Cell phones
This kind of thing really shouldn't surprise me anymore. Cell phone companies are right down there with cable companies in my book. They just seem to find a way to charge you for everything. For instance, T-Mobile lets you download ringtones to your phone for $1.99 apiece. This in itself is a bit outrageous when you consider that Apple lets you download a song to your computer for half that price. But consider also that the only way to retrieve the ringtone is by using T-Mobile's internet-via-phone service, which costs an extra $5.99 a month. (Disclaimer: I'm not picking on T-Mobile in particular here, they just happen to be the service I have the most experience with.)
So naturally, I go looking for a way around this. My new phone, the "entry-level" model Motorola v188, came with a built-in mini-USB port, as well as support for mp3 ringtones. Huzzah! Motorola, in their infinite wisdom, has delivered me from the iron fist of the wireless companies. The savior of the little guy is ushering in a golden age of information connectivity. Oh, wait. You can't actually use the USB port on the phone unless you (surprise!) download Motorola Phone Tools for the low, low price of $29.99. Sigh.
Every other type of connective device on the market comes bundled with drivers to let you connect it to your PC. So why do the wireless companies insist on holding us back? Do they really think that in an age of camera/video/music phones, they'll be able to continue getting away with this? People are going to be outraged when they can't transfer the pictures they've taken using their sweet new cameraphone unless they pay a nominal fee to their wireless provider.
With any luck, Apple and Microsoft will get on board the mobile phone bandwagon soon with a truckload of PC/Mac compatible phones and devices. As far as I can tell, tougher competition is the only way we're going to keep them honest.
3 comments:
but nate, if cell phone companies didnt charge us for every little thing, how on earth would they be able to pay all their advertising bills?
Its like what happens eventually to every other electronic that comes out...they make you want it, they make you get it, they make it so you cant live w/o it and then they charge whatever they want! You are so dependent...what are you going to do? :-(
Clearly, there is only one solution: carrier pigeons. Think of all the poor unemployed pigeons on the streets of Boston alone. They have no health insurance, no jobs, and serve only as health hazards and nuisances to passers-by. Let's get them off the streets and back into the workforce.
Pigeon employment has been declining steadily ever since Alexander Graham Bell made a pact with the devil that let him "invent" the telephone. In fact, just a week after his fateful deal, he laid off his entire 200-pigeon staff, beginning a shocking trend of homeless pigeons on the streets. Nowadays, the only pigeons lucky enough to have jobs are in freak shows, circuses or other such demeaning occupations.
Research shows that pigeon violence is an ongoing problem in our cities, and researchers attribute it to "competition between gangs for local protection rights." One wonders how many of these poor birds turn to a life of crime simply for a lack of other options.
The wireless companies have held us hostage with their technology for too long. We know they can do better. We know we can do better. And we can do it while helping our little avian friends gone astray. So do your part: adopt a messenger pigeon today.
You know, Nate...that is actually so "Harry Potter" i bet you could get more people to do it than you would think! Anything to be less Muggle.
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