Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Yikes! :eek: I bet they will start doing this with phones and laptops. Yet another reason to avoid these subsidized deals. I'm not committing two years of my life to anything, especially not a data plan.
 
You don't have to buy a computer with a wireless contract....
 
That was my first thought, but msnbc is a reputable news site here in the US.

True, but many reputable news sites participate in the April Fool's Day pranks. As do big, reputable companies like Google and Microsoft. ;)
 
Looks to me like a great idea. People should just pay for their stuff, if they do not then it's a fair deal to block the product.
 
i don't see much wrong with this if the item was sold subsidized and is on a contract. isn't it the same as the various utilities turning off service when bills aren't paid?
 
1) Its probably an April Fools Joke

2) It might work in the US, but its illegal for a company to do this in the EU and China

3) Microsoft tried this, giving Chinese people permanently black screens who had illegally downloaded Microsoft software or operating systems, and guess what, a hack for it was found in less than 24 hours.
 
Read the similar articles for the ignition interlock available for the buy here, pay here car dealers.

Must enter a new code you get with your payment every week or your car won't start.

---

Don't see a problem with the computer if they tie all wireless (cellular and wifi) to a single chip that gets disabled if they don't pay.

Oh, the shock of having to use an ethernet cable if they don't pay.
 
Yikes! :eek: I bet they will start doing this with phones and laptops. Yet another reason to avoid these subsidized deals. I'm not committing two years of my life to anything, especially not a data plan.

Well put!
 
2) It might work in the US, but its illegal for a company to do this in the EU and China

Let's see. Company offers you a deal: You sign a contract for mobile broadband for £30 a month for two years, and in return you get a laptop without paying a penny for it. And after two months and paying £60 you decide you are not going to pay one penny more. Don't you think the company will want its laptop back? And in case you do a runner, don't you think they would want you to be unable to use _their_ laptop?
 
I'll worry when three things happen:

Data plans become a good deal
Apple offers data plans for computers
You can't afford what you're buying

Until then, who cares :D
 
my dad does this with cars now. If you don't pay your bill, they remotely kill the car, lock the doors, and the GPS on the device lets the repo guys know where the car is.
 
I have no problem with this. If we had fewer deadbeats (people not paying bills, software/music/movie piraters), things would be cheaper.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.