[alister]

Indeed. I had a ThinkPad with a physical switch to turn wifi on and off. The OS got into a weird state one day (a driver or OS bug) and I was shocked to discover that wifi was working even though the switch was in the off position.

So even on a ThinkPad, these physical switches are fake, i.e., they are just software settings checked by the OS, and not a hardware override.

[rhizome]

Which is why I was glad Lenovo made it possible for me to order my current laptop without a webcam at all. I can just plug one in if I need it.