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While OS X Lion was initially announced as an exclusive Mac App Store release, Apple did backtrack slightly before launch with a decision to offer a $69 USB thumb drive to assist users without access to broadband connections.
As reported by Pocket-lint, Apple has decided to end that experiment with OS X Mountain Lion, making the forthcoming release a true Mac App Store exclusive.
Apple has confirmed to Pocket-lint though that its concerns weren't justified with customers not remotely interested in the USB drive offering:
"It was an interesting test, but it turns out the App Store was just fine for getting the new OS."
OS X Mountain Lion is scheduled for a public launch in "late summer", with pricing yet to be announced.
Top Rated Comments
Actually there are still quite a few living in rural areas who cannot get affordable broadband. There is always sattelite, which is what I used to use when I lived in a Rural area. But it was over $1,200 to install, $75 a month for 512kbps connection, and limited to 5GB per month. Eventually 3G came available so that became our ISP. So it's still not a decent solution for downloading Lion / Mountain Lion. Though, admittedly, if I were in that situation, I'd probably go to somewhere with an access point. Nearest place was 30 minutes away but everything was 30 minutes away. No biggie. Just go get a coffee and download Lion.
I also think it's unfair to tell these people to 'move'. Don't knock it till you try it! It's awfully nice living in a place where you don't lock your doors and you can leave your keys in your ignition, where you don't have the sound of cars driving by... there's a lot of great reasons to live in a rural area. And there is more to life than internet!
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10454133-94.html
Actually there are still quite a few living in rural areas who cannot get affordable broadband. There is always sattelite, which is what I used to use when I lived in a Rural area. But it was over $1,200 to install, $75 a month for 512kbps connection, and limited to 5GB per month. Eventually 3G came available so that became our ISP. So it's still not a decent solution for downloading Lion / Mountain Lion. Though, admittedly, if I were in that situation, I'd probably go to somewhere with an access point. Nearest place was 30 minutes away but everything was 30 minutes away. No biggie. Just go get a coffee and download Lion.
I also think it's unfair to tell these people to 'move'. Don't knock it till you try it! It's awfully nice living in a place where you don't lock your doors and you can leave your keys in your ignition, where you don't have the sound of cars driving by... there's a lot of great reasons to live in a rural area. And there is more to life than internet!
You got that right there are a lot of people who have slow internet. Everyone who says just move is a child who doesn't have a mortgage or any bills. Or a snooty jerk.
Wrong. A lot of people out in rural areas do not have broadband of a speed sufficient to make downloading OSX feasible. The world is not yet interconnected at high speeds. It is attitudes like yours that creates the digital divide. Reality check, please.
A Government survey reveals that 40 percent of United States residents have no broadband access and 30 percent have no Internet access at all.