One thing about having a computer on a mobile connection that’s not as great as you might think: it’s easy for something like a software update to blow through a ton of data and cost a lot of money.

There are different cellular networks and frequencies in different places so computer manufacturers can’t pick one module and expect it to work everywhere. If you’re paying for service, you’ll want to get the most out of it by having a modem that’s up to date and maximally compatible with the network. So it makes sense to get a plugin device or a WiFi mobile hotspot from your carrier. A WiFi mobile hotspot can additionally be used with other devices.

Also mobile network hardware updates at a decent pace so it’s nice to be able to update those single purpose devices at their own pace independent of your laptop upgrade.

And then carrier and FCC certification are an extra hassle for laptop makers.

That’s stuff comes on the regular release cycle. Chrome and Firefox are both on a release every 4 weeks.

Yeah, Netflix knows I’m watching Stranger Things. But afaik they don’t sell that information. And even if they do, there’s still reason for this company to try to get it themselves for cheaper. And they know something else about you based on these crappy apps they’re embedded in. So that’s all extra data points they can cross reference and get even more data.

If it’s trying to figure out if you’re watching Stranger Things it can look for when you’re stationary at home and just needs to record a few seconds at a time every few minutes. I don’t know how the fingerprinting works. It might be able to run locally and not use a ton of power. We’re talking Shazam, not full text transcription.

Can we talk about how screwed up that streak notification is? Let’s encourage people who show signs of unhealthy usage of the platform to further their addiction?

You have a 300 day streak of using heroin, don’t stop now!

I hope they used the official Apple cleaning cloth that’s certified compatible with that model of MacBook