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0 pointswashadjeffmad4y ago0 comments

Then imagine (magnetic) external contacts, like the Apple Pencil.

Wireless data rates (eg- Wifi6) currently exceed wired by a good margin. The only barriers to fully utilizing that are vendor-manufactured and can be solved with both custom firmware and more open app stores.

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Nextgrid4y ago

> Wireless data rates (eg- Wifi6) currently exceed wired by a good margin

Maybe in lab tests and based on theoretical data rates from datasheets. In practice they don't; most people are in a noisy environment and use shitty consumer-grade equipment. Even if you wanted to pay to make it work, finding good equipment is not easy and often involves trial and error until you find a product that's good enough.

In contrast, even the cheapest Ethernet cable will pretty much always work, and when it doesn't it's very obvious where as Wi-Fi has so much potential for "kinda working" where it looks like it works on most speedtests (because TCP corrects for packet loss) but completely craps out on a real-time application such as a video call (where you can't conceal packet loss).

washadjeffmadOP4y ago

I'd hazard that the usage rate of RNDIS on iPhones is rather low, though.

And you may be right for certain contexts, but ubiquity counts for a lot.

"Gosh this bus is making a lot of stops, let me just whip out this USB-C/Lightning to Ethernet adapter and plug into my battery powered switch to access this content on my Raspi file sever" is something I've only said a few times, followed by "why didn't I make this thing ad hoc?" or "why'd I make this service internal only again?".

I do however have Wifi6 APs at home and get better than USB HiSpeed data rates from my 10GbE network. The whole network cost around $500, which is probably near what people spend on replacing crappier all-in-one consumer gear over a similar lifecycle. It seems unrealistic that anyone would be required to spend remotely close to that much to make a reliable video call, though.

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