[kwlug-disc] Android data backups

[Paul Nijjar]

On Tue, Jul 24, 2012 at 04:46:55PM -0400, Chris Frey wrote:
> 

> I don't appreciate this locking fetish that manufacturers and
> providers have.  The very fact that even Android devices have to be
> rooted is perplexing.  It makes no sense to me, trying to claim to
> be open, yet locked up like a citadel.  It's a cesspool of tar pits,
> treating the customer like a slave.  It is certainly no
> encouragement to spend money just to be treated this way.

I do not like this trend but I think I get it. There are two
motivating factors that I see: 

0. A locked device gives the carrier greater control over the content
that the end-user sees, which is good business sense. 

1. As a partial smokescreen, locking a device means that users don't
inadvertantly give root access to malware and other baddies. From our
experiences working with Computer Recycling repairs, it becomes
obvious why this is a motivation for mobile device makers. 

I also have to disagree with Chris Irwin's suggestion that he counts
as five consumers because he does tech support for his family. That
might be the case for him, but I don't think that it is that common
even amongst geeks. More often than not the family members in
question come to us with devices (or iDevices) they have already
bought, and then it is our job to support them or face social
ostracization. 

If geek preferences actually made a difference, then we would have
seen a lot more Linux desktops in use. But notwithstanding the
experiences of people on this list who are going to flood me with
their counter examples, this has not been the case. 

- Paul


> 
> Granted, I'm not the average customer, and I don't spend a lot of money
> on tech.  But the locks and restrictions do affect my thinking.  I was once
> given an iPod nano for my birthday, and I refused to take it because it was
> not open, and I did not want to be burdened with such encumbered tech from a
> company like Apple that has a history of tight control.  An Android that
> still needs to be rooted is just an extra burden of red tape to me, and
> therefore falls lower on my priority list.  If that's the case for Android,
> which is open source, where do you think BlackBerry is on my spending
> priority list?  And I suspect I'm not the only one who thinks this way.
> 
> And that is a shame, because I want to see BlackBerry do well.  Even closed
> as it was, I found the PlayBook to be a blast to use.  I probably embarrassed
> myself with my fanboyism just a few months ago on this very list. :-)
> 
> - Chris
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Tue, Jul 24, 2012 at 05:52:26PM +0000, 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? What if the multiplier was 2 or higher?
> > 
> > Background: working for RIM, I'm looking for evidence to show bosses that we should sell unlocked devices.
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Chris Irwin <chris at chrisirwin.ca>
> > Sender: kwlug-disc-bounces at kwlug.org
> > Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2012 13:25:34 
> > To: KWLUG discussion<kwlug-disc at kwlug.org>
> > Reply-To: KWLUG discussion <kwlug-disc at kwlug.org>
> > Subject: Re: [kwlug-disc] Android data backups
> > 
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