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mikeurl
join:2002-06-26
Whitestone, NY
| Feh, meh, and piffle
I have little to no use for mobile computing. I carry a cell phone, off usually, for emergency purposes and I have the cheapest plan I can find.
If you had told him 48 years that everyone in the country would be able to have a cell phone the size of a credit card with a 10 day standby time for 20 bux a month he probably would have thought that was pretty good.
However, he is right in the sense that I won't tough the more complicated phones because they are all locked down steaming piles of fail. I don't like proprietary systems that proscribe what I can do with hardware I OWN. To the extent possible the technology should be open and interoperable with all networks. But since it isn't all I pay for is the ability to make phone calls (which, by the way, IS an open standard that is interoperable with all other phones). | |
ArgMeMatey
join:2001-08-09
Milwaukee, WI
 ·AT&T Midwest
| said by mikeurl  :...I don't like proprietary systems that proscribe what I can do with hardware I OWN. That's a good principle. But a lot of people don't realize that they don't really "own" the phone until their initial contract term is up. (OK, well, I do own the phone but the company will write the contract to make sure I have no right to demand anything from them.) However once the term expires, no subsidy code should be required to get into the programming mode.
I want options! I want to bring my own damn phone, pay for my phone up front, or have it listed as a line item for x months on my bill. Discount for doing a 5-year contract? Pay more for month-to-month? No problem.
What it comes down to is two opposing ideas: Bundles give me more features, many of which I don't need or want, but that ensures consistent revenue for the provider. A la carte would cost me less but would undermine profits for the carrier.
The consumer's nirvana is a bill that itemizes all optional charges and none of the mandatory ones. Unfortunately carriers create the bills, so they bundle all the optional stuff to make sure you can't shave their profits, and they itemize the "taxes" to make government look like the villain. (Government may be a villain, but that's beside the point.)
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