jmbear
Nov 28, 09:47 PM
1 Random artist finds inspiration and writes a song
2 Artist decides his song is so good that he/she records it in a professional studio (which he can rent) so the sound quality is superb
3 Artists logs into the iTMS and publishes his song
4 Artists gets $ from every song sold and the iTMS charges the artist for the distribution
Where are the recording studios in this future? Nowhere. Artists might still need them for promotions, music videos etc... but that is all bells and whistles. You don't even need the studios for a good music video, just look at how famous this (http://youtube.com/watch?v=okZwbxi7p0A) video has become, its even on MTV. It all comes down to the music, and if its good, people will buy it. Artists provide the content, iTMS the distribution. Record labels' presence will be greatly diminished. They are scared to death.
2 Artist decides his song is so good that he/she records it in a professional studio (which he can rent) so the sound quality is superb
3 Artists logs into the iTMS and publishes his song
4 Artists gets $ from every song sold and the iTMS charges the artist for the distribution
Where are the recording studios in this future? Nowhere. Artists might still need them for promotions, music videos etc... but that is all bells and whistles. You don't even need the studios for a good music video, just look at how famous this (http://youtube.com/watch?v=okZwbxi7p0A) video has become, its even on MTV. It all comes down to the music, and if its good, people will buy it. Artists provide the content, iTMS the distribution. Record labels' presence will be greatly diminished. They are scared to death.
VanNess
Aug 5, 06:54 PM
You're right that there is "no reason to rush" except it would be awfully fun to beat Vista to market AGAIN.
David :cool:
Apple, in a very real sense, will beat Vista as of Monday. Microsoft execs have already gone on record recently saying that the rescheduled schedule for the revised schedule for scheduling the release of Vista now has a 20% chance of slipping. Apple, on the other hand, has earned a reputation for shipping it's OS and what it shows/promises. So what will be seen at WWDC will be as good as gold insofar as it's perception as a legitimate answer to Vista.
Microsoft is really out of time. It has to freeze it's code for Vista and debug if it stands any chance of hitting an 07 release and maintain what's left of Microsoft's credibility - which means whatever it looks like now, that's it. So there won't be any further surprises from Microsoft, just release date suspense. From a competitive, strategic point of view, it just doesn't get any better than this for Apple.
David :cool:
Apple, in a very real sense, will beat Vista as of Monday. Microsoft execs have already gone on record recently saying that the rescheduled schedule for the revised schedule for scheduling the release of Vista now has a 20% chance of slipping. Apple, on the other hand, has earned a reputation for shipping it's OS and what it shows/promises. So what will be seen at WWDC will be as good as gold insofar as it's perception as a legitimate answer to Vista.
Microsoft is really out of time. It has to freeze it's code for Vista and debug if it stands any chance of hitting an 07 release and maintain what's left of Microsoft's credibility - which means whatever it looks like now, that's it. So there won't be any further surprises from Microsoft, just release date suspense. From a competitive, strategic point of view, it just doesn't get any better than this for Apple.
BlizzardBomb
Jul 27, 10:22 AM
Well there's always going to be some die-hard PPC and Core Duo users who will vote negative on this story :p
Well Apple, get those Core 2 Duos in the iMacs and MacBook Pros, and a Woodcrest... No... 2 Woodcrests in the Mac Pros.
Well Apple, get those Core 2 Duos in the iMacs and MacBook Pros, and a Woodcrest... No... 2 Woodcrests in the Mac Pros.
shrimpdesign
Aug 7, 03:19 PM
Features I want:
-iChat screen sharing (awesome idea!) and video effects
-Spaces (finally a Apple OS-level implementation)
-Time Machine (I want a friggin wormhole on my computer!)
I wish they'd show us the Top Secret features.
But seriously, so one even saw Time Machine coming. That was a surprise!
-iChat screen sharing (awesome idea!) and video effects
-Spaces (finally a Apple OS-level implementation)
-Time Machine (I want a friggin wormhole on my computer!)
I wish they'd show us the Top Secret features.
But seriously, so one even saw Time Machine coming. That was a surprise!
iliketyla
Mar 31, 07:22 PM
I imagine if you made a chart of the top selling smartphones in the last 5 years, it would consist of the iPhone 4, the iPhone 3GS, the iPhone 3G and the iPhone.
I neither agree or disagree with this statement, I'm just very curious as to whether or not it is true. Anyone have an data that can prove/disprove this?
I neither agree or disagree with this statement, I'm just very curious as to whether or not it is true. Anyone have an data that can prove/disprove this?
littleman23408
Dec 1, 05:27 PM
Sorry, Bandit, I don't have tips for the licenses. I am not that far into them yet.
Took out the Lotus challenge in a snap. The first few times I came close to finishing it, I would have had 1st and beat it, but I either ran into the grass, or the person in first I was about to pass slowed down to much and I nailed him. But, the first time I actually completed the two laps, I was 1st. If someone needs tips I will post it.
Took out the Lotus challenge in a snap. The first few times I came close to finishing it, I would have had 1st and beat it, but I either ran into the grass, or the person in first I was about to pass slowed down to much and I nailed him. But, the first time I actually completed the two laps, I was 1st. If someone needs tips I will post it.
citizenzen
Apr 28, 10:08 AM
Imagine that, three responses which utterly fail to refute let alone dispute my clear and truthful argument.
Here 5P. Let me try to explain this in a (hopefully) clear and truthful manner.
Tribalism works on a variety of levels. You don't care about conservative blacks because your shared conservative ideology overcomes any racial issues. The fact that you feel a kinship, based on the political ties can even fool you into thinking that you've become color blind. "I like Colin Powell, that proves I'm not a racist."
But when the overriding political connection doesn't exist then the subtler identifiers come into play. The tensions over race, religion, class or gender are always there, they're just overcome by political kinship. Take away that basis for agreement and those other aspects are more prone to color our perception of that person.
Here 5P. Let me try to explain this in a (hopefully) clear and truthful manner.
Tribalism works on a variety of levels. You don't care about conservative blacks because your shared conservative ideology overcomes any racial issues. The fact that you feel a kinship, based on the political ties can even fool you into thinking that you've become color blind. "I like Colin Powell, that proves I'm not a racist."
But when the overriding political connection doesn't exist then the subtler identifiers come into play. The tensions over race, religion, class or gender are always there, they're just overcome by political kinship. Take away that basis for agreement and those other aspects are more prone to color our perception of that person.
tripjammer
Apr 11, 01:05 PM
Not sure I believe the rumors, but as long as my 3G still works, I'll wait. $200 every 3 years is better than $200 every 2 years.
That is why you sell your iphone every year and it does not cost you to upgrade. ATT basically allows you to upgrade at the lowest price every year.
Its all about timing.
That is why you sell your iphone every year and it does not cost you to upgrade. ATT basically allows you to upgrade at the lowest price every year.
Its all about timing.
rdowns
Feb 28, 06:29 PM
Lee, I agree with you about what you say, but he clearly did say that this was only his opinion. People are allowed that, even if it is hateful and exclusionist.
Agreed, but when you air your opinions in public, others have the right to challenge them.
Agreed, but when you air your opinions in public, others have the right to challenge them.
SuperCachetes
Mar 5, 07:30 PM
The same model applies to the 'church'.
They are on the wane, and need new conscripts.
Gays are less likely to give them that.
That's (sadly) believable. See, now you're talking. I knew you didn't always pop round just to throw a cheeky non sequitur into the works. ;)
They are on the wane, and need new conscripts.
Gays are less likely to give them that.
That's (sadly) believable. See, now you're talking. I knew you didn't always pop round just to throw a cheeky non sequitur into the works. ;)
mkrishnan
Aug 7, 03:38 PM
I'm surprised res-independent UI was not discussed, but Apple has already said (http://developer.apple.com/releasenotes/GraphicsImaging/ResolutionIndependentUI.html) that is coming, so maybe it's just not polished enough to bother showing yet. (Or maybe it's better to show when new displays come out? Today's new low prices on Cinema Displays might hint at new displays to come later.)
I am not entirely clear on what all CoreAnimation does and does not do, but I'm wondering if it and RIUI are not related at some level.... some of its feature set sounds like exactly what one would need to make the RIUI easy to implement.... We'll have to wait and see.
I voted Time Machine. I'm not even sure I'd really use it. But it's a neat idea, and the implementation looks to be nothing less than stunning. When I first saw it, I too thought system restore, but it's clearly substantially more sophisticated and (what a shock) oriented at enhancing your experience doing actual stuff with your computer, rather than at undoing the mess Windows updaters make when they fail to do what they're supposed to. :D
To me overall it seems like I'll be excited to get my next Mac with Leopard pre-installed but I will not rush out to purchase a copy....
I am not entirely clear on what all CoreAnimation does and does not do, but I'm wondering if it and RIUI are not related at some level.... some of its feature set sounds like exactly what one would need to make the RIUI easy to implement.... We'll have to wait and see.
I voted Time Machine. I'm not even sure I'd really use it. But it's a neat idea, and the implementation looks to be nothing less than stunning. When I first saw it, I too thought system restore, but it's clearly substantially more sophisticated and (what a shock) oriented at enhancing your experience doing actual stuff with your computer, rather than at undoing the mess Windows updaters make when they fail to do what they're supposed to. :D
To me overall it seems like I'll be excited to get my next Mac with Leopard pre-installed but I will not rush out to purchase a copy....
epitaphic
Aug 18, 11:46 PM
So you think they put an extra processor in across the line just to be able to say they had a quad? Even the AnandTech article you used as a source showed here (http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2816&p=18) that PS took advantage of quad cores in Rosetta
Yes under some specific results the quad was a bit faster than the dual. Though with the combo of Rosetta+Photoshop its unclear what is causing the difference. However, if you compare the vast majority of the benchmarks, there's negligible difference.
Concerning Photoshop specifically, as can be experienced on a quad G5, the performance increase is 15-20%. A future jump to 8-core would theoretically be in the 8% increase mark. Photoshop (CS2) simply cannot scale adequately beyond 2 cores, maybe that'll change in Spring 2007. Fingers crossed it does.
Your points about latency and FSB are not separate negatives as you have made them. They are redundant theoretical concerns with implications of unclear practical significance.
I beg to differ. If an app or game is memory intensive, faster memory access does matter. Barefeats (http://barefeats.com/quad09.html) has some benchmarks on dual channel vs quad channel on the Mac Pro. I'd personally like to see that benchmark with an added Conroe system. If dual to quad channel gave 16-25% improvement, imagine what 75% increase in actual bandwidth will do. Besides, I was merely addressing your statements that Woodcrest is faster because of its higher speed FSB and higher memory bus bandwidth.
I am not worried. Everything anyone has come up with on this issue are taken from that same AnandTech article. Until I see more real-world testing, I will not be convinced. Also, I expect that more pro apps such as PS will be able to utilize quad cores in the near future, if they aren't already doing so. Finally, even if Conroe is faster, Woodcrest is fast enough for me ;).
Anandtech, at the moment, is the only place with a quad xeon vs dual xeon benchmark. And yes, dual Woodcrest is fast enough, but is it cost effective compared to a single Woodcrest/Conroe? It seems that for the most part, Mac Pro users are paying for an extra chip but only really utilizing it when running several CPU intensive apps at the same time.
I think you misread that. They were comparing Core 2 Extreme (not Woodcrest) and Conroe to see whether the increased FSB of the former would make much difference.
You're absolutely right about that, its only measuring the improvement over increased FSB. If you take into account FB-DIMM's appalling efficiency, there should be no increase at all (if not decrease) for memory intensive apps.
One question I'd like to put out there, if Apple has had a quad core mac shipping for the past 8 months, why would it wait til intel quads to optimize the code for FCP? Surely they must have known for some time before that that they would release a quad core G5 so either optimizing FCP for quads is a real bastard or they've been sitting on it for no reason.
Yes under some specific results the quad was a bit faster than the dual. Though with the combo of Rosetta+Photoshop its unclear what is causing the difference. However, if you compare the vast majority of the benchmarks, there's negligible difference.
Concerning Photoshop specifically, as can be experienced on a quad G5, the performance increase is 15-20%. A future jump to 8-core would theoretically be in the 8% increase mark. Photoshop (CS2) simply cannot scale adequately beyond 2 cores, maybe that'll change in Spring 2007. Fingers crossed it does.
Your points about latency and FSB are not separate negatives as you have made them. They are redundant theoretical concerns with implications of unclear practical significance.
I beg to differ. If an app or game is memory intensive, faster memory access does matter. Barefeats (http://barefeats.com/quad09.html) has some benchmarks on dual channel vs quad channel on the Mac Pro. I'd personally like to see that benchmark with an added Conroe system. If dual to quad channel gave 16-25% improvement, imagine what 75% increase in actual bandwidth will do. Besides, I was merely addressing your statements that Woodcrest is faster because of its higher speed FSB and higher memory bus bandwidth.
I am not worried. Everything anyone has come up with on this issue are taken from that same AnandTech article. Until I see more real-world testing, I will not be convinced. Also, I expect that more pro apps such as PS will be able to utilize quad cores in the near future, if they aren't already doing so. Finally, even if Conroe is faster, Woodcrest is fast enough for me ;).
Anandtech, at the moment, is the only place with a quad xeon vs dual xeon benchmark. And yes, dual Woodcrest is fast enough, but is it cost effective compared to a single Woodcrest/Conroe? It seems that for the most part, Mac Pro users are paying for an extra chip but only really utilizing it when running several CPU intensive apps at the same time.
I think you misread that. They were comparing Core 2 Extreme (not Woodcrest) and Conroe to see whether the increased FSB of the former would make much difference.
You're absolutely right about that, its only measuring the improvement over increased FSB. If you take into account FB-DIMM's appalling efficiency, there should be no increase at all (if not decrease) for memory intensive apps.
One question I'd like to put out there, if Apple has had a quad core mac shipping for the past 8 months, why would it wait til intel quads to optimize the code for FCP? Surely they must have known for some time before that that they would release a quad core G5 so either optimizing FCP for quads is a real bastard or they've been sitting on it for no reason.
Multimedia
Sep 13, 08:23 PM
Hey Multimedia, Do you record HDTV with EyeTV 500 then encode to H.264 using Handbrake and then do you add it to itunes to manage and organize those shows or movies?
I think this is a neat idea with you have the spare HD room and want to keep shows or events for long time and want to access it fast and easy.I don't use H.264 because the previous max res allowed to go on an iPod with it was 320x240 which would upscale to a TV poorly. Now I will continue to not use it because the file sizes are more than twice what I can make without it.
The author of Handbrake is going to have to make some changes to it before we can use H.264 judiciously. I currently use the FFmpeg 2-pass encoding at bitrates around 750kbps for SD @ 544x400 and 1000kbps @ 624x352 for HD. These are dimensions that fall within the upper limit pixel count that will still load and play on an iPod 230,000. This way they upsacle to a TV well and still play on iPod.
I don't use iTunes much. I am burning DVDs of all these files. 12 one hour shows fit on a DVD @ 351 per 42 minute Ads edited out episode. Movies I can get to 702MB - one CD size each. Personal message me if you need more details.
I think this is a neat idea with you have the spare HD room and want to keep shows or events for long time and want to access it fast and easy.I don't use H.264 because the previous max res allowed to go on an iPod with it was 320x240 which would upscale to a TV poorly. Now I will continue to not use it because the file sizes are more than twice what I can make without it.
The author of Handbrake is going to have to make some changes to it before we can use H.264 judiciously. I currently use the FFmpeg 2-pass encoding at bitrates around 750kbps for SD @ 544x400 and 1000kbps @ 624x352 for HD. These are dimensions that fall within the upper limit pixel count that will still load and play on an iPod 230,000. This way they upsacle to a TV well and still play on iPod.
I don't use iTunes much. I am burning DVDs of all these files. 12 one hour shows fit on a DVD @ 351 per 42 minute Ads edited out episode. Movies I can get to 702MB - one CD size each. Personal message me if you need more details.
zoran
Oct 14, 02:50 PM
well its said that clovertown will be here early is that early/late november or early/late december, any new rumors regarding this subject?
georgi0
Sep 19, 01:22 AM
Several other companies have 2 lb laptops. Where is my Mac 2 lb laptop?
i think this will imply a huge expansion for apple (to cover on all markets of laptops) resulting in problems with the assebly lines too many models to support and etc.
ithink just a few models for now will gurantee better support and clear problem solving when something happensto them.
i think this will imply a huge expansion for apple (to cover on all markets of laptops) resulting in problems with the assebly lines too many models to support and etc.
ithink just a few models for now will gurantee better support and clear problem solving when something happensto them.
hunkaburningluv
Mar 23, 06:09 AM
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)
Competition is good.
Make a case for your argument.
Well, you only need to look at what happened with the gameboy to see that competition is good.
After seeing off the game gear and lynx, the gameboy stagnated for almost a decade. How long did it take before there was a colour version? Years, yet we've seen some great revisions since the PSP was announced.
Competition is good.
Make a case for your argument.
Well, you only need to look at what happened with the gameboy to see that competition is good.
After seeing off the game gear and lynx, the gameboy stagnated for almost a decade. How long did it take before there was a colour version? Years, yet we've seen some great revisions since the PSP was announced.
rjohnstone
Apr 25, 03:26 PM
This is RIDICULOUS! if you switch off location services your location is still being tracked by the mobile phone companies everytime your phone makes a connection with one of their masts, which happens everytime you move cell. Oh and this happens with every phone, otherwise they wouldn't work.
First, there is a difference between a carrier tracking you through external means and you phone's software doing it.
Second, the data is still collected even with locations services turned off.
First, there is a difference between a carrier tracking you through external means and you phone's software doing it.
Second, the data is still collected even with locations services turned off.
mentholiptus
Apr 10, 10:15 PM
Impossible.
The iPad is not a serious computer. This will never happen.
It's just a fad.
Ignore the big-name game titles for iOS. Ignore the upcoming Photoshop app. Ignore the millions of sales. Ignore the copycats in the market.
It'll all go away very soon.
Unless, like I posted earlier, the iPad app functions as a UI for the main application over the network. The Mac (or cluster of macs) takes care of the heavy lifting, and the iPad is used to make edits remotely, and broadcast to HDTV's.
AirPlay & AirEdit.
If you had a cluster of Mac Pro's using thunderbolt (or whatever...ethernet, fibre, etc) to talk to each other, and you used the iPad as a remote UI, you could edit, compress, and broadcast from anywhere.
Apple has all the pieces in place to do this. AirPlay, AppleTV, iPad, iTunes as a media hub for all the devices to communicate, Qmaster, etc...
This has been a long time coming. I remember in 2006-2007 hearing rumors that Apple was working on a tablet like controller for logic. It was to be used to edit the timeline, or act as a virtual mixer, etc. This has been brewing for years, and I think it's almost a reality.
The iPad is not a serious computer. This will never happen.
It's just a fad.
Ignore the big-name game titles for iOS. Ignore the upcoming Photoshop app. Ignore the millions of sales. Ignore the copycats in the market.
It'll all go away very soon.
Unless, like I posted earlier, the iPad app functions as a UI for the main application over the network. The Mac (or cluster of macs) takes care of the heavy lifting, and the iPad is used to make edits remotely, and broadcast to HDTV's.
AirPlay & AirEdit.
If you had a cluster of Mac Pro's using thunderbolt (or whatever...ethernet, fibre, etc) to talk to each other, and you used the iPad as a remote UI, you could edit, compress, and broadcast from anywhere.
Apple has all the pieces in place to do this. AirPlay, AppleTV, iPad, iTunes as a media hub for all the devices to communicate, Qmaster, etc...
This has been a long time coming. I remember in 2006-2007 hearing rumors that Apple was working on a tablet like controller for logic. It was to be used to edit the timeline, or act as a virtual mixer, etc. This has been brewing for years, and I think it's almost a reality.
janstett
Sep 15, 07:57 AM
I remember reading a BBC news article the other month about mRAM (or magnetic RAM) which has the same write speeds as RAM, but without its volatility. It doesn't loose it's data when the power is off. Ideal for fast HDDs they say.
Yeah, I think they're calling them "Hybrid drives" where they will have some fast static RAM built into a hard drive and store the most frequently accessed part of the drive in cache on the static RAM.
On an unrelated note, wouldnt it been cool to effectivly install a whole OS on RAM. That would be noticably quicker....
You used to be able to do that with ramdisks, but getting the files onto the ramdisk took more time than just booting from the disk. Sometimes you can force the OS to keep itself in RAM when it's loaded from disk (so the OS won't start swapping itself out when it needs memory), there's a setting for this in Tweak XP.
Yeah, I think they're calling them "Hybrid drives" where they will have some fast static RAM built into a hard drive and store the most frequently accessed part of the drive in cache on the static RAM.
On an unrelated note, wouldnt it been cool to effectivly install a whole OS on RAM. That would be noticably quicker....
You used to be able to do that with ramdisks, but getting the files onto the ramdisk took more time than just booting from the disk. Sometimes you can force the OS to keep itself in RAM when it's loaded from disk (so the OS won't start swapping itself out when it needs memory), there's a setting for this in Tweak XP.
iJohnHenry
Apr 27, 04:39 PM
The difference between me and you is that I'd want an explanation in either account. ;)
Get Dr. Gilbert "Gil" Grissom, (Ph.D.), on the case.
I'm sure he could match the keystrokes to a late 50's/early 60's typewriter.
Get Dr. Gilbert "Gil" Grissom, (Ph.D.), on the case.
I'm sure he could match the keystrokes to a late 50's/early 60's typewriter.
AlligatorBloodz
Apr 8, 01:47 AM
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8G4 Safari/6533.18.5)
Weird... I think there's more involved in this than we can imagine.
One thing that comes to my mind is the possibility they were holding their stock to sell it outside the country, as there's been a high demand and higher value to sell overseas.
Or... a competitor made an arrangement with Be$t Buy to sell a minimum quota a day (well... very odd, but possible) for who knows what reason.
It's a strange concept on BB's part, but if I had a store I would sell all my stock if there's a demand for it. If I hold off, my customers would be driven away to a competitor and I would loose both present and future sales.
When Apple tv2 came out, google paid bby to not sell it so google tv could get a head start
Weird... I think there's more involved in this than we can imagine.
One thing that comes to my mind is the possibility they were holding their stock to sell it outside the country, as there's been a high demand and higher value to sell overseas.
Or... a competitor made an arrangement with Be$t Buy to sell a minimum quota a day (well... very odd, but possible) for who knows what reason.
It's a strange concept on BB's part, but if I had a store I would sell all my stock if there's a demand for it. If I hold off, my customers would be driven away to a competitor and I would loose both present and future sales.
When Apple tv2 came out, google paid bby to not sell it so google tv could get a head start
djchristie
Nov 29, 08:10 AM
Surely if they want a cut of mp3 players they should also have a cut of:
Hard drive sales in general (my computer has more music on thatn my iPod)
Mobile phones that can play mp3's
PSP's
cd players and hifi's that play mp3 cd's
any SD, memory stick, flash drive etc that could be used to store alleged stolen music.....
the list goes on.
Hope steve, and everyone else, tells them where to go.
Hard drive sales in general (my computer has more music on thatn my iPod)
Mobile phones that can play mp3's
PSP's
cd players and hifi's that play mp3 cd's
any SD, memory stick, flash drive etc that could be used to store alleged stolen music.....
the list goes on.
Hope steve, and everyone else, tells them where to go.
freeny
Aug 11, 10:29 AM
This is just a smoke screen for something else....;)
netdog
Aug 11, 03:03 PM
As an example: Here in europe we have vendors that sell cellphones where you can pick which carrier you want and pay different prices for the phone dependent on what carrier and type of contract you pick. However, you can also buy the buy the phone without a contract (unlocked)
The market for unlocked phones in the USA is still very small. Providers will generally not unlock them, and there aren't shops on the street who will unlock phones as there are here in Europe.
When you go abroad with an American phone, you are usually limited to the service that your provider offers (through a carrier here) and you cannot just pop in another sim. This is very expensive because they know that they are holding you hostage. The first place that I would head with a new phone when I was visiting London was Tottenham Court, so that I could get the phone unlocked and pop in my local pay-as-you-talk sim.
Unlike the big network independent vendors here in Europe, usually in the USA, such vendors still only sell phones locked to various networks, and bundle in the calling plans which the shop receives a reward for. As I am sure you understand, these phones are offered with deep discounts subsidized as part of each network's customer aquisition costs, just as they are offered for free or at a reduced cost here. Unlocked phones do cost considerably more, and it is often best to buy a pay-as-you-go locked phone in Europe, and have someone unlock it for you for £10.
This is changing, but most Americans I know who have gotten their American-bought phones unlocked have mailed them away to vendors they have found on places like eBay.
The USA is a very different market.
The market for unlocked phones in the USA is still very small. Providers will generally not unlock them, and there aren't shops on the street who will unlock phones as there are here in Europe.
When you go abroad with an American phone, you are usually limited to the service that your provider offers (through a carrier here) and you cannot just pop in another sim. This is very expensive because they know that they are holding you hostage. The first place that I would head with a new phone when I was visiting London was Tottenham Court, so that I could get the phone unlocked and pop in my local pay-as-you-talk sim.
Unlike the big network independent vendors here in Europe, usually in the USA, such vendors still only sell phones locked to various networks, and bundle in the calling plans which the shop receives a reward for. As I am sure you understand, these phones are offered with deep discounts subsidized as part of each network's customer aquisition costs, just as they are offered for free or at a reduced cost here. Unlocked phones do cost considerably more, and it is often best to buy a pay-as-you-go locked phone in Europe, and have someone unlock it for you for £10.
This is changing, but most Americans I know who have gotten their American-bought phones unlocked have mailed them away to vendors they have found on places like eBay.
The USA is a very different market.
No comments:
Post a Comment