AT&T Wireless is so pleased with how I’ve represented myself as their customer (I pay my bill on time, I never cuss across their network) that they’ve invited me back for another two-year stint. It’s quite an honor, to be sure.
AT&T has also taken what I’m assuming is the rare step of allowing me to upgrade my phone at a discounted price. Since my current model is the cellular equivalent of a Yugo, I thought I might take them up on their kind offer.
Thanks to their generosity, I can get a good deal on a BlackBerry or a BlackJack, probably not the latest models, but I need to learn to walk before I run, telecommunication-wise.
I understand that to take advantage of the full functionality of such a device, I need a data plan. My fear is that, in my ignorance, I’ll go with the wrong plan and eventually get hit with major overage charges which will cause me to damn modernization to bloody hell (similar to what happened when my wife discovered text messaging.)
Anyway, here’s the plan I’m considering because, like me, it’s the cheapest. It goes by the name of MEdia Works 1500 Bundle.
1500 Messages (5¢/additional messages):
You have the freedom to message any way to any one - text, picture, video and IM - without worrying what each message costs. That means every message counts the same. You can send and receive ANY combination of messages. Want to send all picture messages? No problem. All IMs? Go ahead and chat away - send and receive messages for less than pennies per day!
5 MB MEdiaTM Net (1¢/additional KB usage):
With MEdia Net, you can browse the mobile web, check your Email, get your sports scores, movie times, weather and news right on your mobile phone. Plus, you can access the latest ringtones, games, graphics and AT&T Mobile Music.
The text messaging I’m clear on. But what of this 1¢/additional KB usage and what exactly does 5 MB get me, 5 MB of what? Can someone put this in equivalent terms? For example, how many times can I visit my favorite Tila Tequila fan page while waiting for my penicillin shots at the free clinic before I get socked with those extra pennies?
I don’t suspect that I’ll use the mobile Web services a great deal, as I’m usually not far from a computer. Will this plan fit my non-Nerd lifestyle?
Extra Credit Query
What the stylishly connected man is wearing this season
A couple of years back I purchased a cell phone holder that clips on the belt. That very week I read, in two separate contemporary-type magazines, that holstering one’s phone is the height of nerdiness. Fearing that my hip credentials would be compromised, I’ve carried my phone concealed in my pocket ever since.
So, where do you carry your cell phone?
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I would shy away from the 5MB plan, it just isn’t enough. To give you a quick idea, the size (without images) of the main page of your blog is 10KB. With the two images that are on the front page now and the backgound image, the total is over 100K. Some quick math would show that you could load your page less than 2 times every day of the month and be through your bandwidth. Once you hit your limit, you would be paying a dollar per hit. (In reality, the cost would be less because your device would end up caching things between requests, but hopefully that gives you some idea of what 5MB will get you.)
That says nothing of data transfers for email, if you end up using it for that.
Once you get in the habit of using it here and there, you will use it more and more. 5MB just won’t be enough.
I’d go for the BlackJack over the BlackBerry.
EJ | Jan 18, 2008 | Reply
And the phone belongs in a pocket, not on the belt.
EJ | Jan 18, 2008 | Reply
I carry mine on my belt. Up until my iPhone, I always carried my cell in my pocket. Now I don’t want other objects in my pocket scratching the face of the phone. I really don’t feel any geekier for making the switch.
Dave | Jan 18, 2008 | Reply
Get an iPhone. You get unlimited data usage.
And I keep mine in its own dedicated, no other objects allowed pants pocket.
Anonymous Communist | Jan 18, 2008 | Reply
I have a Palm Treo 750 and I hate it. So if either of the phones you are looking at is similar to it I would look elsewhere.
Remember one thing, unlike the silliness we hear from the females in our lives, when it comes to cell phones - size does matter. If you plan on carrying the phone in your pocket you certainly don’t want it to be the size of a small laptop….or a cucumber for that matter.
I suggest carrying your phone where crack dealers (no pun intended) carry their goods……between the crack of their derrière (pardon me for the use of that word Mr. Rayburn). Just think of the subtle pleasure you would derive from allowing your phone to be used by the pain in the rear (no pun intended) who inconveniently asks to use your phone.
Mr. Practical | Jan 22, 2008 | Reply
Mr. Practical,
Do you use your phone for anything other than taking calls? I’m not so much interested in the Web access as I am in the appointment and task functions as I am a an important person with many demands on my time. I like the BlackJack-type phones because of the QWERTY keyboard, but I do see how the size could present a problem in the trousers.
I’m afraid I didn’t get the Rayburn reference. Is that Gene Rayburn? Please explain.
Thanks for commenting,
Dan
Dan | Jan 22, 2008 | Reply
I have the misfortune to use my Treo as both a phone and to check on, and to reply to, work-related e-mails. It is horrible as a phone. Frequently the phone will just stop ringing or vibrating, thus you miss calls. Then you have to reset it. It has web access but I don’t use that function. Overall, it’s just a pain in the arse.
I know they are expensive and not on your choice list but I have seen the I-Phones in action and they are pretty cool.
Yes, the great Gene Rayburn, host of Match Game (A Mark Goodson - Bill Toddman production). They used the word derriere frequently. Another memorable word that came up often was “tinkle” in place of urinate. As in, “I (Blanked) inside his tuba.” Oh, what comedy!
Mr. Practical | Jan 22, 2008 | Reply