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Comment by MereInterest | Hacker News Reader

If the servers are running. If the servers deign to give permission to own the device you purchased. If they correctly recognize that this device is owned by the user. After I've purchased the device, the seller has no right to withhold ownership, and the existence of enterprise devices doesn't change that in the slightest.

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If the process doesn't work then return it as defective.

Transfer of control isn't happening exactly at sale time but a few hours later isn't a big deal.

Though of course that depends on it staying unlocked.

And it depends on the user being willing to connect it to the (public) internet without a firewall in between.

I wonder if any of the countries that implement a country-wide firewall block this domain. That would disable bootloader unlocking for the entire country.

We're talking about a cell phone though, right? A device that sooner or later is going to be connected to a cellular internet that will track it relentlessly?

I'd imagine the demographic that is buying the cell phone and then not intending to use it as a phone is not one that Google is losing a lot of sleep over serving poorly.

This is incorrect. Have you considered that the delay between getting the device and getting it connected could be well outside of the return window or people could be purchasing them in countries without such consumer rights?

Smartphones aren’t only for the developed world.

Who buys a brand new phone but also has no internet connection for weeks? Do they have all the apps they need pre-downloaded? I don't think that's a big group.

It's quite common for people from elsewhere in the world to buy electronics in the US, Europe, Japan, etc and then bring them back to their home countries for a fraction of the cost of what the official or unofficial importer(s) want. That's why you end up with all sorts of region-locking nonsense, companies trying to protect their importers who have a monopoly on distribution of a particular device.

You can unlock it before you go home.

It usually takes about a month between the time I order something from the US and the time I have it in-hand. Last holiday season was about 2 months.

Never tried a return because I'd have to pay through the nose on shipping.

They specifically said a delay between getting the device and connecting it.

That's very unfortunate if you'd have to pay a return for a promised feature not working.

Who said it has to be brand new to the end user? It might sit in a box for years getting sold back and forth as a commodity before anyone opens that box.

Have you ever hear of the concept of a “gift” or the even more exotic “person in a foreign country”? It’s shocking that the connectivity addiction is so strong that you’re even asking this question.

> Have you ever hear of the concept of a “gift”

If it's a normal gift, then the recipient won't have any roms or bootloaders they need to install. To get those they will need internet, at which point they can unlock the phone.

> or the even more exotic “person in a foreign country”

What's the problem? Are they buying a phone they won't get a plan for, and can't find anywhere with wifi, and they have no home internet? But they still want to unlock the boot loader because... why?

If that ultra-niche scenario is not what you have in mind, then please explain.

What happens in 5 years when Google gets tired of running the server?

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