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Not sure why you're being downvoted. I concur 100%. Everybody has a smarthone with a SIM card already in it and carries it around all the time. Connecting your

by shafyy 3y ago

Not sure why you're being downvoted. I concur 100%. Everybody has a smarthone with a SIM card already in it and carries it around all the time. Connecting your Macbook to your iPhone is one click in your menu bar. Why do you need a SIM Card in your Macbook? I mean, there might be some business (niche) use cases, but other than that?

thot_experiment 3y ago
It's the friction of the thing. Phones have a trash UI, I can just pull my laptop out of my bag and shitpost on hacker news whenever I want at 90wpm, you think I'm going to bother tethering just to reply to a HN comment on Caltrain? The UX of an always on the internet laptop is unparalleled.
- lxgr 3y ago
  On macOS, I can activate tethering pretty much instantaneously directly from my laptop, but the battery drain is still a concern.
  - JohnBooty 3y ago
    sure, but I mean, we're just shifting the battery drain to the laptop now the laptop has a bigger battery, obviously. but i'm trying to understand the Venn diagram of people who are willing to tote around a laptop, but not an external hotspot or extra battery pack to offset the extra battery drain on their phone, and need to do this for hours at a time with no AC power available, and are also willing to pay $20 a month for it or whatever the carrier charges all I can really come up with is "businesses who issue laptops that need to stay connected to the internet and it's not feasible to expect employees to use their phones as hotspots" and maybe "people doing mission critical shit who want the laptop cellular modem as a backup in case something happens to their phone or whatever" and of course people who won't blink at $20/month
    - lxgr 3y ago
      > we're just shifting the battery drain to the laptop now I'm pretty sure that a significant part of the drain is having to run a Wi-Fi hotspot. Access points use more energy than stations (clients). > and of course people who won't blink at $20/month There's no extra charge for an additional SIM card with some phone plans.
csdvrx 3y ago
> Connecting your Macbook to your iPhone is one click in your menu bar. Why do you need a SIM Card in your Macbook? To achieve the same result with 0 click
1123581321 3y ago
It’s probably because he said phones have better reception; it’s almost impossible for that to be true unless the laptop takes pains to have just as small as an antenna as a phone would.

by shafyy 3y ago

thot_experiment 3y ago

It's the friction of the thing. Phones have a trash UI, I can just pull my laptop out of my bag and shitpost on hacker news whenever I want at 90wpm, you think I'm going to bother tethering just to reply to a HN comment on Caltrain? The UX of an always on the internet laptop is unparalleled.

lxgr 3y ago
On macOS, I can activate tethering pretty much instantaneously directly from my laptop, but the battery drain is still a concern.
- JohnBooty 3y ago
  sure, but I mean, we're just shifting the battery drain to the laptop now the laptop has a bigger battery, obviously. but i'm trying to understand the Venn diagram of people who are willing to tote around a laptop, but not an external hotspot or extra battery pack to offset the extra battery drain on their phone, and need to do this for hours at a time with no AC power available, and are also willing to pay $20 a month for it or whatever the carrier charges all I can really come up with is "businesses who issue laptops that need to stay connected to the internet and it's not feasible to expect employees to use their phones as hotspots" and maybe "people doing mission critical shit who want the laptop cellular modem as a backup in case something happens to their phone or whatever" and of course people who won't blink at $20/month
  - lxgr 3y ago
    > we're just shifting the battery drain to the laptop now I'm pretty sure that a significant part of the drain is having to run a Wi-Fi hotspot. Access points use more energy than stations (clients). > and of course people who won't blink at $20/month There's no extra charge for an additional SIM card with some phone plans.

csdvrx 3y ago

> Connecting your Macbook to your iPhone is one click in your menu bar. Why do you need a SIM Card in your Macbook? To achieve the same result with 0 click

1123581321 3y ago

It’s probably because he said phones have better reception; it’s almost impossible for that to be true unless the laptop takes pains to have just as small as an antenna as a phone would.