Monday, October 30, 2006

Bricks and broadband

OK, I have to admit I've been suffering from gizmo envy for some time now. How is it that a connected guy like me has no mobile device with always-on internet and email capability? How is it that even stodgy UO administrators sport fancy BlackBerry's while a wannabe hipster tech entrepreneur has no way of checking his email at SFO without paying T Mobile for wifi access?

Well, the situation is now remedied with Sprint's EV-DO data plan. For only $15 a month I get all I can eat broadband (up to 1 mbps or so) through my new gizmo, the admittedly brick-like PPC 6700 smartphone.

So far I'm pretty happy with the phone, despite the large form factor. It has a retractable qwerty keyboard (see link above) and is very functional -- I can ssh into my server, run emacs and use gmail. I can even use Bluetooth to get my laptop online, using the phone as a modem. Urbanites in Asia probably find my giant phone very amusing, but, hey, I live in the semi-rural United States, with its patchy broadband and 3G coverage.

I admit, it does make for behavioral problems when you can check your email at all times. I'd hate to know how many times a day I do it.

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1 comment:

  1. Anonymous3:52 PM

    I couldn't handle a brick, but I love my tile--my motorola Q. The data plan costs from VZW bleed me, and it sure doesn't help my information addiction, but I love it all the same. With a little bit of style and marketing savvy companies and carriers could have a whole generation of young people clamoring for smarter phones. The corporate gurus are too stupid to realize that, I suppose. They're working on luring in more people more and more, at least.

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