Interesting debate at ZDNet over wireless data plans: James Kendrick claims that unpaid tethering makes you a thief. Thankfully his fellow ZDNet-er Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols has the common sense to dispute this tethering thief nonsense.
Yes, technically if your wireless contract includes an anti-hotspot clause and you turn this feature on, you are in violation. Of the contract, that is. Your provider has the right to levy additional charges, or terminate your contract. But does that make you a thief? I’d much rather conclude your provider commits highway robbery.
Remember this device?
Yes, phones used to look like that. And there was a time when phone companies (actually, “the” phone company, Ma Bell) charged extra when you had more then one outlet in your home….
Remember the early days of cable TV? You had to ( well, were supposed to) pay extra for each additional cable outlet.
How about the early days of the Internet, before wireless became pervasive? Yes, ISPs expected you to pay extra for each outlet…
(Cross-posted @ CloudAve » Zoli Erdos)
The ZDNet Obstacle Course, or Eating One’s Own Dog Food
Michael Krigsman tends to be critical all the time. Not that he’s mean, but what else can you do when your blog title is IT Project Failures ?
Today’s he’s getting his own dog food served up, in nice bite-sized portions
. After poking fun at Bill Gate’s Byzantine Web Experience at Microsoft.com, one of the first comments he received by a fellow Enterprise Irregular was:
Ouch… but he is so right. ZDNet has built a hard-to-penetrate comment wall that deters most from entering the conversation. Anyway, the story gets better. Michael received the following email from his own Mother:
Beware of a Mother’s wrath .
Joke apart, Michael’s Mom must be quite frustrated, as shown by the all-CAPS.
Jeff Nolan’s more analytical opinion on the EI discussion group:
We hear this left and right. Not only from readers, but from some ZDNet bloggers as well. And while at it, let me quickly admit I was guilty of building an obstacle course myself – although nothing as discouraging as ZDNet’s wall. And to be fair, today’s criticism isn’t directed at Michael, but ZDNet’s management.
I can’t resist (mis)quoting President Ronald Reagan’s famous words :
Read also: Please make it easy for people ZDNet….