So that I can easily provide high level, remote support. Terminal services, e-mail with a better keyboard, etc.
I rarely use the voice part of my cell, but I use the data part day in and day out.
I treat my phone as more of a computer with voice than the other way around. I just wish Telus wouldn't have crippled it so much and that they'd not price data plans so high -- did anyone read Michael Geist's rant in The Toronto Star last week? He was dead on.
http://www.thestar.com/article/238678
Quote:
From a technological perspective, most cellphones and wireless devices could manage email and text messaging, but were ill-suited for the full Internet experience including browsing and Internet video. That technology barrier has largely been eliminated, fuelled by popularity of devices such as the Apple iPhone.
The cost barrier still looms large, however. Canadian carriers have treated mobile Internet use as a business product, establishing pricing plans that force most consumers to frugally conserve their time online.
Indeed, the mobile Internet in Canada is reminiscent of Internet access in the mid-1990s, when dial-up access dominated the market and many consumers paid by the minute for their time online. Today, not only are cellphone data speeds comparatively slow, but they are shockingly expensive since cost is measured by the amount of data downloaded.
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...and
Quote:
The negative consequences of Canada falling behind even the African market should not be underestimated. Research in Motion has expressed frustration with Canadian pricing, predicting that carriers could sell "eight or nine times" more BlackBerries if they lowered data prices to levels found elsewhere.
Reduced sales are only part of the story. High data prices mean Canadians use the mobile Internet less than people in other countries, which Google has noted leads to lower Canadian usage of Web-based email or online mapping services from wireless devices.
Canadian carriers would do well to reshape their approach to mobile data by better servicing consumers, however, the longer-term solution lies in Industry Minister Maxime Bernier cracking open the wireless market by encouraging new entrants through a spectrum set-aside.
The prospect of a new national wireless carrier offering unlimited data – and perhaps even the red-hot iPhone – would do wonders for a once-proud market that now lags behind the rest of the world.
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It's embarrassing for Canada to be so far behind all these other countries. Together with the fact that the carriers ripping WiFi support out of their phones means that Canucks are getting the shaft in both directions - higher prices, less online access, and the dumbing down of our phones. It's no wonder that Apple isn't rolling out the iPhone in Canada. Going by carrier trends in Canada, it would probably be priced at over $1000 and cost about $500 a month to stay connected.
Oh, and Industry Minister Maxime Bernier is the same minister that believes that "market forces" will eventually kill off all spam, hence the fact that Canada is one of the last industrialized (oh, the irony) nations without a single piece of legislation protecting consumers from spam and telemarketers.