Inbox: iPhone ad, red boxes, wi-fi piggybacking, sci-fi thinking
"The more machines think, the less humans bother to think"
The weekly Inbox column collects the best and most thought provoking reader comments that silicon.com receives each week.
Readers were in disagreement over a story on silicon.com concerning the banning of the latest iPhone ad over its claims users can view the 'whole internet'. Post a comment below and join the debate.
Also up for discussion this week: how much would you pay to keep the iconic red phone box on your village green? Well, apparently one English pound is all you need thanks to BT's latest scheme. Readers had a few things to say about that.
And lastly wi-fi piggybacking - acceptable? Or as bad as stealing a car? Readers voice their opinions...
Don't forget to post your own response to any of these stories or comments by clicking here.
iPhone ad banned over 'all internet' claim
The Advertising Standards Authority has banned an ad for the iPhone that promised users access to "all parts of the internet" on their Apple device.
Getting flashy
Does anybody from any government agency understand anything about computers? Flash and Java are plug-ins, and any website that requires them is very badly designed.
Anonymous, Yorkshire
Plug-in' away
Yes, but you can't 'plug in' Flash or Java to iPhone Safari so you can't see the 'whole internet'. I find it very annoying and think the ASA is quite right.
George, UK
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£1 will save a red BT phone box
A plan has been hatched that could save iconic red BT phone boxes for as little as a quid - or just 1.3 per cent of the cost of installing a BT landline in your home.
Not impressed with 'trendy' idea
A phone box without a phone - what a crazy idea! Imagine your house or car is on fire and your mobile is inside or not available - you go to the local phone box only to find that it's a new trendy box without a phone.
Trevor Elliott, Enniskillen
Smelling wi-fi
Given that they already have a phone line installed, would it be a crazy idea to convert some of them into public wi-fi hotspots? I found one provided by a tourist information office in Northern Spain and very popular it was.
David Fletcher, UK
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Warning over wi-fi 'piggybackers'
Wireless broadband users are failing to secure their connections against people who hijack wi-fi hotspots for their own means.
Got an opinion on any of these stories? Get it off your chest
Post a comment below…
Hacker's dream
Perhaps, just with a little thought and input from vendors and standards bodies alike, there is an opportunity to make wi-fi properly safe.
There will always be a way for ingenious and innovative people to hack wi-fi, there just isn't the necessary investment in secure wi-fi to make it a viable alternative to grown-up communications.
Anonymous, UK
Half-way house
Sometimes people like to share their internet to passers-by... however, there's no real safe way to do that - either you're open to anyone, or else you're locked down to either an encryption or a MAC address list.
How about the implementation of a half-way deal? The owners of the wi-fi can offer out a limited bandwidth so casual piggybackers can check their emails, surf the web, use VoIP, however not allow them to use P2P, BBC iPlayer, etc.
Perhaps then the likes of decent mobile browsing could take off, creating a true wi-fi cell network, away from the charges/limits of 3G and the threat of misuse.
Phil Rae, London
Security issues
I notice the article makes no mention of the fact that all ways of securing your wi-fi routers (except WPA-PSK encryption) are just as easy to break as with no security.
Sarah, Romford
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Peter Cochrane's Blog: Science friction
I can't remember the moment or place when my interest in science fiction was first ignited. But I can remember my earliest comic books, which included The Eagle and Superman.
Humans won't bother to think…
10 years in AI research taught me we don't even understand how we (humans) think, so if we ever create machines that actually think we have no hope of understanding how, or limiting what, they think.
Worse: the more machines think, the less humans bother to think.
Captain Sensible, UK
"Sell-by-date"
AI is portrayed as the great future-terror in countless sci-fi books, films and comics. Perhaps it is that humans are only too aware of their own physical "sell-by date" and that the evolution of human intelligence will be carried in vessels of a different form.
Declan Trezise
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Please note, comments may be edited for clarity, grammar, spelling, punctuation and style. The views expressed are not necessarily the views of silicon.com. You can write to silicon.com by posting a Reader Comment below…