iPad Jobs says NO to iPad tether....

[bwawn]

I used to work at an Apple Store. I told a complaining customer to send his grievances to steve@apple.com since I'd heard through these forums that really tricky problems get resolved that way. I never assumed Steve actually read those e-mails.

A couple days later my manager pulled me in, laughing. Steve had forwarded the customer's e-mail - citing me as the employee who told him to send an e-mail to that address - to Ron Johnson, head of retail, and wrote, "Why was this sent to me?" Ron talked directly to my manager, saying Steve wasn't pleased the e-mail was sent to him and not to another department. So yes, that is really Steve's e-mail address, and that is really Steve responding to the e-mails when they come in.

I had a similar experience.

I bought a white macbook the day it was announced and had so many problems with it that one day I contacted Steve Jobs.

Since I'm in Spain, he didn't reply but rather forwarded it to the guy in charge of the Euro division at Apple, who first emailed me than called me directly several times. First he tried to get it repaired properly at a apple reseller. Since I had further problems there, he said he would replace the macbook. What I didn't know was that a 15" macbook pro with top specs was waiting for me.

That was almost 2.5 years ago an the macbook pro still works wonderfully.

I couldn't be happier.

 

[applesupergeek]

This is all the connect the dots I'm doing today. Wanting stuff for free without having to pay for it is socialism, and that's just the bottom line.

Oh is that what socialism is?

Good points otherwise.

 

[nlensander]

pic or it didnt happen

Boom!

 

[globalhemp]

Play, er ... Pay It Again Sam

We live in a world where record companies have made money from customer who re-purchase music (trade in LP's for CD's).

We live in a world where you pay for Sirius satellite music with your DishNetwork or DirecTV service, but God forbid that you would much rather listen to Sirius music while in your car than in your living room -- where you watch tv and movies. Nope. You are forced to pay a second time to listen to satellite radio in your auto ... even though you're paying for it in your home.

Have an iPhone? You can surf the Internet all you want, but if you want to use your MacBook to surf the Internet, you'll need to purchase a separate contract to do so. All the while your iPhone is sitting right there doing nothing.

How about more FLEXIBILITY in using products?

I'm sure that if they could have found a way to prevent users from ripping CD's listen as MP3s, they would have done so. A method for forcing customers to purchase MP3's to listen to music on computers and iPods would have been the business model that the music industry would have loved to push on their loving fans. There is nothing like paying for everything twice or more over.

 

[kingtj]

Sure ... but ....

This doesn't mean he reads or replies to *all* the emails that come in.

For that matter, how many address aliases do they really have for him? I know sjobs@apple.com is supposed to work, and you're saying steve@apple.com works too.

I actually suggested that a very unhappy friend of mine write a letter to the sjobs address recently. (She had a 17" white iMac that developed LCD screen problems just outside the warranty period. Nasty vertical lines down the thing. And the kicker is, she's a single mom with very limited funding, and only bought this 17" iMac because she was talked into dumping a functioning Windows XP box for it, since it'd be "way more reliable, long term".) Someone at Apple contacted her a couple days later, saying they arranged for a free repair to be done at her choice of facility (Apple's own stores or one of the other authorized service centers in the area).

So certainly, the email reached people "high up" who had authority to go above and beyond the standard warranty. But did Steve Jobs read and approve it personally? Highly doubtful, really. I'm told emails addressed to him generally go to an executive staff in charge of dealing with them. They probably pass certain ones along to him at some secret, internal address, when appropriate.

I used to work at an Apple Store. I told a complaining customer to send his grievances to steve@apple.com since I'd heard through these forums that really tricky problems get resolved that way. I never assumed Steve actually read those e-mails.

A couple days later my manager pulled me in, laughing. Steve had forwarded the customer's e-mail - citing me as the employee who told him to send an e-mail to that address - to Ron Johnson, head of retail, and wrote, "Why was this sent to me?" Ron talked directly to my manager, saying Steve wasn't pleased the e-mail was sent to him and not to another department. So yes, that is really Steve's e-mail address, and that is really Steve responding to the e-mails when they come in.

 

[jmmo20]

You pay your internet provider for home service, for mobile 3G service, for smartphone service: you are not allowed the excuse of saying 'I already pay for internet service at home. I want mobile 3G service for my laptop for free since I already pay for home service.

guess what? I pay for a mobile service that DOES INCLUDE TETHERING TO ANY DEVICE I WANT. I-n-c-l-u-d-e-d means that what I pay for 3G access from the iphone also allows me to use the tethering solution of my iphone. My operator does not give it to me for free, it is included in the number of services they offer me with the 3g connection (Access to Movistar Wifi spots, 3G networking, tethering, visual voicemail)

I don't get anything for free: I pay my hard earned money to pay for goods and services, and I'm not a cheapskate. You get what you pay for. Oh yeah, and the iPhone and the iPad are TWO SEPARATE devices, that's why you pay for each one separately, and not try to mooch off of one to get service for the other.

Fail. Read previous comment.

This is all the connect the dots I'm doing today. Wanting stuff for free without having to pay for it is socialism, and that's just the bottom line.

"Cheapskates of the world, unite!"

Paranoics of the world, unite.
Yes, in Europe we live a socialist world. Oh Scary Stallin and Lenin.
Whatever dude, relax, see beyond your backwards mentality and visit the world. Guess what? the US is not the best at everything. We do have good things outside the US. Like universal healthcare and operators that allow unlimited tethering from our iphones (paid for with our hard-earned euros).

 

[eastcoastsurfer]

FAIL. This logic is bothersome to you, because you are thinking in socialist terms .

ROFL, socialist terms? Do you even know definition of socialism?

You pay your local phone company for EACH line of service you have, i.e. each telephone number;

But I don't pay for each phone I have. I can hook up an unlimited # of phones to the phone line coming into the house. Ma bell used to try and charge for each phone (and cable companies did the same thing), but that was eventually ruled illegal.

Golden Corral doesn't let your entire family eat for the price of one adult, just because you say "It's all you can eat; this is my family with me, and since they're my family, I'm only going to pay for one person and share with them for the price of one;

Not really the same thing since I thought we were talking about the same person using both devices?

you pay for each Sirius/XM receiver: you don't 'share' one device's subscription to the Sirius/XM network among all Sirius/XM receivers in your car, home, etc; the list goes on and on.

One of the reasons I don't have satellite radio is that they haven't made it easy enough to listen to the radio wherever you happen to be.

If you are 'wealthy', there is no such thing as 'wasting' money; you are glad to pay $200+ for a bottle of Dom Perignon, $5,000 for a first class roundtrip ticket on an airline to go from point A to point B.

The way you get wealthy is by not wasting money. People who learn to not get nickel and dimed at every corner are the ones who save real money. Read "The Millionaire Next Door" sometime.

Use logic and think your posts through next time before rattling off emotional, gut responses.

There was no emotion involved. I'm already paying for a fixed, fast internet connection to my house and a mobile 3g connection. I'm not going to pay for another 3g connection. It doesn't make any sense technically or financially when I already have a perfectly capable 3g connection.

You pay your internet provider for home service, for mobile 3G service, for smartphone service: you are not allowed the excuse of saying 'I already pay for internet service at home. I want mobile 3G service for my laptop for free since I already pay for home service.

I was clear in saying that paying for a fixed internet connection at home and paying for a mobile connection were in fact two different things. What I'm opposed to is paying for another 3g connection when I already pay for one. Ideally Apple would have used a normal SIM in the iPad instead of the mini-sim so I could take put the iPhone SIM in the iPad when it needed 3g data. Instead they made them incompatible to force people to buy additional 3g service. As a company if you do stuff like that enough, the goodwill people have towards you starts to erode.

 

[goobot]

Boom!

interesting. never thought that there would be a documents tab in itunes. it getting a little cluttered

 

[kingtj]

re: flexibility

I couldn't agree more! These industries are looking for every angle to increase their profit margins ... but in reality, I think they're hitting an artificial "wall" of sorts anyway. EG. I do actually have an XM satellite radio subscription right now, because my new car included a 3 month free trial -- and I finally decided I'd pay to continue it. (I waited, though, until they started offering me much better deals than the standard pricing they were quoting at first.) Honestly, it's *barely* worth the $90 or so I wound up paying to have it for a year. When they started talking about adding more receivers for monthly fees? No deal! To me, that pushes it past the point of being a good enough value to accept it. So whether they just let subscribers use it *anywhere* or not, they didn't make anything more from me over and above the 1 receiver pricing. By contrast, BECAUSE they have this limitation, it factors into my perceived overall value of the service. If they, for example, want to increase prices next year? I'm definitely canceling. If they chose to be more generous up front, with a "free 5 receiver usage per subscriber" policy or something - they might actually twist my arm to pay the higher rate in this same scenario.

Now, tethering is a *little* bit different of an issue, because AT&T only has so much 3G bandwidth to go around. The crux of the issue with them is, they've been over-promising and under-delivering on those unworkable promises. They sold iPhone data plans as "unlimited" (which gets the maximum amount of new customer sign-ups), yet they can't possibly deliver on that promise! They decided that instead of clearly stating how much you got to use the plan for your monthly payment, they'd limit the real-world usage with restrictions on what can be done with the service. (Not even any picture or video SMS messaging allowed for a long time ... no streaming video with a number of popular applications like Slingbox player for a long time ... and to date, no tethering.)

It probably wouldn't have gotten so many sign-ups, but I think the honest and "better" way to market the service really would have been to place reasonable "transfer caps" on monthly data usage, with the option to automatically pay another $10 or whatever, to buy another equal-sized "block" of data any time you went over the set limit. Then, allow tethering and everything else. People who really need it on special occasions can then use it without issues, and people simply trying to "hog up" as much bandwidth as possible will have to pay more to tie up all those resources!

We live in a world where record companies have made money from customer who re-purchase music (trade in LP's for CD's).

We live in a world where you pay for Sirius satellite music with your DishNetwork or DirecTV service, but God forbid that you would much rather listen to Sirius music while in your car than in your living room -- where you watch tv and movies. Nope. You are forced to pay a second time to listen to satellite radio in your auto ... even though you're paying for it in your home.

Have an iPhone? You can surf the Internet all you want, but if you want to use your MacBook to surf the Internet, you'll need to purchase a separate contract to do so. All the while your iPhone is sitting right there doing nothing.

How about more FLEXIBILITY in using products?

I'm sure that if they could have found a way to prevent users from ripping CD's listen as MP3s, they would have done so. A method for forcing customers to purchase MP3's to listen to music on computers and iPods would have been the business model that the music industry would have loved to push on their loving fans. There is nothing like paying for everything twice or more over.

 

[Rocketman]

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is AT&T requests tethering restrictions to add more channels of revenue and restrict the convenience of larger data usage. That's the reason.

So the entire solution to tethering is to have a path with AT&T that addresses their concerns. If I had tethering I would want to use it with my PowerBook for occasional email checking (that is to say downloading of stored messages and erasing the email server), or for viewing messages that have the proper software on the PowerBook. This does not sound like a bandwidth hog use to me. This sounds like convenience or mission critical usage.

Now if a user is going to tether to download images of pirated DVD's and such, they are probably going to jailbreak anyway.

I want an option that says, you are a trusted customer. You have a legit Apple device, and a legit AT&T data account. You may use that for XYZ uses up to ABC bandwidth limit, and above that you pay a premium fee. If it is sufficiently mission critical you will pay that fee too. If you are downloading torrents, you will make the minor compromise to wait till you get home to your PC.

Rocketman

 

[nlensander]

interesting. never thought that there would be a documents tab in itunes. it getting a little cluttered

can't wait for the iPad!! Im gonna get the 64 GB wifi +3G version, the 3g will be great when traveling, gonna preorder next friday!

 

[bluehaze013]

Do you own any Apple laptops or an iPhone / iPod touch ? Do you get the same battery life as their spec pages suggest ? I seriously highly doubt it.

Owned iPhone since the beginning before switching to a better phone recently...of course manufacturers present a best case scenario for battery life, why wouldn't they but they are never as far off as you suggest. Considering they say 10 hours I would expect 8 hours to be reasonable with heavy use for the iPad. If it is not then as I said, it will be going straight back to the store!

 

[nlensander]

interesting. never thought that there would be a documents tab in itunes. it getting a little cluttered

will you be purchasing an iPad? If so which model

 

[sushi]

Why should a carrier care what form factor I'm using to surf the net. I can legally tether my laptop ... why not an iPad? WTF difference does it make the carrier?

Agree.

It the carrier allows tethering, then it really shouldn't matter what is tethered -- especially if you have an unlimited data plan.

Being in Japan, I wonder what SoftBank's policy will be.

interesting. never thought that there would be a documents tab in itunes. it getting a little cluttered

Using iTunes makes sense.

Keeps things simple that way.

 

[flowney]

Alternatives to tethering

Just sign up for Sprint and use their MyFi device. That will provide connectivity for up to five (5) devices. Thus, you can provide internet connectivity to an iPod touch, an iPad, your laptop and two more devices in addition to that, all without wires!

On tethering, I'd say fahgeddaboutit.

 

[Master Chief]

You just answered your own question.

What Apple is doing in the middle?

Selling the iPad and beholden to carriers.

This is 2010, the age of exploding data use. A lot of US carriers are ill-prepared for it, or fear what's coming down the road. If European carriers are prepared, that's great. In any case, given US carriers' current difficulties with managing data usage, it's certainly up to them how you use your data plan. Hopefully where you are it's all sweetness and light.

Just being a realist here.

Yes this is 2010, luckily, and we are using more data, but isn't it the responsibility of (your) carrier(s) to be prepared... to stay in business? I mean AT&T knew about the iPhone before it came out, but did nothing and now they blame iPhone users for using too much data. Duh?!?

And you should blame carriers for being ill-prepared, and not tell consumers – people here – simply to accept the unfair limitations as data is "just data" no matter what device is being used.

So how is Canada? I mean the carriers over there Are they ready for you?

 

[RalfTheDog]

If you are 'wealthy', there is no such thing as 'wasting' money; you are glad to pay $200+ for a bottle of Dom Perignon, $5,000 for a first class roundtrip ticket on an airline to go from point A to point B. Use logic and think your posts through next time before rattling off emotional, gut responses.

Not true. People who are not limited by money in normal day to day things don't like the feeling of getting ripped off any more than people who work for minimum wage like to feel they are taken advantage of.

I do not mind paying full value for a good product. Sometimes I think people who provide a very good service undervalue what they do. If someone charges me more, just because I have more money, I will find another place to do business.
_____________

I am very tempted to write Mr. Jobs and find out if the girl I dated about 10 years ago was really his daughter. We only went out once, She was quite nice, very smart, stunningly good looking and more than a bit crazy (Mostly in a good way).

 

[RalfTheDog]

Random thought.

Sorry for the double post, I think I may have just had a random thought that might have some value.

From a marketing perspective, it would be better to release the 3G version first. The best reason I can think of not to do it that way would be if you were having trouble with the 3G.

Apple has admitted in it's advertising that the iPad has not yet been approved by the FCC. (They did not say if it was the 3G version or the WiFi). This makes me think that they are having problems getting the 3G part approved.

 

[*LTD*]

Yes this is 2010, luckily, and we are using more data, but isn't it the responsibility of (your) carrier(s) to be prepared... to stay in business? I mean AT&T knew about the iPhone before it came out, but did nothing and now they blame iPhone users for using too much data. Duh?!?

No one, but NO ONE could have predicted the data explosion caused by the iPhone. Apple was clearly underestimated (that time understandably), as they have been so many times. It seems they're being underestimated yet again with the iPad. Thankfully, though, it seems the carriers have learned their lesson, *but*, are they actually expanding their services to accommodate the data-tsunami, or are they finding ways of combating it, curbing it, and doling it out for exorbitant amounts of money? That's the question.

 

[mccldwll]

Jobs ALLEGEDLY says no to iPad tethering

I wrote to sjobs@apple.com in 2006 because of a non stop, recurring problem with a macbook pro I ordered. It was DOA, and Apple replaced it. The replacement was broken, and so was the replacement for the replacement. I wrote to Steve, explained how I was a loyal longtime customer and described how the experience I had was less than optimal. I then contrasted that to my job, and how if I failed to deliver exceptional experiences, I'd be let go - why shouldn't I let Apple go? He responded immediately, said it was being taken care of, and the next day I received a call from his assistant who sent me a brand new Macbook Pro without having to return the other one, and I was offered any iPod I wanted as well for free. When I got home later that night, I had an email from Daniel Marusich (one of the lead creatives at Apple) saying he was asked by "Mr. Jobs" to contact me and find out if I might be interested in a job. I spoke to him on the phone a week later, ran through my portfolio and experience and ultimately turned the job down for personal reasons.

I'm sure it's not out of the realm of possibility that there may be people that aren't Steve Jobs replying to emails but given that the majority of emails sent to that account are not replied to, I'd say it lends to the credibility. He's known to be a man of few words, and why wouldn't he be awake at 3am? His personality sure fits the bill.

I'm sure it's not out of the realm of possibility that Steve Jobs has at one time or another over the years responded to an email which got kicked up through all the screening layers. However, the idea that the CEO of a now $200B corporation, in the middle of a new product rollout, is answering emails that could be handled by a lower level functionary is beyond ridiculous. Even low level aapl employees have a lot of discretion when it comes to satisfying customers. I've heard of lots of people who've had trouble with laptops, even out of warranty, who've been given new ones by the genius bar guys. The PR is well worth it. (L.L. Bean is pretty much the same) And when someone who has had major surgery in the past year is awake at 3:00 a.m., the last thing in the world he will be doing is handling customer complaints. It's a fairy tale. And it's relevant here because since it's not from SJ, it's far from the last word on to what extent the wifi iPad will be able to be tethered.

 

[wizard]

It is an issue of hardware from what I can see.

Hi,
I´m from Germany. My provider does allow tethering. And I use this with my Macbook. All legal. Same as the requestor from Sweden.

Yes all very nice. However you are doing that via the USB port I would imagine. IPad doesn't have a standard USB port to tether like that. so In your case you would need something like MyWi to set up a WiFi connection.

But the the statement from Steve was not "no tethering AT&T, but no problem for you in Sweden". His statement was a clear: "NO".

Yes because the answer clearly is NO at this time. That due to the hardware supplied and he way tethering is commonly defined.

I have no problem when you choose a provider that does not allow tethering - it´s your problem. Choose a different provider or pay for tethering.

Currently no one in the US has either of those options. At least not with iPhone. The potential for change is there as Apple & AT&T are getting hammered with ads touting tethering on competing hardware.

If my provider allows tethering (I´m paying for it!) and my device could use tethering. But a stupid software restriction is blocking the usage of this - then I´m pissed!.

Greetings,
Michael

From what I can see it is more than a software restriction. I wouldn't get pissed though, rather I'd suggest a jailbreak. WiFi tethering is a better approach anyways.

 

[wizard]

Well I know more than you.

you dont know anything.

att did nothing wrong not to mention the ipad is unlocked so it has nothing to do with att.

A plan that involves selling unlocked iPads has everything to do with AT&T. In fact the unlocked iPad is one of the bigger surprises at its debut.

next why would apple not want to make an extra 130 bucks and they prob got a deal with att with the data too.

Of course Apple got a deal. That is a big part of business, making deals that is. As to the unbundled 3G that is likely done to make sure Apple has salable units to individuals and corporations that really don't want to deal with 3G.

you obviously are just and idiot fanboy that doesnt know who to blame.

Fanboi, Look in the mirror bud. I put the blame where it rationally rests.

ok also the ipod touch has nothing to do with a carrier. why cant you tether to that? you have no facts and dont know what your talking about.

I think you have trouble reading for content.


Dave

 

[Xtremehkr]

There is so much free Wi Fi available these days, I avoid using 3G most of the time because it's so much slower.

I'd rather see cities develop free Wi Fi networks that provide coverage without AT&T's ridiculous profit margins.

 

[goobot]

A plan that involves selling unlocked iPads has everything to do with AT&T. In fact the unlocked iPad is one of the bigger surprises at its debut.

Of course Apple got a deal. That is a big part of business, making deals that is. As to the unbundled 3G that is likely done to make sure Apple has salable units to individuals and corporations that really don't want to deal with 3G.

Fanboi, Look in the mirror bud. I put the blame where it rationally rests.


I think you have trouble reading for content.


Dave

??? you kinda agreed with everything i said. anyway i said fanboy cause i was pissed. nothing personal. i just feel 99% of this has to do with apple not att

 

[wizard]

It is not iPhones small battery but a much larger one in iPad

Small battery doesn't mean much, it's how efficient the phone itself is at using the power resorces. Frankly, the iPhone is a juice guzzler. But at least it fits in your pocket...

Yes my 3G certainly is. However all things electronic can be improved, in this respect I'm hoping the next gen iPhone is far more capable with respect to run time.

As for Steve's claim of a 10 hour battery life, this will be the first thing that's going to be put to the test. Honestly, I don't believe it...but we'll see.

It certainly will be tested but frankly I think they will come awfully close. Of course the actual make up of the web surfing test will need to be explained. If the thing can download ten hours of UTube video then that is a huge accomplishment. Most likely the performance will be less.

Dave