Yeah but are you going to get the plan anyways? It does lock you in, but if you were going to get the service, there's no reason to not sign the contract just out of principle. And you can get cheaper plans. Me, for example, have organized a 5-line family plan on Sprint and pay what divides up to about $40 per phone for unlimited everything smartphones.
In the short term, I'll probably opt for a BASIC voice-and-text flip-phone of some kind, because I can't afford (nor stomach!) spending $600 on a PHONE whose MAIN purpose is to MAKE CALLS when I can get a $70 model that will take care of that primary function just fine for now.
Its a common perspective, but first of all most people (at least in the US) buy their phone subsidized with a contract renewal, so the price for even a top-tier phone is $200-$300. Second, for me personally after using smartphones for a few years, I view it as the most significant personal (non-work) computing device I use daily. I definitely use it more than my home PC and tablet combined, and can therefore justify spending top dollar on a quality "phone". I won't make assumptions about you, but I know many people who found, when they get a smartphone, that its main purpose is NOT to make calls.
To be real specific, it would depend on the custom ROM. All of the Cyanogenmod builds should be free of CIQ, but if the ROM is based off stock, it all depends on how savvy the ROM-cooker is at removing CIQ, or whether it's even been updated since this information began spreading. ROMs based on stock builds from 6 months ago will still have CIQ.
Very well put.
I'm 31, and I can honestly say that is the first time I have spit Mountain Dew on my keyboard. Wish I had mod points. Thanks, both of you.
Oh come on, it's:
Dell, you're getting a dude!
Disregard my parent post. I googled "Badware" and it is a widely used term I wasn't familiar with. The likes of Google, Mozilla, Lenovo, PayPal, VeriSign, Sun, Consumer Reports are on board for this nonprofit StopBadware.org.
From their help page: "What is badware? Badware is software that fundamentally disregards a user's choice regarding how his or her computer will be used." Sounds about right.
I certainly agree that making up words and using them like they're common knowledge is a little unsavory, but "malware" is slightly off-target in this case. By definition, "Malicious Software". I wouldn't call this malicious, its not actively harming you, your data, or you computer (minus a few missing CPU cycles). Perhaps deceive-ware is more appropriate?
As do ours.
These HP, Dell, Lenovo systems all come pre-loaded with so much junk, it really does slow the system down a measurable amount. All these Security Suites with 30 running services, alternative media players, Vendor "Help Centers", "Imaging assistants" -- it's all junk.
Folks, the second you unbox that new system, run http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/, and let it clean this junk off. You'll have a much better experience, regardless of the base OS.
ARGGGGGGHHGHGHH! I just snapped. The amount of misunderstanding and misinformation in this thread is astounding. I shouldn't be surprised I suppose, I'm not that new here.
People are comparing totally different products throughout this discussion. The worst was: XenServer versus VMware Fusion. "Vmware can run OSX". Oh really? I specialized VMware desktop product can run OSX, while XenServer can't? Well guess what, neither can VMware ESX.
Folks, the comparable products here are VMware ESX (and/or ESXi) and XenServer. These are their respective companies' enterprise offerings, the main designator being running on BARE METAL. Other products like VMware Server, Fusion, VirtualBox, are all hosted (run on top of an operating system). Whether they work well or not doesn't matter for the bulk of this discussion.
Oh, I wish you hadn't said that. That's all I'm going to see now.
The greatest productive force is human selfishness. -- Robert Heinlein
