Re: The Case Against Apple

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Tom Goltz <tgoltz () QuietSoftware com>
Date: August 9, 2009 10:47:17 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] The Case Against Apple

At 08:21 PM 8/9/2009, you wrote:
> The Case Against Apple
> Jason Calacanis|Aug. 8, 2009, 6:59 PM

<Snip>

> Simple solution and opportunity: Not only let the iPhone work on any
> carrier, but put *two* SIM card slots on the iPhone and let users set
> which applications use which services. (Your phone could be Verizon
> and your browser Sprint!) Imagine having two SIM cards with 3G that
> were able to bond together to perform superfast uploads and downloads
> to YouTube.

If only it were that simple!  The "SIM" module in a GSM cell phone is  
basically a combination flash and ROM memory module that provides the  
information the phone needs to sign on to a given cellular network.   
It's not a radio transceiver....that's part of the phone.  Unless the  
two networks in question are virtual networks that actually share the  
same cell tower and frequencies, designing a phone to operate on two  
independent networks at the same time would require TWO separate radio  
transceivers in the phone.  From practical experience building radio  
repeaters, I can testify that it's rather difficult to build a small  
box that has two transceivers operating on nearby frequencies without  
crosstalk and interference problems.  Best case would be if you could  
count on the two networks being on two different bands (one on  
850/900mhz and the other on 1900mhz for example.)

We'll merely ignore the small detail that Verizon Wireless and Sprint  
both use CDMA technology that is incompatible in every way possible  
with the GSM network of the present models of the iPhone.

I agree with the author that both the public AND Apple would benefit  
from the iPhone becoming a much more open platform, but he needs to be  
careful to confine his proposed solutions to the technically possible.






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