Back to the 80s

Although I didn't vote for this particular video at Save the Internet.com as regards the possible AT&T/T-Mobile merger, it makes the point I can't imagine needs to be made again.

I lived through the 80s, when there was a telecommunications monopoly, when "Ma Bell" was the only option for telephone and long distance service. I also remember that when the Trust Division of the Department of Justice busted the monopoly, prices went down, particularly for long distance. No longer did family and friends "save up" to make the occasional phone call that actually didn't cost all that much, we could call throughout the country at competitive rates.

Obviously I'm against the merger, because anyone with a fraction of a brain realizes that the fewer companies in competition with each other, the higher the price consumers pay...well, except where Apple cuts in so they can screw with the competition all the while screwing the consumer. But because corporations now write our legislation and have thoroughly co-opted regulatory agencies, I think that the merger will likely go through, particularly now that AT&T has bought off progressive groups. But here's a couple of cautionary tales from my personal files...

1) Not long ago my daughter's cell phone died, and we needed to buy her a new one. She was not up for an upgrade, but Verizon had always worked with us in the past because we've been long-time customers and sent business their way. Well, the times they have changed. Forget that there's no longer actual tech support at their company store; I already knew that. But nobody was willing to help me out when we went in to buy her a new phone. Even though they'd just locked us in to another two years service for her a few months ago, we ended up shelling out full price on a phone that would have cost a new customer a fraction of the price. Why? Well, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Verizon, AT&T, and t-Mobile together control the vast majority of the mobile phone market. A few years ago, when we did quite a few deals with Verizon, it was a different picture. So now, higher prices, less customer assistance...how great is that?

2) We've long been users of DSL; Southwestern Bell, which at one time was part of AT&T, and is once again part of AT&T (funny that, no?) and we live in a major metropolitan area. And yet, for the entire period of time we've had DSL, our service has sucked. Why? Because "we're at the edge" of a service area. For the same period of time we've heard that SWB/AT&T is "upgrading in our area," yet it's never happened. How do I know this? Well, yesterday, after trying to watch yet another buffered video (about the Dale Chihuly installation at the MFA in Boston), I called tech support. I was told: "Your DSL is as fast as it's going to be because you're at the edge of a service area, but we're upgrading in your area." If we lived in the boonies, this would make sense, but we don't.

Think about what the telecom companies have done: They charge tremendous amounts for basic cell service...much higher than you pay for a land line...for diminished quality, and the possibility of brain cancer. Does it really cost them as much as it does to provide service? Well, we know that text messaging represents pure profit to wireless providers, and that's just one service for wireless users. The wireless bill for our three-person family now includes three data plans for three smart phones in addition to a special text fee for Rachael who, like her college pals, texts almost exclusively. I'm thinking Verizon makes a bloody fortune from us, and I can only be happy that we signed her up for a data plan when we a couple of months ago because now Verizon, like the other carriers, has set in place tiered usage fees. They're also trying to eliminate the ability of users like my husband to toggle his phone to his laptop to avoid yet another data plan. They sold us the phone with that as a major feature less than a year ago, yet now they want to reneg on it.

Ain't the lack of competition grand?

Back to the 80s

TomTom Go 2435 TM

TomTom Go 2435 TM

Read my attempt at installing and using this special Lifetime Map Updates TomTom at Amazon Vine.

P.S. It wasn't fun.

TomTom Go 2435 TM

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The first thing I asked Rachael to do when she came home late last week was put together a "need" list and a "wish" list for the summer. We started on the "need" list Friday, with a trip to the DMV, passport photo stop, and visit to a local post office to get her passport renewed. Five hours later and we were home. I worked Friday night and Saturday night, so we didn't get back to the list until Sunday, when we took a trip to Target for some clothes, a new wallet and bag, and the writing of thank you cards for graduation money toward the Mac fund. Yesterday we started out with a "lame" visit to Starbucks (who knew I've been lame for the past two years in bringing a computer or book and working?) that turned out not to be lame after all, what with the possible job offer that came within the first five minutes.

Sidebar - Second interview at the bookstore should occur at the very end of the month, first interview at Starbucks should occur later this week or next, and we-don't-yet-know-if-it's-sketchy possible interview at a CPA office might occur if it's deemed unsketchy.

Then it was off to Chase to cash out the custodial savings account I'd set up for Rachael when she was a baby, then to a BofA (there's plenty of BofA branches in Conway...we didn't find a Chase branch) to set up a college checking/savings account with online banking for all the money and checks. She's already requested a tutoring session, but after having read, watched, and listened to Dave Ramsey this past semester, we think she's got a solid financial base. If not, she talks a good game.

Because we have a whole summer ahead of us and I have a life, such as it is, we are only doing a few things each day. Our last stop yesterday was the Verizon store to reactivate my old Envy (a great texting phone) for her. Neither my husband nor I had realized it, but the air card for my laptop was long overdue for an upgrade, and now I have a cool USB modem that only cost me $30 (it retailed for $250-ish) and is faster and more powerful than my old card.

Next I told Beau, the salesman, how very much my husband hates his Blackberry Storm...it's a wall-banger for him for sure. I find mine can be a pain in the ass as well, but have managed to do some phenomenal things on it, including writing and editing reviews for PW. That wowed the salesman as most people, I don't think, get desperate enough to make that kind of thing work on a device that really was not meant for such intense use.

Long story short - by the time we left the store an hour and a half later, we had two possible deals on the table, and an appointment at 7:30 in the evening for Beau to meet with us and perhaps walk out with two Android phones, one for free.

After buying my Storm, I vowed never again buy a first generation anything. The Storm II he showed me yesterday was an improvement over my Storm, but it's still a "click" screen as opposed to a touch screen. The Droids are as close to an iPhone as I'm liable to get, and though the best of both worlds would have led to two of the phones that have both a touch screen and a pull out actual (not virtual/touch screen) qwerty keypad, even I could not wangle that deal.

Sidebar - For some reason I seem to enjoy working on cell phone "deals." I've done them for us three times now, and for a b-i-l, niece, and nephew as well. I don't like dickering for anything else because I don't exactly have a poker face, but where the Verizon store is concerned, I'm your girl.

The end result is that we walked with deals for a Milestone by Motorala for the DH and the HTC Eris for me.

The final price for his phone matches the online current sale price, and with an actual keyboard in addition to a true touch screen and great camera (I will say the Storm's camera was terrific), he will no longer call his phone a piece of shit while wanting to hurl it, full force, against the wall. That was my ultimate goal; I was going to be happy regardless. Had he not liked the Droid, the other option was for him to get a Blackberry Curve and I'd get a free Storm II, but since he chose the Milestone, I got a free Eris, and as soon as I can figure out how to use it, I'll be cool. And even an eensy-teensy bit happier when a Kindle for Droid app is released. (Yes, I have actually read a book on my Storm, and it wasn't bad. More than that, I liked being able to buy Kindle books with my Storm because I always have it on me whereas I don't generally tote around my Kindle on a daily basis.) We also saved the activation fees for both phones and the USB modem...those charges tend to add up if you're not careful.

Before we left, I asked Beau - who'd come back to the store after a pre-wedding dance lesson to do the deal - to write down the name of the system apps he likes best. No, even though Rachael thought the "steamed up shower door" app was cool, I was more interested in things like a soft boot app and other tools than anything else. He showed me some on his Milestone, including a barcode app that looks promising, wrote them down, and we said adieu.

For somebody who once thought cell phones were ridiculous, who then vowed to never use a smartphone, I've come a long way since the car phone (an actual car phone!) I had in the early 90s. Today I'll be devoting time to learning how to use the damn thing. But I love the widget idea and how it all ties together with other Google products. I've already created a Twitter widget and set up Facebook to tie into my contacts. Now if I could just figure out how to send my husband my work schedule (it was a breeze on Storm)...

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