Cellular Hell

I'm compelled to wax cellular due to a huge number of independently occurring but related events. It all began with a rain storm...

It was a decent day to begin with. We were at a climbing class at Great Falls, VA. Then, following lunch, the skies opened and spilled the heavens to the grounds, and my cell phone (which was protected, or so I thought, in my bag), bit the mud. I'd say it bit the dust, but it rained so much that I think no dust was left anywhere. So, my phone got a little wet during this monsoon and died a slow and painful death. Weak! It wasn't even that wet. It is a Samsung A737. Rather, it was; now it's just a useless plastic shell not suitable for anything other than reminding me to check myself into a mental institution if I purchase Samsung electronics anytime in the even remotely near future. I am now stuck using my Motorola RAZR, which is no treat either. Remember, I bought a new cell phone, which means I wanted one so badly that I was willing to commit two more years of my life to AT&T to get one. It's like leasing your soul to the devil, really. Argh...

Then, a few months later, just to stick it to me where it hurts, the 3G iPhone emerges. It's no secret that I have wanted an iPhone. Of course, a couple months after I purchase the crap-tastic Samsung A737, Apple finally decides to both release this iPhone and subsidize its cost. Damn. They would. So now I learn that with my new 2-year AT&T contract, I could have myself a brand-spanking new iPhone. I couldn't be lucky enough to have all this timing work out. Surely Apple wouldn't subsidize the cost when they didn't for the first iPhone. Yeah, right. Oh, and along with the new iPhone also comes the extra ethical question of whether you'll spend $30 US instead of $20 US for the unlimited data plan. Pretty much the last thing I want to do is give more money to a company that doesn't provide me an adequate service. Granted, part of this blame goes to my cell phone (the RAZR) since it's antenna is MISERABLE, but AT&T has had its share of jabs to my ribs, as well as to the girl's and my wallets. I had just reached the point where I would break down and pay $20/month for the iPhone. Now I don't know whether $30 is worth it. I really don't like service contracts. Plus, it's a phone! I mean, how much of The Tubes is really conveniently available on a mobile platform? More everyday, probably, but is it enough to warrant $30/month? My sources says "Outlook not so good," and I (for once!) am not talking about a Microsoft product.

A glimpse of hope then emerged with Android. That's right! Google is coming out with a cell phone software platform. It's Linux-based, and some of it is even Open Source Software. That's awesome. This could be intriguing. I wonder how this platform will do on battery consumption. It's also interesting because it looks like Nokia might try to fight back by buying and open sourcing parts of the Symbian OS, another major cell phone operating system. Let the mobile OS wars begin! I'll be happy to provide my input if somebody wants to provide me the hardware. No problem at all...

Finally, as a a motivator for my diatribe, this article on Forbes on hating your cell phone company. It starts off by saying (I'm loosely paraphrasing) that most people hate their phone companies, particularly in the customer service department. The part that excites me about this article, though, is the following quote:

Another big step: Most operators have plans to open up their networks by the end of the year to a plethora of phone manufacturers, allowing customers to keep their mobile device even if they switch carriers. So you might be able to use that cool, new phone you got at a discount for signing a service contract with T-Mobile, for instance, on AT&T's network.

That's a big thing, because I've been pissed in the past that I couldn't purchase phones that meet my needs because they were locked to another provider, and purchasing one that was unlocked would cost me our house or first born. Rumplestiltskin has got to be behind at least one cell phone company.

So what does this all mean in the long run? It means that (and this is all speculative) the cell phone companies may open up a bit and that there may be a major mobile OS-war that I hope will lead to good, competitive, inspired ideas for cell phones. It means I'm going to have to buy another cell phone before any of this happens. It hopefully means that more of said Tubes could be made available for mobile platforms, and that it may be fun to own a capable phone. Will it be the best of times for mobile providers and companies? Is the endless griping from the consumers they claim to care about actually making them see that they don't care? I hope so.
Read more...