Now, if Sprint is REALLY serious about Wi-Max and uses existing towers to massively deploy it throughout the U.S. over the next year or two then I can see a Wi-Max-enabled N800 stomping the crap out of any current Apple product.
Especially if that N800 comes with Skype ALREADY INSTALLED ON IT. Sprint does a deal with both Nokia and Skype and they stand to make a small mint. Not a large mint mind you, but enough tomake it worthwhile.
More importantly they'll be collecting very valuable data on the whole thing (customers, experience, sales, issues, etc) that will put them ahead of everyone else in the whole wireless data game. There's only so much you can learn from EVDO after all.
Of course if Apple tosses out an iPod Touch that's Wi-Max enabled then the wheel spins again...
Hunting for free open WiFi hotspots is indeed a problem. Even in airports (where it shouldn't be).
I am very hopeful that Sprint delivers. To have an Internet connection and unlimited VoIP minutes everywhere w/o the limitations of US 3G data plans is a big advantage for the N800 WiMax version. This is where/how the Nokia IT can still compete/differentiate itself. Apple cannot roll-out connectivity solutions as well as Nokia, certainly not as quickly. Even now, they can't even do 3G.
Hunting for free open WiFi hotspots is indeed a problem. Even in airports (where it shouldn't be).
Airports are another problem altogether. I wouldn't want to be walking around a US airport with an N800 lest some overzealous TSA guard think I'm a terrorist.
Of course, checking in luggage with handguns through TSA doesn't help either but it makes damn sure my luggage gets to where I'm going every single time.
The only airport I can complain about as far as wi-fi would have to be the one in Budapest, Hungary. It's range is weak. Went outside to have a smoke and could barely get a connection with either my N800 let alone the much-weaker N95.
I am very hopeful that Sprint delivers. To have an Internet connection and unlimited VoIP minutes everywhere w/o the limitations of US 3G data plans is a big advantage for the N800 WiMax version. This is where/how the Nokia IT can still compete/differentiate itself. Apple cannot roll-out connectivity solutions as well as Nokia, certainly not as quickly. Even now, they can't even do 3G.
Damn right. And due to the open-source nature of the tablet it won't be long before we figure out how to reverse-tether laptops and cell phones to Wi-Max through the N800.
How's THAT for future irony?
Gonna try and duck out of this discussion from now on (although I'm not sure I'll be able to resist posting every now and again!) It's obvious there are at least two opinions on how the respective devices will progress, all we can do now is sit back and watch... and hope for some interesting announcements from Maemo/Nokia regarding the NIT platform.
This has been an awesome discussion. I hope everyone's having as much fun as I am!
I always have fun kicking Nokia's U.S. marketing reps in the jimmy.
Next stupidly-named Evening with S60 event I might even drive up to Chi-town and kick a few in the jimmy there. Starting with the guy who gave the event its name in the first place. When starting fresh in a new market you don't rave only about the operating system you rave about the HARDWARE first, then bring up the operating system features on the various devices.
I'll be the one wearing the I solve my problems through violence t-shirt and legally packing heat.
Why the gun? Hey, it's bloody Chicago for crying out loud! Not to mention it's too close to Detroit for my comfort.
Are you telling me that Kansas City has more on the ball when it comes to free/open wi-fi than both San Francisco and New York City?
Maybe folks in the mid-west/south are more about "sharing" than the money-grubbing slime that live in those two big cities?
I believe it's a population density issue. NYC's is 27,083 people per square mile, SF is 15,834 and KC is 1,406. NYC and SF are also heavily traveled (tourism, visitors, etc.) so you're serving that many more people on top of the resident population, and are open to that much more resource demand & potential abuse (don't forget), which overwhelms a lot of small businesses. Also, because these cities have such high rents and cost-of-living, those businesses require rapid turnover to make the sales needed to survive, and offering someone wi-fi access for free means they just hang around, slowing customer turnover and blocking new ones. (Hell, New York has had blackouts that have forced businesses to close for good -- it's not pretty.)
Paying for wi-fi doesn't just fund infrastructure and balance out the sag in turnover, it also weeds out the leechers (both in the store and in the 4 office buildings surrounding your store) from the people who care enough about their network needs to think a good wi-fi connection is worth something.
I believe it's a population density issue. NYC's is 27,083 people per square mile, SF is 15,834 and KC is 1,406. NYC and SF are also heavily traveled (tourism, visitors, etc.) so you're serving that many more people on top of the resident population, and are open to that much more resource demand & potential abuse (don't forget), which overwhelms a lot of small businesses. Also, because these cities have such high rents and cost-of-living, those businesses require rapid turnover to make the sales needed to survive, and offering someone wi-fi access for free means they just hang around, slowing customer turnover and blocking new ones. (Hell, New York has had blackouts that have forced businesses to close for good -- it's not pretty.)
Paying for wi-fi doesn't just fund infrastructure and balance out the sag in turnover, it also weeds out the leechers (both in the store and in the 4 office buildings surrounding your store) from the people who care enough about their network needs to think a good wi-fi connection is worth something.
Essentially, it's a defensive maneuver.
So you're trying to tell me that because there are FEWER residents in a given area that free wi-fi will be more prevalent in those areas?
Sorry, but basic logic counters that line of thinking.
The MORE residents in a given area INCREASES the chance of free/open wi-fi APs being found and used.
It's a numbers game based upon odds. Just like Vegas.
BTW, I've found plenty of free wi-fi in Las Vegas too, but that was a few years ago...things might have changed but Vegas doesn't really change much.
I also consider WEP-protected wi-fi APs to be "free and open" since I can usually crack them wide-open in a few minutes with my laptop.
Packet injection FTW!
BTW: I just got the October MacWorld in the mail (pre-announcement, obviously) and there's an op-ed piece in there about new iPods called "I Want Buttons" and cites his own iPhone experiences as examples.
BTW: I just got the October MacWorld in the mail (pre-announcement, obviously) and there's an op-ed piece in there about new iPods called "I Want Buttons" and cites his own iPhone experiences as examples.
And Apple will tell him to buy a new Nano, Classic, or Shuffle.
This is a non-story, it's only due to the magazine being called "MacWorld" (which I do read once in a while) and the op-ed piece actually publicly dissenting from the typical Pro-Everything-Apple mentality that makes it news.
MacWorld just moved to the bottom of Apple's "send them a review unit" list.
