Let's talk mobile
25 Oct 07 Filed in:Phones
After turning down an offer for a new iPhone, and discovering how to connect my laptop to the internet from almost anywhere, I am in the mood for a dip into the world of mobile tech.
Mrs Ed, bless her, said I could have an iPhone, if I wanted. She got a big hug, and is still $399 in pocket. I don't need one.
My current phone looks like it came out of a Christmas cracker, and it is still way too feature-laden for me. And apart from depending on it for ringing my wife, I use it for almost nothing. OK, once I used it as an alarm clock and woke up 12 hours late. I am not even into IM, mainly because I punctuate and correctly spell everything. By the time I finish compiling a message, I am home and can relay the info in person.
They say the iPhone has a million other useful features, but to be honest, I have a laptop 10x better than any phone, so I will pass, thanks.
Money Making Mike alerted me to this great idea for people like me who have trouble remembering their friends' names, let alone their friends' email addresses.
In an ideal world, everyone should register with Redinbox and append their phone number with @redinbox.com.
Ding ding, you have a simple email address to hand out, and if we were all on board, we would never have trouble remembering the email address of anyone in our phone contact list - their phone number IS their email address.
The service redirects the redinbox email addy to your normal email inbox, and it is spam free. What more do you want, apart from a scannable video chip implanted in your head that beams phone numbers and other easily forgotten data straight onto your retina when you think of a person.
Have you seen that dorky Brit in the Verizon ads who wades through ponds trying to escape the internet? It is quite funny, but after talking to a few "normal" non-techy friends, it seems like the message - connect your laptop to the internet via a mobile modem - is falling on deaf ears.
Hell, I am just as guilty of not getting it. I am into that sort of geeky mobile thing, (I shrivel up and die if I can't get online when we are away from home), but it didn't sink in, til recently, just how easy and affordable it is to surf from anywhere these days.
The TV ad can't take the credit for my epiphany, though. It took some well-traveled exec to show me their USB internet connect card dangling out the back of their laptop. The guy on TV has a similarly functioning card that slips into your PMCIA slot. (I think that is the techno term for the slot in the side of a laptop?)
Basically the gadget to get you online wherever there is cell phone coverage, is a mobile DSL modem supplied by the phone companies. It isn't cable but I am told it is not particularly slow or painful to use.
As far as cost is concerned, you get billed monthly - and separately from your normal cell phone. Looking into it, AT&T charge about $60 a month for unlimited access, which is a lot cheaper than daily trips to cyber cafes. Even the international dealio from Cingular is worth a look. Just saying! Mobile is the way ahead, so might as well get into it now.
Time to go. It looks like I have a phone message, and I just need to get the manual to work out how to read it.
Do you need an iPhone?
My current phone looks like it came out of a Christmas cracker, and it is still way too feature-laden for me. And apart from depending on it for ringing my wife, I use it for almost nothing. OK, once I used it as an alarm clock and woke up 12 hours late. I am not even into IM, mainly because I punctuate and correctly spell everything. By the time I finish compiling a message, I am home and can relay the info in person.
They say the iPhone has a million other useful features, but to be honest, I have a laptop 10x better than any phone, so I will pass, thanks.
Your phone number doubles as your email address
In an ideal world, everyone should register with Redinbox and append their phone number with @redinbox.com.
Ding ding, you have a simple email address to hand out, and if we were all on board, we would never have trouble remembering the email address of anyone in our phone contact list - their phone number IS their email address.
The service redirects the redinbox email addy to your normal email inbox, and it is spam free. What more do you want, apart from a scannable video chip implanted in your head that beams phone numbers and other easily forgotten data straight onto your retina when you think of a person.
PC internet card
Hell, I am just as guilty of not getting it. I am into that sort of geeky mobile thing, (I shrivel up and die if I can't get online when we are away from home), but it didn't sink in, til recently, just how easy and affordable it is to surf from anywhere these days.
The TV ad can't take the credit for my epiphany, though. It took some well-traveled exec to show me their USB internet connect card dangling out the back of their laptop. The guy on TV has a similarly functioning card that slips into your PMCIA slot. (I think that is the techno term for the slot in the side of a laptop?)
Basically the gadget to get you online wherever there is cell phone coverage, is a mobile DSL modem supplied by the phone companies. It isn't cable but I am told it is not particularly slow or painful to use.
As far as cost is concerned, you get billed monthly - and separately from your normal cell phone. Looking into it, AT&T charge about $60 a month for unlimited access, which is a lot cheaper than daily trips to cyber cafes. Even the international dealio from Cingular is worth a look. Just saying! Mobile is the way ahead, so might as well get into it now.
Time to go. It looks like I have a phone message, and I just need to get the manual to work out how to read it.
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