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Project Fi by Google

fi.google.com

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Re: Project Fi by Google

#51

Post by higherpurpose »

MBlume wrote: post #40

"We refund the data you don't use" is basically a way of saying "you pay by the megabyte for the data you do use" -- which is actually really great, I've been frustrated that everyone's settled on "all-you-can-eat" data as the standard, it doesn't align incentives well at all. And they really are refunding it: if you use 1.2GB per month, it doesn't matter whether you sign up for 2, 5, or 10GB, your bill comes out exa…

That's a good point. It's one thing to offer "unlimited data" for a fixed price - which is about ideal for a consumer, but that doesn't exist anymore. What you get is a fixed amount of data for a fixed price. But the provider has an incentive to make you use as little as possible, to increase its profits. But if instead you get the data returned to you, or you pay a reasonable amount by the MB, then the provider has an incentive to make you use as much data as possible. That could mean giving you a much faster service for example.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#53

Post by bsimpson »

higherpurpose wrote: post #38
electriclove wrote: post #5

ARGH.. Google Apps domains not supported. "For now, Project Fi is available only for accounts with an @gmail.com address"

I don't know why this becomes an issue with every single service Google launches . It's pretty clear Google's strategy is not to launch Apps support for any product that is either beta or immediately post-beta, and it wants to wait a bit until things get stable enough to use for enterprise.

It's frustrating because Google Apps has been the solution for bring-your-own-domain email, and many people use it as such. If I could use my own domain on a consumer Gmail account, I would.

Google acts like it's just for enterprise customers, but that's not how a whole lot of people use it.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#54

Post by jscottmiller »

Compared to what I can get from Verizon (US), the international usage is amazing:

> Pay one rate for data around the world

> In 120+ countries, data usage costs the same $10 per GB as it does in the US (data speed is limited to 256kbps/3G). Check email, get directions, and keep in touch with friends and family when on your trip. Also, call around the world for 20c per minute and send unlimited international texts.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#55

Post by rev_bird »

higherpurpose wrote: post #38
electriclove wrote: post #5

ARGH.. Google Apps domains not supported. "For now, Project Fi is available only for accounts with an @gmail.com address"

I don't know why this becomes an issue with every single service Google launches . It's pretty clear Google's strategy is not to launch Apps support for any product that is either beta or immediately post-beta, and it wants to wait a bit until things get stable enough to use for enterprise.

That's actually a much more logical explanation than I've heard before, but it seems to be based on a potential misunderstanding of who is using the service -- maybe it is mostly giant companies, but I bet there are a lot of tinkerers who just like having the custom email domain.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#56

Post by andrewstuart2 »

kirinan wrote: post #8

This is insane. I can't think of an industry that google is not trying to compete in. Auto industry, space industry, internet of things industry (Nest), internet/media industry, cable/internet provider industry, automobile industry, robotics industry, software industry, smartphone industry, pc industry now the telecom industry. I'm starting to expect Google to launch an airline here pretty soon. How can they possibly…

I can't easily think of an industry that the internet or computing hasn't yet touched. Makes sense that the company who made a name for themselves making sense out of data would do very well in a data-driven world and have plenty of places to go.

Not that I'm convinced it's always for the best. Throw all that control into somebody's hands and even if they think they're doing what's best, they might make mistakes with far-reaching consequences.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#57

Post by rhino369 »

MBlume wrote: post #40

"We refund the data you don't use" is basically a way of saying "you pay by the megabyte for the data you do use" -- which is actually really great, I've been frustrated that everyone's settled on "all-you-can-eat" data as the standard, it doesn't align incentives well at all. And they really are refunding it: if you use 1.2GB per month, it doesn't matter whether you sign up for 2, 5, or 10GB, your bill comes out exa…

I just wish it had peak/non-peak pricing. Even something as basic as free nights.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#60

Post by grecy »

pbiggar wrote: post #50
kirinan wrote: post #8

This is insane. I can't think of an industry that google is not trying to compete in. Auto industry, space industry, internet of things industry (Nest), internet/media industry, cable/internet provider industry, automobile industry, robotics industry, software industry, smartphone industry, pc industry now the telecom industry. I'm starting to expect Google to launch an airline here pretty soon. How can they possibly…

This looks to me like a pure "commoditize your complements" play. All of Google's products require great mobile internet everywhere. By getting involved in that market, they can help make it much more competitive (at the moment, cell reception is expensive and shit). It's like Google Code. Google didn't particularly want to be in that business, but Sourceforge was complete shit, and the open source ecosystem was key…

I agree, and I always figured that's why they built Chrome. They needed the other browsers to step up their game, especially js performance so they could offer the kinds of web applications they wanted to.
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