[geeks] Cheap wireless APs

[nate at portents.com]

> Would it have been so hard to have a configuration option in the factory
> firmware to run in AP-only mode?

Well they *could* have, but really, what company in the computer industry
doesn't do silly things like that?

Faster CPUs that are labelled as and sold as slower CPUs?  Check.  Four
core CPUs that are labelled as three core, sold as three core, but can
have their fourth core unlocked by certain BIOSes?  Check.  CPU features
such as hardware virtualization and higher levels of cache turned off to
create "product differentiation"?  Check.  SLI capable chipsets that has
that turned off by the BIOS and due to discovery by cross-flashing
enthusiasts is officially unlocked in a later BIOS?  Check.  Graphics
chips that are just as capable of "professional" work as they are of
"consumer" and "gaming" tasks put onto PCBs that have different surface
mount resistor configurations to give different card identifiers so that
only certain drivers will work with them to change their "capabilities"? 
Check.  Hardware slightly tweaked or tweaked not at all and relabelled,
rebadged, repackaged, and remarketed to be sold again and again?  Check.

I could go on all day, but frankly, the trend seems to be, in both
software and hardware, that companies just want to reach a state where
they actually make/ship as few products as possible, and then find the
most cost effective ways to cripple those products in order to create
"product differentiation".  It's a pretty silly game, but the "free
market" as it exists right now is buying it.

- Nate