[kwlug-disc] Android data backups

[Kyle Spaans]

2012/7/24 Chris Irwin <chris at chrisirwin.ca>:
> On Tue, Jul 24, 2012 at 1:52 PM, <3lucid at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Makes sense. :)
>>
>> I'll rephrase: Say there are a handful of rootable phones you would
>> consider buying. Say that each of these phones has two price points: locked
>> for price X and unlocked for price UNLOCK_MULTIPLIER * X. (Ignore the
>> illogic of this, assume they are bootloader locked and you expect it'll take
>> 1 year for people to break the bootloader after release of the phone.)
>>
>> Would you HAPPILY pay the higher price?
>
>
> I'd never HAPPILY pay a higher price for an unlocked version. Seriously,
> more work went in to creating the locks to verify signatures before
> executing boot code (or verify signatures before flashing boot code,
> whatever the implementation is). I'd be pretty annoyed if a device was $150
> for a locked version, but $200 for an unlocked one. That said, the $150
> version isn't useful to me, so I'd be considering the merits of the $200
> version on it's own. If the device isn't worth $200, but is worth $150, I
> wouldn't be buying the device at all. If the device was worth $200 and the
> $150 version was cheaper due to cell phone subsidies (or something along
> those lines), then I'd probably buy it at $200.

Usually the carrier will subsidize the handsets, which does make quite
a bit of money for the manufacturer. So you can understand the
manufacturer wanting to make the carrier happy to an extent. :-P

>> What if the multiplier was 2 or higher?
>
>
> Probably not. If the phone is comparable at one price point, and the useful
> version of that phone is 2x as expensive, I'm not paying 2x the reasonable
> price.
>
>
>>
>> Background: working for RIM, I'm looking for evidence to show bosses that
>> we should sell unlocked devices.
>
>
> Sim unlocked, or bootloader unlocked?
>
> If the former, I'm seriously surprised RIM doesn't sell SIM unlocked
> devices.

RIM does sell SIM unlocked phone, and I was speaking of bootloader
locked (which all BB devices are). The main reason being security and
RIM's business model. (Neither which I'm here to comment on the
efficacy or morality of ;-)

> If the latter... WAIT, let me put a disclaimer in here:
>
> ***
> I know RIM is a great Canadian company, and employs lots of people local to
> this list (and probably a few on it). RIM has some interesting technology,
> I'll admit that. I have a couple friends that work there, too. So I don't
> mean this to sound as harsh as it may come across in text. But in the
> interest of it hopefully sounding like constructive criticism, I'll offer my
> opinion.
> ***

Indeed, no offense would have been taken here. :D