apple iPads have modems?
  - bradknowles 3y ago
    Maybe, but there's only one way to find out. We will just have to wait and see. Despite whatever you may think of me, I do hope you're right.
    - mcculley 3y ago
      I don’t think poorly of you at all. I think many assume that free market forces prevail. It seems to me that the current monopolies are the reason we don’t have an obvious feature.

Many of the possible outcomes would lead to more flexibility for Apple, who will then immediately start shipping a feature that most pro users would benefit from.

bradknowles 3y ago

Unfortunately, the key arguments that have to be made with Apple are: 1. How much more profit can you show that they will make if they take the decision to implement your suggestion? 2. How will this help them better meet their regulatory requirements? For #1, you don't really have an answer. You would be one customer who would be affected, and you might choose to buy their hardware instead. But how likely is that? Can you prove that? And how many more people are there in the market who feel the same way? For #2, your suggestion actually makes the regulatory situation worse, since you're now adding a cell phone modem to what was otherwise "just" a computing device. And that brings a whole host of additional regulations into the mix, including import laws and tariffs. And any lawsuit that is filed against Apple that could involve protectionist measures against intrusion of external businesses into local cell phone politics would now be able to stop all imports of all laptops of this type, since any of them could presumably have a cell phone modem in them. For Apple as a corporation, I'm seeing effectively no upside here, and all downside. For you personally, there would be a lot of upside. And people like me would also benefit. I just don't see a compelling argument that would convince Apple.

mcculley 3y ago
You are clearly convinced that this was a decision made based on the market. I don’t believe that. I believe that as soon as they are not paying a percentage of every device to Qualcomm, Apple will ship this obvious feature. As for the fear over regulation, why do Dell laptops and Apple iPads have modems?
- bradknowles 3y ago
  Maybe, but there's only one way to find out. We will just have to wait and see. Despite whatever you may think of me, I do hope you're right.
  - mcculley 3y ago
    I don’t think poorly of you at all. I think many assume that free market forces prevail. It seems to me that the current monopolies are the reason we don’t have an obvious feature.