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Honestly... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3)
Indeed. My cellphone provider (Virgin Mobile) has done pretty well with the Motorola Triumph. However, their recent decision to being throttling data connections is beginning to annoy me. I'm not even in the category affected by the cap (got an email saying my historical use, according to their records, would not impact me), and yet I am annoyed beyond belief by their decision. VM, you had unlimited data for the past several years, why the change? With the costs for fast connections constantly dropping, I c
Spectrum is scarce (Score:4, Informative)
With the costs for fast connections constantly dropping
It's not the backhaul they're concerned about as much as the spectrum. Each tower can have only so many Mbps going through it for each MHz that a carrier owns.
It's not like they aren't making enough, and have had several years now, to upgrade their towers.
Conventional wisdom is that NIMBYs make it hard to put up more towers.
I wish I could get Windows 7 to let me access it for programming / debugging (it's apparently an involved process)
So you're trying to get the Android Debug Bridge to work, but it's "an involved process" to find properly signed drivers for it because Microsoft's anti-rootkit strategy relies on end users not being able to act as their own CA for signing kernel-mode drivers. Does installing Xubuntu make it any easier?
I'm going to wait until someone makes a compiler for Android for the various languages I like
It's not a compiler, I'll grant, but there is SL4A.
Re: (Score:3)
Rogers is, quite frankly, evil incarnate. They're not even the lesser of the evils, they are just plain evil. It takes real effort to make Bell look like a better option, but Rogers manages to do it. (and no, I don't think Bell is any good, either, they just suck less than Rogers).
My advice to you: next time you need a new phone, buy it at retail and don't tell Rogers. There's some surprisingly good phones available for the $300 range, and any Bell or Telus phone will work on Rogers' network if you unlock i
Re:Honestly... (Score:4, Funny)
Riiiiiiiight.....
Re:Honestly... (Score:4, Insightful)
To make generalizations, you may be an extrovert and the prior poster an introvert.
Extroverts tend to communicate best by voice. Introverts, in contrast, tend to communicate better in a written medium.
Now, to show my bias, I perceive extroverts as people who never shut up and apparently lack an inner voice -- because all they do is unleash an unending, unfiltered stream of verbal garbage when they 'think aloud.' They bombard you with one idea after another without waiting for consideration or response. Even something as simple as, "Hey, how are you doing?" before they launch into their spiel. If you asked, why didn't you wait for a response?
Introverts, in contrast, tend to internalize and hash over a response before they commit it to the outside world. They think more about precise and appropriate wording. They don't respond as quickly, but they typically respond after giving due consideration to the question.This lends itself best to writing, where they can take the time to formulate their thoughts. An introverted friend of mine once commented that extroverts "are impatient and do everything and half-assed."
Introversion has nothing to do with shyness, although the two are more common together than with extroversion. Really, introversion and extroversion deal with how people receive and process information.
Re:Honestly... (Score:5, Insightful)
Take all time constraints out of the picture if you must and compare an asynchronous verbal exchange of anything resembling nuanced conversation to one in text, and you can not help but notice the failings of the latter. Enter a few more variables into the mix, say one party is texting the other and is using heavy sarcasm for effect, and the other is unfamiliar with the first persons habits... you have a recipe for disaster, as I have seen in person many times. There are so many cues in verbal communication that come from tone, cadence, and other aspects I'm missing, that are nearly impossible to communicate through text, it's not even a close race. (admittedly html helps a tiny bit)
Re:Honestly... (Score:4, Interesting)
And in terms of communicating ideas text wins hands down for exactly those reasons.
In text we're not communicating our emotional state (very well), so the ideas get to stand out.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
On the other hand, there is significantly greater logical complexity that can be communicated in writing, especially if the proposition one is communicating requires nested quantifiers, modal operators, etc. Just try to do a math or logic lecture without anything in writing (it's not impossible; there are excellent blind mathematicians after all; but for most people, it's a lot easier to use writing).
So it looks like certain kinds of emotional complexity can be better communicated orally and certain kind
Re:Honestly... (Score:4, Funny)
There are so many cues in verbal communication that come from tone, cadence, and other aspects I'm missing, that are nearly impossible to communicate through text, it's not even a close race.
Keanu Reeves being the exception of course. [/sarcasm]
Re: (Score:3)
The infamous "caring for your introvert" article from 2003's The Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/03/caring-for-your-introvert/2696/ [theatlantic.com]
You basically said it all!
Re:Honestly... (Score:4, Insightful)
As an introvert, I'd like to say that our heads aren't all filled with the masturbatory trash in that article. You don't have to "care for" us, or make accommodations. I'm perfectly capable of removing myself when I need time alone. Sometimes that'll mean extroverts don't get the attention they want from me. Sometimes I'll suck it up and hang out even though I don't want to. We all make implicit compromises in this thing called society.
The point is I can take care of myself, and I'm not some special asshole snowflake, and I'd much rather hear noises about the weather than some navel-gazing douche spouting such fantastically un-self-aware lines as "The only thing a true introvert dislikes more than talking about himself is repeating himself." or "Are introverts arrogant? Hardly. I suppose this common misconception has to do with our being more intelligent, more reflective, more independent, more level-headed, more refined, and more sensitive than extroverts." I thought at first that had to be a subtle joke, but look at the article and check out the context--I'm pretty sure it's for real unless the whole thing is a satire that's over my head.
Re: (Score:3)
I'm an extrovert, and I had that same reaction to the article. Ha ha.
Um, I do understand introverts pretty well, though. I think I've boiled the essence of the difference between extroverts and introverts down to cost. For an extrovert, the cost of speaking is either negative (your "spewing drivel all the time" kind) or zero (your "thinking out loud all the time" kind). For an introvert, the cost is positive, and sometimes very high. Introverts spend a lot of time determining either 1) the best way to say s
Re: (Score:3)
Amusing article. Definitely a bit cheeky -- although, unlike 19thNervousBreakdown, I'm pretty sure that it is mostly tongue-in-cheek -- and the author fancies himself rather witty, but the heart of the article, in terms of differences, is pretty spot on. No, I don't think we need to be "cared for" either, but I do feel annoyance at extroverted confusion sometimes; extroverts often just can't understand us, and feel that they need to 'fix' us. That's rubbish, of course, but similar to attitudes about 'nerds'
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
Sometimes voice is best, but more often people use it because they can't seem to actually formulate their question properly without going multiple rounds.
Is that from empirical ... um
... um
... I mean properly?
Why do you say that more often people use it because they can't seem to formulate is it because of your experience
Do you really think that people have difficulty formulating only once their question
Have you actually come across people who cannot formulate questions properly the first time?
Who needs smartphones (Score:4, Insightful)
Smartphone = $$$phone to me. Prepaid phone that can text is all I need.
Re: (Score:3)
I currently go that route as well.
GPS would be handy from time to time, as well as the ability to quickly look something up. What I really _want_ is a phone with GPS and a very minimal data plan. Problem is where I live (Atlantic Canada) you really can't get that. It's either "basic calling / texting" or "full blown minimum $70 a month plan.. oh and you want caller id.. better take our "extras" package which is $15 more (can't just offer that one feature by itself..)".
Re: (Score:2)
The problem is I wouldn't use it often enough to justify carrying a dedicated device around.
I'd probably use the "quick data lookup" thing more often. Again.. not often enough to justify $70+ a month plan.. but occasionally something comes up where it would be really handy to just be able to google it!
Re:Who needs smartphones (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
To be clear, does that mean you own a smartphone and voted "I hate it" or own a standard phone and voted "Its fantastic"?
yes its a slow day indeed....
Re: (Score:2)
Alternatively, I like my N900 smartphone, but I use it as a pocket-sized computer and I don't have phone service on it. Does that count?
Re:Who needs smartphones (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3)
Now, some 12 years on, I carry around a portable computer with phone capabilities (Nokia N9). I don't make any calls on it. And the only people who call me are my wife and my lawyer.
Re: (Score:3)
You are not alone.
I've been saying this ever since it was released: The iPhone is the PDA I've always been looking for.
I used to own a Palm, I used to own an iPaq, and one other dumb device I forgot the brand of. None of them made me happy. The iPhone does, and the phone functionality is probably one of the least-often used.
Re:Who needs smartphones (Score:4, Interesting)
Best of both worlds here: smartphone, but on a very cheap prepaid plan (usually ends up less than $15/month with my usage, which is generally maybe a dozen calls per month and 500 MB of data or so).
I'm not a heavy phone user but I do find the data capabilities of smartphones very useful on occasion. GPS, looking up phone number and addresses on the road, checking my email when travelling etc. Also tethering the phone to my laptop has saved my ass countless times when I've been at customer sites (I'm a consultant) and they can't provide me with proper Internet access.
Re:Who needs smartphones (Score:5, Insightful)
Quick Tethering Quiz (Score:5, Insightful)
Quick Tethering Quiz.
Which costs more and which puts more stress on their network:
1. A 1 kilobyte packet transmitted between my phone and the tower.
2. A 1 kilobyte packet transmitted between my phone and the tower.
(Please note in the case of (1) the packet was from my mobile browser, and in the case of (2) the packet was from my laptop browser.)
If I have a 2 GB monthly data limit, which of the following activities will use more data on the network:
1. Downloading 2 GB of data to my mobile phone?
2. Downloading 2 GB of data to my laptop?
Tasting plan (Score:5, Interesting)
The utility offers a Tasting plan for an additional monthly charge. Under this plan, I am allowed to use the water also for cooking and drinking. (Even though my water use is metered, and each gallon of water for cooking and drinking is delivered by the same pipes!)
Dear customer: our records indicate that you have been using water for cooking and/or drinking. Please upgrade your water rate plan to our convenient Tasting plan that allows for this usage. If you continue to use water for cooking and drinking, you will be signed up for the Tasting plan automatically.
I think the Tasting plan is just a fee that they made up. It isn't a service they provide. They just want more money from me. I've got a workaround of using a container to obtain water from another room for the purposes of cooking and drinking.
Some people shout: Theft of service! But what service? They're already delivering water to me, and metering it, and I'm paying for it, and its delivered by the same pipes!
Some people shout: but you signed an agreement and using the water for cooking and drinking is a breach of that agreement! Ask a lawyer about the term "unconscionable contract". Nobody in their right mind would agree to this if they had any actual choice in the matter. Just because they have the power and can force you into paying this ridiculous fee or doing without doesn't make it right.
I say that this Tasting "service" is no service at all, it's just a fee for delivering nothing at all extra to me. It's a case of the utility wanting something for nothing. Yet people seem to think it is somehow wrong to use the water I'm paying for for drinking or cooking unless I sign up for the more expensive Tasting plan.
In order to add legitimacy to their Tasting plan, the water company says that the Tasting plan is actually delivering something: it includes an additional 2 Gigabytes of water per month, giving you 4 total Gigabytes of water.
But what if I only need 2 Gigabytes of water and therefore my existing monthly 2 Gigabyte plan is plenty? The water company already charges $10 per extra Gigabyte of water I use over the limit. So if I used excess water, it's not like they wouldn't get paid.
Furthermore, once I sign up for the Tasting plan, they don't make any distinction between water used for drinking/cooking and water used for other purposes. I could use 3/4 of it for tasting, and 1/4 for bathing/dishwashing. Or any other split. Or all of it purely for tasting. So then if I paid for Tasting and used only 2 Gigabytes of water, which I already had paid for, then why did I need the Tasting plan?
I seem to be very confused about stealing water for tasting. Someone please set me straight.
Re:Tasting plan (Score:5, Funny)
...your water utility bills you in gigabytes? Mine bills in gallons and litres. Odd.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm looking at last month's water bill so I'm really getting a kick out of this thread.
Water System Charge: 61.60
Water Use Charge: 5.42
That's right. My actual water consumption makes up 8% of my water bill. And it's just a water bill. Not water and sewer or water and trash or some other combo. If the water company had their way, I'd have a 2" connection at nearly $200/month (plus usage) just because I have some land. Nevermind that less than half an acre is developed and has water service.
This makes sense for carriers (Score:4, Interesting)
Your analogy does not explain why the carrier do this, because it's the other way around: You get a flatrate for a device and they assume that you're not going to use it completely. If you use it with another device, though, you actually might use all of it.
So, by modifying your analogy, you get a flatrate for at max 1 cubic meter of water per month, but you may only use it for drinking and cooking. No one uses that amount of water for drinking and cooking of course, so the carrier calculates that you actually use much less. If all the customers do, that means $$$ for the stockholders.
Now, if you break that agreement and use it also for washing dishes, watering the lawn and showering, you will use much more. This means less $$$ for the company and that's why they want to forbid it.
What they are selling you, therefore is not a real flatrate, it's something like "1000 free* phone minutes! (*expires after 24h)". It's a crippled flatrate, where they try to make sure you don't actually use it or only in a minimal way.
Re:Quick Tethering Quiz (Score:5, Insightful)
My ISP (sonic.net - so far, I'm quite happy with them) offers static IP service on DSL. For residential use, 1 static IP is free, 4 go for $10/month, and you can get 8 for $20/month. For business use, they charge $10/$20/$40 for the same 3.
One of the things I like about them, though, is that they're a lot more down-to-earth and upfront than most companies. From the CEO's blog [sonic.net]:
Wondering why business IP pricing is higher than residential? Honestly, it’s what the market will bear. There is a dearth of well-priced broadband offerings that incorporate static IP for business customers. Product designed revenues are not always a direct reflection of actual costs, and some things contribute to billing at a higher level than others. That’s just the way things go.
In almost every industry, there are examples of this, where there are two products that cost approximately the same to produce, but one charges a premium: Generic versus brand-name drugs. Top-tier versus regular gasoline. Celeron versus Pentium versus Core. Yes, there may be some differences between these (brand-name drugs might taste/dissolve/look better; top-tier gas has different detergents that may or may not help your car; a Celeron can be a high-end chip that has some of the cache or various features disabled - possibly because they didn't work, or just because you wouldn't pay more to have them enabled). But those differences aren't the driver for the price difference - the fact is, people will pay more for them. Intel may sell a particular CPU at 3.33 GHz, 3 GHz, and 2.66 GHz. These all cost the same amount to produce, but some of them are capable of running faster. Intel would be stupid to not charge extra for the faster ones.
Similarly, your phone company can prevent you from tethering, and can charge you to enable it. This is nothing new - they've long offered features (say, Caller ID) that cost them virtually nothing, but they charge you for them anyway. It's what the market will bear. If you don't like it, don't pay for it. If enough people don't like it, the market won't bear it - or another company will try to undercut your phone company by offering it for free.
Capitalism sucks. Just like everything else.
Re:Quick Tethering Quiz (Score:5, Funny)
For. Fucks. Sake.
Any jackass knows that a pound of lead always weighs
more than a pound of feathers.
Geeze. Moron.
Re: (Score:2)
I recently had an issue with an online magazine subscription supplier. The magazine company stopped doing business with the online company (which I had to find out for myself).
I asked for a prorated refund back to my credit card. Let's say the magazine was $10 for the subscription and I received 20% of my subscription.
"Easy!" you say, "They owe you $8 be
Re:Quick Tethering Quiz (Score:5, Informative)
Battery Life (Score:2)
I have an LG "Thrill". It works great as a phone and has lots of neat features (WiFi connectivity, WiFi hot spot, GPS, bluetooth, etc.). The only problem is that if I try to use the features, I need to have it plugged into a power source. Anything other than using it as a phone and the battery goes dead in a (very) few hours.
Cheers,
Dave
First thing (Score:2)
Re:First thing (Score:5, Interesting)
I have to assume there was nothing wrong with the phone. Just the people you had calling it.
Telephones don't annoy people; people annoy people.
I have a personal cell. A smartphone, in fact. It's mostly a mobile computing/browsing platform with a voice telephone number. But almost no one has the phone number, and those few are almost exclusively immediate family.
If your employer demands your phone number, tell 'em to give you a phone, and give it back to 'em when you quit/retire/move on. Your personal phone should never appear in any company phonebook.
Re: (Score:2)
I gave my number to my bosses. It's not a problem. When I get home I leave the phone in the car.
Re:First thing (Score:5, Funny)
My brother-in-law often asks me why I never answer my phone. I tell him it's because I have caller ID. He never seems to understand I'm not joking.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Goodbye iPhone, Hello Nexus (Score:5, Interesting)
I switched to the Galaxy Nexus recently and I'm NEVER GOING BACK. What a pain to run my own software on the iPhone. What a breeze it is on the GN.
I voted "a few nits" because Android definitely doesn't have the consistent UI design that the iPhone had. All the settings in one place was nice instead of having them scattered around. iOS was really good about making the UI a pretty logical hierarchy with a "back" button on the upper left; Android comes up with a new UI in every app.
So on the whole it's certainly missing a little refinement, but the advantage of not having to fight Apple for control of my own damn device completely outweighs any downside.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
The "no mass storage" problem is because it has a big internal flash instead of an SD card. Upside: you don't have to juggle for space for apps and data on your internal storage and you don't have the problems that many apps can't run off the SD. Downside: you can't unmount the FS, so you have to use MTP instead of mass storage.
Personally I think that's a much better compromise than the old way.
Back button (Score:5, Interesting)
I have the opposite back button experience. I found the back button on the iPhone inconsistent, as many apps didn't use it, moved it from the top of the screen to the bottom etc, and the back button only worked on the views of an app.
On Android there's an actual back button, so it's always there and in the same place. The back button works great with the activity stack, not only can I go back in the same app, but I can go back to the previous app (for example I just opened an email, opened a pdf from that in quickoffice, opened a link from there in the browser, then three taps on the back button got me back to the list of emails).
Re:Goodbye iPhone, Hello Nexus (Score:5, Insightful)
My android, as well as most other upper tier, have a back button. Exactly the back function is something I find so amazingly annoying about the iPhone, that I am surprised you used that as an example. The look is more consistent though.
Re: (Score:3)
The thing about the Android back button is it's highly modal and it doesn't communicate the mode. For example, if I'm in a web page, it might go back to the previous web page. If there's no previous, it goes back to the previous app. There's no visual change to indicate the different behavior.
On the iPhone, if you go into a menu, there will be a back button labelled with the name of the previous menu. I know exactly what will happen when I push it.
Mind you, I very much like the Android-style back button
why go backwards? (Score:3)
No one goes backward with the iPhone these days. We just keep going forward. Marching forward. Progress.....progress...new shiny progress..
Re: (Score:2)
Just my experience:
Battery life is OK (not great) after switching to a custom firmware. I get a day of heavy use or two days of light use. It's slightly better than I had with my iPhone, which I also considered to be poor. I'm kind of under the impression this is just how it is on smartphones. YMMV.
The screen is DIM? Turn it up! The stock autobrightness does tend to be kind of dim, but you can tune it all you want with Lux or just manually turn it up. On high it's plenty bright even in direct sunligh
It is still a HTC Wizard (Score:2)
I'm still only using it because it has a very handy qwerty keyboard. I don't use any of the other crappy windows mobile 6 functionality, including wifi.
Re: (Score:2)
Luckily HTC has included their own interface with which you can also set up wifi. Which is lucky as I still haven't figured out how to do it in windows mobile.
The old Nokia 6600 (Score:2)
Android Sucks (Score:4, Interesting)
I just don't think Google spends enough time focusing on the polish of any one piece of Android. It's like suburban sprawl of app features all over my phone, and I find myself more and more frustrated with how poorly the whole thing works.
Re: (Score:3)
I don't know on which planet you're living, but Ice Cream Sandwich feels like the most polished release to date by a very long shot. Clean, minimalist style, more uniform UI, faster, better default apps, more logical menus...
Perhaps it's not Google, but <insert manufacturer here> that you despise? A vanilla build of ICS outshines any past version.
Re: (Score:2)
Seriously. I despise Android 2.2 / 2.3, but love what I've experienced of 4.0 (ICS).
Re: (Score:3)
I'm not particularly fond of Android either - it survived for about a day on my tablet before I installed Ubuntu. It just feels too limited compared to what I'm used to expecting from an OS. Smartphones should be an extension of their owners, augmenting their abilities, but both Android and iOS cater to the lowest common denominator without providing the flexibility that would allow power users to take this further.
I'm extremely fond of my N900, even if the hardware is getting a bit dated. (The N9 is nice,
The n900 (Score:3, Interesting)
It's fantastic.
new phone (Score:2)
I miss high fidelity (Score:2)
I had one of those "big" Motorola flipphones (still have it, haven't tried it lately, probably doesn't work. It has the GTE logo on it) and fidelity was great especially in high noise environments. Had to abandoned it when all cellphones went digital and first thing I noticed is how bad the audio was. Some people with a heavy accent I cannot understand as it seems the phone does poorly at recreating the analog sound. But maybe this is all moot as more and more text message.
Speaking of fidelity, look at th
Re: (Score:2)
What phone did you switch to? I've been a Motorola user since my first phone (actually since my Dad's one before me was I think the same flip you're talking about) I sold those flips when I worked at Best Buy. By the time I could afford one my first phone was the StarTAC. It sounded way better than the old flip did. I think around my v60 the sound got a bit quieter but clearer... this was fixed by my RAZR and even better with my RAZR2. Now I'm on an Atrix4G and it sounds fantastic.
Other features aside
Old Moto Razr II V8 (Score:3)
It's pretty stupid, but I could definitely go for a stupider mobile phone. I really miss my old Razr V3 it was the perfect level of stupid which made it highly useful.
LG Rumor Touch sucks (Score:2)
I recently switched to a Rumor Touch from a more traditional slide-out feature phone. The touchscreen /sucks/, and it's worse since I've used smartphones with proper touchscreens and know what I'm missing.
Two things going wrong here:
1) Using a cheap resistive touchscreen instead of a proper capacitative. Even after calibration it's only got a rough idea of where my finger is, and the scrolling is jerky and slow.
2) Bad UI. Some of it (like looking at missed messages) requires precise finger placement to a
Re: (Score:2)
IPhone (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm lazy, I admit it freely. I have too much work to take the time to tweak a lot of settings and load my own mobile phone software. I like sitting back and letting Apple make the major mobile OS decisions.
I like working with the non-jailbroken apps of my Iphone4. I like carrying my easy-to-read contacts, calendars, converters, and calculators. I like reading with the mobile e-book readers, roadmaps with the descent GPS capability, and rearranging my daily to-do plans on my phone.
Lazy, but loving my mobile anyway.
Re: (Score:2)
roadmaps with the descent GPS capability
Elevation reporting, cool!
Samsung Galaxy S2 (Score:3)
I bought a Samsung Galaxy S2 about 7 months ago and it is the best phone I have ever had. I've had all sorts of dumb and smart phones over the last 16 years and I've always wanted to upgrade to something better but now I am completely happy with my phone. (Albeit with the extra battery sleeve.)
Re: (Score:2)
I ran Cyanogenmod on my Cliq XT, and I've rooted the GS2, but I think I might (maybe) be sticking with stock roms this time around. I've really enjoyed the free Wifi calling (T-Mobile) without having to set up any kind of SIP service. Then again, the added battery life that CM9 will almost certainl
old flip-phone (Score:2)
Oh, you crazy wacky Americans... (Score:5, Interesting)
So many comments have been along the lines of "hurr i only want a simple phone that makes phone calls" and "oh I got rid of mine and I only use a landline" type of thing.
Why?
What possible use is a landline phone? You can use it within five feet of the wall socket. Great. "Oh it's for emergencies" - wonderful, like presumably some sort of emergency that takes out mobile phone cellsites but leaves fragile telephone lines intact?
Why do you put up with all this shit about tethering, and paying to receive calls, and indeed paying to *make* calls and send text messages? You're being ripped off. Get together and sort it out with the mobile phone companies.
Sort it out, guys, really.
Re: (Score:3)
What possible use is a landline phone? You can use it within five feet of the wall socket. Great. "Oh it's for emergencies" - wonderful, like presumably some sort of emergency that takes out mobile phone cellsites but leaves fragile telephone lines intact?
I think the general case is power outages. Landline phones (except fancy or cordless models) get their power via the telephone lines, not from the wall. The phone company is required to have backup power for their landline systems, including powering customer phones. If your power goes out, you can still usually use the phone.
This is especially true for extended power outages - after a few days, your cell phone will be out of batteries, and you may have no place to charge it, even if the cell tower is still
Re: (Score:2)
The landlines run off gennies for just as long as the cell sites do. And, if I can't find somewhere to charge my phone up after a day or so then I really ought to hand in my geek card.
Furthermore, landlines won't power your phones if the lines have failed.
Re: (Score:2)
According to The Internet [citation needed], most cell sites only have 2 to 4 hours of battery backup. Only some critical locations have generators. The FCC looked into requiring an 8-hour backup battery, but that never made it into the regulations.
But that's according to The Internet. Looking at the actual regulations [gpoaccess.gov], it looks like 8 hours is now the minimum for cell sites, while central offices require at least 24 hours of backup power.
Re: (Score:2)
Hm, I'm not sure about the US. Most of the cell sites around here have at least eight hours of battery backup, and the larger ones have a genny. Obviously there's no point bothering for the infill sites.
Like I said, anything that's going to take out the power lines is likely to take out the telephone lines. Any time we have wind over about 70mph here, my phone line is down.
Re: (Score:2)
According to head math:
I generally experience 1 power outage about every 3 years. Perhaps I'm lucky.
Anyway, Of those, maybe 1 in 5 last longer than about 5 minutes.
Of those, my actual need to phone someone during a longer power cut is maybe 1 in 3.
I can't see the need to be paying the monthly fee to maintain a land line for what amounts to a 1 in 45 year event, which BTW includes the probably erroneous assumption that the power cuts always take out my cell phone too.
Re: (Score:2)
According to head math:
I generally experience 1 car accident about every 10 years. Perhaps I'm lucky.
Anyway, of those, zero have been severe (let's say 1 in 10 would be).
I still wear my seatbelt every time I get in the car, and am thankful for having airbags too, even if it is a 1-in-100 years event that I would die from not having my seat belt and airbags.
Point being, it's the major events where it matters - if I had a heart attack in Japan the day after the tsunami, I'd be pretty thankful for paying for a
Re:Oh, you crazy wacky Americans... (Score:5, Insightful)
So many comments have been along the lines of "hurr i only want a simple phone that makes phone calls" and "oh I got rid of mine and I only use a landline" type of thing.
Why?
911 service. With a traditional POTS phone, it's attached to a physical address. If you need emergency service (fire, police, ambulance), dispatch can have someone on their way to the address attached to your landline phone even if you can't speak for some reason, and before you have an opportunity to describe where you are if you can.
Many places have E911 service for cell callers, and these work in two ways. If your cell phone has a GPS built in, it can send your coordinates to a roughly 10m radius, but without the E911 system uses cell tower triangulation with a resolution of approximately 300m radius. This may not seem like a big problem if you live out in the country, or are stranded at the side of the highway, but what if you're in a situation where you can't speak, and you live in high-density housing? E911 can't tell dispatch or the responders which apartment or suite you live in, and the time it takes to determine that information could mean the difference between life and death. By way of example, if you're alone in a 7th floor apartment in a 10-story building and are choking severely enough to require emergency assistance (in which case, you probably can't speak), which would you prefer to call from -- a landline that gives dispatch your exact building and apartment number, or a cell phone that can only inform dispatch that you're in or around the building? The extra time it would take emergency service to walk around the building and knock on all the doors in an attempt to find you would be the difference between you being found dead on the floor, or alive enough to be revived.
True, these situations don't happen to specific individuals all that often, but it just happens that that one in a million time when it does occur that suddenly becomes the most important thing in your life.
Yaz
Who needs a mobile? (Score:3)
What possible use is a landline phone? ...like presumably some sort of emergency that takes out mobile phone cellsites but leaves fragile telephone lines intact?
It makes phone calls and, because of a dedicated connection does not run out of bandwidth if a large number of people try to make calls at the same time. It is also far cheaper than a mobile (at least in Canada) and the fact that people can only reach me when I am home or in the office is great - that way when I am out and about I cannot get bothered by others calling me.
When the cost of a mobile drops below a landline, which has probably already happened in Europe but is far from happening in Canada, I
Re: (Score:3)
Out here? Microwave links.
mine has Windows on it! LOL (Score:4, Interesting)
Normally I feel I'm the only one around with a Windows phone. My HTC Radar is pretty good, actually. I don't care that much about not having 10000000000 apps and counting, as long as the browser is OK. It turns out that after many years avoiding it on the desktop, I find that Internet Explorer on this mobile is pretty good, and the Facebook+Twitter+Outlook Address book is very well made. If these Windows phones take off, people might be surprised that MS is selling something that is nice to use.
Re: (Score:2)
Thus, we have a realist person here at /.
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I have a windows phone, its old so its windows mobile 5, but it works fine and does everything I want it to (make calls, send texts) and some more
Great hardware by HTC (Score:3)
Desire HD, decent hardware and it's remarkably sturdy given how delicate it looks. I have dropped it on concrete several times from heights up to 2 metres and it hasn't taken any damage other than spotted paint and really minor nicks.
Hardware-wise one major flaw is WiFi reception drops dramatically when I'm not holding it right (TM).
It's a shame HTC are being a bit asshole-ish with their failure to port ICS to what was not so far ago their flagship device when it's more than capable of running it.
I didn't get around to getting a custom firmware yet because I've heard reports of camera issues - I'd like to hear suggestions though.
Re: (Score:2)
It's a shame HTC are being a bit asshole-ish with their failure to port ICS to what was not so far ago their flagship device when it's more than capable of running it.
I must correct myself. Apparently the upgrade will happen; I was unaware of recent news [facebook.com].
It fits my needs (Score:2)
It fits my needs, and I wouldn't buy something that I think is great. Current cellphones are just too expensive to keep buying ones that do more than what I want. When they get too cheap to matter, I'll start to buy great ones. The same aplies to my plan. It is a prepaid with a pay as you go data option. Limited, but enough.
That said, smart phones are great. Finally my computer can call me without paying exorbitant fees for messages and modem signature.
Increasingly inappropriately name (Score:5, Insightful)
At some point, we're going to have to accept that the devices we carry around with us aren't really "phones" anymore. They're powerful computers that happen to be able to make the odd phone call in between accessing the internet, playing games, taking photos and storing data.
That established, I'm pretty happy with my iPhone 4s. The glaring omission is turn-by-turn directions -- I consider it a public safety issue when I see people looking down at their phones trying to figure out what exit they need to get off on.
Re:Increasingly inappropriately name (Score:4, Interesting)
We'll probably accept that around the same time that we accept that we should no longer call personal computers "computers". After all, computation is almost never the high-level task they're used for these days and they bear little resemblance to a person hired to perform rote calculations by hand.
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At some point, we're going to have to accept that the devices we carry around with us aren't really "phones" anymore.
Obligatory Simpsons:
Carl: Somebody call 911!
Lenny: I don't know how to use the phone on my phone.
On a related note, I was recently helping my mom look for a new phone, and 3-page/8-section smart phone review articles often do not include a "phone call quality" section. However things like "camera quality", "app availability" and "screen quality" are covered in detail. Why?
My phone just got better (Score:2)
I just loaded a custom rom based on CyanogenMod CM7 on my Moto Atrix. My phone is now what I have expected it to be. Fast, great UI, tons of options, and best of all it's not crippled by the crap AT&T loaded on it.
Great for streaming radio with 3G. (Score:2)
Even though it sucks up a huge amount of my phone's battery charge, I use the TuneIn Radio app while my cell is connected to the car stereo via the Aux jack, and I'm good to go! After a year, I still can't believe I'm driving around town while listening to certain radio stations, in real time. For the record, it's three main stations, Radio Nova (from France), KCRW (Los Angeles) and KEXP (Seattle).
Everything else, including calls and texting and whatnot, is an afterthought.
My Sprint EVO = 90% awesome (Score:2)
Granted, I installed Team Nocturnal's modded EVO Stock image. Still, the thing does everything I want, has an app that adjusts my ringer/app/etc. volume and brightness during certain times of day and when I'm geographically at the office. I rarely ever (maybe once or twice a month) have any sort of app crash. My Yahoo and work (exchange) emails both Just Work(tm). The browser does a better job than a few desktop browsers I've used. Youtube and Netflix are actually usable. Apps that are written well perform
About 2 years ago (Score:2)
My efforts were entirely successful. So I decided to start a company selling them.
No one was willing to buy from someone who wasn't advertising on TV (even though all the services and phones were produced by major dealers)... so now I just say FUCK YOU... LIVE WITH IT.
You're going to have a cell phone for A LONG TIME, if yo
A few nits for my iPhone (Score:2)
My 3GS has been a great phone, and a reliable one. With iOS 5 though I find the UI can be a bit laggy. I click to begin a track playing, and there's a 3 or 4 second pause before it begins. When booting, there's often lag when I'm asked to enter my unlock code. I can understand lagging in installed applications, but not the inbuilt stuff. It's fine for things to take longer on older hardware, but UI lag should be avoided. Don't give me options if the system isn't ready to process my actions.
Doesn't happen al
Battery life (Score:2)
The phone is fine, the problem is that you can't get a decent battery for a Nokia 6250 any more - the rip-off clones currently available will only hold their charge for around four days, which is nonsense.
So it looks like I'm going to have to buy a new phone just to get back to a decent battery life.
Work Phone (Score:2)
I just have a Black Berry phone with a keypad for work. Carrying one phone is annoying enough, I can't see myself carrying two. Also, if I did have my own phone it would be a smart phone which, on top of the cost of the phone, would also require a $50 to $100 per month data plan with all of the associated nick and diming.
I dislike my Black Berry, but I don't have to pay the bill....
It is fantastic. (Score:3)
I owned several iPhones (3G, 4) which were all horrendous. Well. To be fair, iOS 2 and 3 were horrendous, 4 was pretty good. Haven't seen iOS 5.
I ebayed my iPhone 4 and got a HTC Sensation and haven't looked back. It is AMAZING. I'd never used android before. But my god, this phone is light years ahead of iPhone 4 and 4S and iOS.
I'm looking at getting the 7.7" glaxytab now, and using that instead of my phone as I never actually use my phone for calls.... so a small formfactor tablet to replace my HTC Sensation might be the way to go. (not that I have any problems with my HTC sensation, I love it, but would like an even bigger screen and the Sensations screen is already way bigger than all the iPhone's.)
Need an Android flip! (Score:3)
What this world needs is a flip phone that runs Android. Touch-screen is a huge PITA when you wear gloves or your hands are wet. Not having a physical keyboard gives rise to annoyances like having to wait for a proximity server time-out + screen wake-up (press "1" for English).
Sliders have the keyboard - but they don't protect the screen!
Btw, the last flip smartphone seems to have been Blackberry Style [phonescoop.com]....
Re: (Score:2)
You obviously don't have one of those 'smart' or 'feature' phones where you have to wait 5 min between when you hit the power button, and the phone can actually make a call.
(one of my gripes against my last two phones)
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Dumb(ish) phones arn't always that much better either.
My Motorola v220 took forever to get going.
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I don't think a free() function would help.. unless your phone is running out of memory.