BIOS-Approved PCI Cards For Laptops 482
derek_farn writes "First there were printers that would would only work with vendor annointed ink cartridges; now we have laptops that will only boot with vendor annointed PCI cards. Keeping a list of approved PCI cards in the bios is one way of ensuring that customers renew their maintenance contracts. How else are they going to be able to plug in a PCI card released after the last BIOS update?" My HP laptop is several years old; can anyone confirm this?
Question~ (Score:2, Insightful)
Yes, by all means (Score:5, Insightful)
Brilliant move.
They should find everyoen who supported this decision and make sure they never work in any decision-making capacity anywhere again.
There's a simple solution. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Yes, by all means (Score:3, Insightful)
Page out of Apple's book? (Score:3, Insightful)
Non-Issue (Score:1, Insightful)
I personally would vote with my feet. Companies who try to tie you to proprietary solutions are not on my short list of where I spend my money.
And yes, that would include Apple.
I think you aren't using a MiniPCI card (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Simple Solution (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:IBM has been doing it for years! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Simple Solution (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:IBM Thinkpads are the same way (Score:5, Insightful)
But maybe I'm crazy.
The key word is: STANDARD (Score:5, Insightful)
(note: this is not Apple fanboyism -- I don't complain about the proprietary slot on the lid of of my Compaq laptop either.)
Paramoia? (Score:2, Insightful)
I'd want to make sure that customers weren't trashing laptops by putting in things that destroy them then quietly removing the offending card and returning them for repair.
Re:IBM has been doing it for years! (Score:2, Insightful)
Funny. (Score:5, Insightful)
In fact your post reminds me of an incident I experienced a few years ago. I was approached and reprimanded by a WWII veteran for driving a "Jap car". At the time I was driving an Isuzu. After the man was finished reprimanding me, he jumped into his Chevrolet and drove away. I burst out laughing because the particular model of Chevrolet that he was driving was actually a re-branded Isuzu.
Thank you for purchasing... (Score:4, Insightful)
Aside from that, if this under-handed marketting strategy is going to keep us from running servers/workstations, what's next - BMWs whose engines suddenly stop working because there's a Fram oil filter installed? What if I decide to use a generic dollar-store bulb in my socket instead of the "approved" Philips bulb? Based on this theory, can you imagine what would happen if I were to eat a bag of knock-off raisin bran?
It sounds to me that this is just a marketting gimick to screw customers over and force them to buy what the manufacturer wants you to buy. God forbid I should find a better alternative to what the manufacturer wants me to buy.
Re:IBM Thinkpads are the same way (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Yes, by all means (Score:5, Insightful)
I wonder if you'll get a +5, Troll for that...
Seriously, Apple's always been blamed for being elitist for having a semi-closed architecture and many PC partisans took them to task for it. Now some PC manufacturers are starting to do the same.
This is probably a sign of things to come. As computing becomes more and more dependant on the Internet to even provide basic functionality, security concerns are going to crowd out flexibility and "freedom." It's really a shame; this will only increase the barrier to entry to computing even higher than it is now. Already, classical shareware and freeware have nearly been killed by fears of viruses and spyware. (Interestingly, the Mac market's about the only place where a shareware developer can make a living from it.) There have already been opening salvos of FUD fired at the Open Source movement for not having a "certified" credential system for contributing programmers and writers. (Even non-coding projects like Wikipedia is starting to get brickbats from "established" editors and writers for not being "professional" enough.)
The age of the garage developer is nearly, if not already, over.
Re:Page out of Apple's book? (Score:5, Insightful)
Look, *all* the PC cards are made in the same giant sized factory called "Taiwan". I ran into a problem with an HP Netserver that HP blamed on my Crucial branded memory by saying only HP branded memory was good enough. Of course the solution ended up not involving the memory. Heck, HP doesn't own a memory fab; they just slap their sticker on whatever they get the best bulk rates on. In the article about the mini-PCI card, HP has no legitimate way to claim only thier PCI cards have to be used or the dang thing won't even boot. It's one thing to say 'we don't support it because you installed a third party peice' and it's completely different to actively prevent even trying.
Nothing to see here... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:IBM has been doing it for years! (Score:3, Insightful)
The only Apple peripheral I use at all is the keyboard that came with the machine. You're an idiot.
Re:IBM Thinkpads are the same way (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:IBM has been doing it for years! (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm using a Belkin 802.11g card in my Powerbook without problems and using an out-of-the-box version of OS 10.2. No third-party drivers needed. Even if I did need an additional driver, there's a difference between merely not supporting third-party products and actively preventing their use via whitelist.
-b.
Re:IBM Thinkpads are the same way (Score:3, Insightful)
Actually, the old rule is:
If you don't have anything interesting or insightful to say about the parent post, waste everyone's time by blasting the mofo for stupid grammar rule violations
Re:Excuse: FCC compliance (Score:3, Insightful)
That's because the desktop PCI card comes complete with a built-in antenna. In a laptop, the antenna's built into the case and the card plugs into it.
Because of this, it's possible to venture outside the FCC certification by using a different miniPCI card.
Re:IBM Thinkpads are the same way (Score:3, Insightful)
Now, since I don't know which particular models are in question, I can't check. But it seems pretty cut and dried to me: If you sell me something, and it's designed to not work as advertised, you've defrauded me.
Mini-PCI slots were never user upgradeable (Score:3, Insightful)
If you want to upgrade to a better wireless connection, use a PMCIA card.
Re:Yes, by all means (Score:3, Insightful)
(Even non-coding projects like Wikipedia is starting to get brickbats from "established" editors and writers for not being "professional" enough.)
That's an entirely different issue altogether. Wikipedia is trying to present itself as truth when in fact it is merely presenting a gestalt consensus of the users (No, they are not the same thing. Reality is not subject to a democratic vote.)
Re:Yes, by all means(OT) (Score:4, Insightful)
I can give anyone a certificate right now. Just give me some scrap paper and a green crayon, and I'll certify you for anything. Heck, I'll even ask you a few lame questions first to make sure you're qualified.
And that's about how I'll feel about certificates for as long as there are VeriSign certificates for spyware companies, MCSEs, and the like.
Re:it's more like... (Score:3, Insightful)
You need to preceed that with "If the federal government required all combinations of starters and engines to be approved before sale, and . .
In spite of the slashdot-grade bad description, this isn't about all peripherals . .
hawk
Re:Yes, by all means (Score:3, Insightful)
I am forced to wonder what the hell "proprietary" means in your world.
In my world, if you have to pay a licence fee to use something then it is "proprietary".
Indeed, the Holy Grail of producing proprietary technology is to have it accepted as a defacto standard which effectively forces all your competitors to pay you a licence fee.
This is what IBM attempted to do with MCA.
Fast forward to the current day and you will see that this is exactly what Microsoft are busily attempting to do with their proprietary WMA+DRM codec. If they could only convince all the punters out there to start using WMA instead of MP3 then they would be able to charge licence fees to every personal music player manufacturer on the planet.
1) Produce proprietary technology
2) ????
3) Attain overwhelming market dominance and defacto standard status
4) Charge licence fees to every device manufacturer on the planet
5) Profit $$$
Re:Funny. (Score:3, Insightful)