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Comment by kapitalx | Hacker News Reader

Your comparison is invalid. Apple's bootloader locks are a better comparison (Not referring to SIM lock which is provider mandated). Or the fact that you can't change batteries on your devices? Seems to me the purpose behind that is for you to change your device when the battery can't hold a good enough charge instead of just changing the batteries! How does that benefit the consumer?

HTC removes bootloader locks: http://www.pcworld.com/article/228823/htc_ends_locked_bootlo...

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I believe Apple's stated reason for the battery thing is that the mechanism for making a battery removable takes up a lot of space, and by getting rid of it, they can make the actual battery bigger.

That is true, and you can replace the battery. Doing so voids your warranty, but by the time your Li-Polymer battery no longer holds a charge your laptop will be out of warranty anyway, even with AppleCare. All you need is a screwdriver.

But Apple does support a lot of draconian IP policy. I think they're in need of a whipping over this.

Non-removable batteries are an extreme edge case that simply don't adversely affect most consumers. In fact, they benefit most consumers with increased battery life.

I've never met a single person that actually used this feature (most people I know have their laptops plugged in most of the time).

On the other hand, I'd consider content DRM as a non-edge-case that does harm and affect a majority of consumers.

Let's not allow the noise of such edge-case complaints distract from more relevant restrictions that DO hurt consumers on a daily basis, like content DRM.

I've had multiple relatives show fear of plugging in their iPods because iTunes wipes out their iPod. My wife refused to plug in her iPod to her new laptop because she felt she'd lose the episodes she had bought on the iPod itself. And that's not an irrational fear. Even I had it before iCloud enabled you to redownload all your purchased content.

> I've never met a single person that actually used this feature (most people I know have their laptops plugged in most of the time).

I think he's talking about non-removable batteries in phones and iPods.

Macbook Pros went from 5 to 7-8 hours usual time on a charge by making the batteries non-(trivially) removable. You can also pay a modest fee to have the battery replaced, so there's no need to replace your device, as you suggest.

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