Monday, October 22, 2007

Many tasks await me

So, didn't get the phone, or the Ipod Touch because I ran into a moron at the Rogers Store at the Eaton Centre downtown. I should've known better than to go there because that mall is filled with cute little twerps who only use cellphones to figure where the next club night blowout is being held. The salesguy looked like he's just rolled out of a drug den, complete with a nasty bruise on his head, a bleeding cut turning into a scar, and hangover.

Not exactly a corporate star....

I may try a store downtown, maybe one at First Canadian Place or Commerce Court, because those guys wear suits and don't smell like crack, but I am definitely not putting up with anyone telling me that I'm going to have pay some outrageous price plan for surfing the web on a phone, or accessing email. (The hysterical part? He was trying to talk about internet access on a phone, but had never heard of an RSS feed. I don't expect the average person to know it, but a guy selling me a pocket computer or web-enabled phone---duh, of course he needs to know that.) And here in Canada, we have the highest cell phone rates in the world, the most expensive internet access, and a crazy system of oligopoly that would make anyone else in the world file a class action lawsuit so fast it would make these jokers' heads spin.

For example, we now have number portability, and guess what happens? Yep, all three major carriers refuse to give deals to anyone switching carriers and have made it clear that they aren't encouraging it. Does that sound like free market competition to you? Hardly, more like collusion, IMO. Plus, I can't get flat rate unlimited deals at all, even though Rogers quite clearly advertises an unlimited plan right here. Can you say false advertising? Yes, I have a screenshot in case they erase it, so far, they just keep protesting to me that unlimited only means 25 MB, too which I laugh, since the dictionary definition is obviously quite different.

There is no logical reason why I shouldn't be able to buy an iphone here in Canada, but I can't. The ludicrous reason why is apparently because it would work on Wifi access and not just cell sites, and Rogers, Bell, & Telus are quite desperate to make sure I have to pay per kb, or on a permanent monthly subscription for the rest of my bloody life. God forbid Ted lose a nickel of profit. *eyeroll*

So why do I need an unlimited flat rate plan? Simple, just checking Facebook was 472 kb everytime I loaded a page, and 25 MB a month goes pretty fast that way. Getting email synched on a blackberry uses hardly anything, as long as it's text, but add a few attachments, or click on a webpage, or check bloglines and I'm going to run out in 3 seconds flat.

So, I'm stuck with either waiting for the iphone to come to Canada, unlikely in the near future, or getting a crappy phone only usable for phone calls, and buying an iTouch ipod so that I can surf the web for free (I can get a flatrate per month here, but only for the Toronto core) and read my email and blogs without lugging the laptop all over town.

This is very very ummmm inefficient, uncompetitive and totally outrageous. Another item on my large list of things that must be changed in the world, sigh....

But it is distracting as I wait for tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm nice and nauseated, and feeling rather wiped out tired, so hey maybe there's still something in my uterus of doom, and not just a puppy?

Distract me, and tell me how much you guys pay for surfing on your phones, or blackberries, or just your cellphone bills? Anonymously if you like, but seriously, how much per month and in which countries/states?

15 comments:

  1. Nauseated and wiped out are very very good! Hooray for the puppy - er, I mean, embie!

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  2. cell - $48/mo. no wifi or email or anything fancy. i pay too much, and should probably move to a pay-as-you-go plan, because really i hardly use the cell.

    that said - i want an iphone!! but it would cost me another $20/mo for that internet and email stuff.

    Go puppy!

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  3. Yay for nausea and exhaustion.

    My details are useless but I'll share them anyway. Josh and I primarily use our wireless Skype phone, requiring our computers to be with us. That's easy enough given our lifestyles. That's costs us $40/year.

    We pay by the minute for the cell and use it for emergencies only. $100 for 1250 minutes. Spend around $150 a year for that.

    And what does crack smell like anyway? And don't tell me you're on facebook or I might force you to play scrabulous. Or make my vampire bite you!

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  4. I'm not sure exactly how much I pay for my cell ($29/month?) but, since I probaby use a total of 12 minutes a month, it's undoubtedly way too much.

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  5. That's annoying with the cell stuff. I would go nuts without unlimited web on it. Granted, I am on Verizon, which costs an arm and a leg.

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  6. I have no idea what my cell costs per month -- my husband has a corporate plan with Rogers for his business, an d he just has my cell tacked on to his account -- I think mine is $20 bucks a month or something? That includes voicemail, call display, call waiting, caller ID waiting, etc., etc. I have a LG phone right now. (patiently waiting for the iPhone to come out here)

    But yeah, that info doesn't help you because my husband as a corporate account, and I've no idea how much he pays per month in total for the 2 cell phones....

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  7. "Go puppy!"

    LOL -- you guys crack me up!!

    And? "biszqot"???? Really? Wow, that has got to be one of the weirdest word verifications I've ever seen!!

    biszqot! biszqot! biszqot!

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  8. my diva cup arrived.
    you're on facebook? me too!

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  9. We are the last two people in the US without cellphones. But our internet is $20/month!

    Speaking of verification, maybe it's going through a real words phase? I just got piglet, and now ozark. Yeesh.

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  10. $80/month for a basic plan for three phones. We don't have any blackberries or use internet service on our phones. Probably, because we don't live in cars like most of the modern world.

    Glad to hear that you still feel like shit :-).

    Yes. It's very frustrating when you are willing to be tech ready, only to be stymied by some corporate or political idiots.

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  11. Well, my mobile/handphone/cell/whatever is a very basic thing. I consider it techy because it does picture messaging. Otherwise, it's all down to the laptop.

    I know. What sort of geek am I?

    Oh, right - a geek who's been spending her geek fund on IVF for a couple of years.

    Bea

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  12. I have an HTC Wizard (I think - it's called an MDA Vario from my provider) and I get unlimited (which really does mean unlimited) data, plus more minutes and texts than I can use (we only pay for outgoing, and I don't talk on it that much, just to call other mobiles). I pay about £17 a month.

    I love my little phone except the screen is dying. But Mr Spouse is getting a new one and his is the same model with a good screen.

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  13. I am so technically out of date that whenever I accidentally hit the web button on my phne, I panic and turn my whole phone off. I am terrified that I will do the wrong thing and then be charged $50 per second for whatever mistaken surfing I do. I am thinking that I was never meant to be part of my generation.

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  14. I think our bill usually runs around $80 per month for both Manly and my phones. We have unlimited calls between us, and to other V.erizon customers. I think internet access is something like 0.15/minute if you don't have it in your plan, and $15/month for unlimited access. We don't use it though, so I'm not sure.

    PS -- we don't have land lines in our house, so our cell phones are our ONLY phones. Our internet at the house is through the cable compnay.

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  15. i only use my phone for phone calls. I am old-fashioned that way...besides i am already so addicted to the net that if i was able to access it anytime/anywhere then NOTHING would ever get done...

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