iPhone 3G's Sell-Ability

This is an amazing sales chart I saw on my endadget rss feed. It shows how many days it took to sell a million of these handsets. There's not much more to say. Amazing.

Stifling Progress: The US Senate Does it Again

UPDATE: 12:10 PM EST - I spelled "stifling" incorrectly. I blame George Bush, and Internet Explorer 6.



The US Senate passed a bill yesterday to delay the digital TV switch. It was originally scheduled for February 17th. However, it has now been switched to June 12th of this year. Huge issues with the coupon program are partly to blame for the delay. There is also a fear that the poor and those in rural areas will be without TV come February.

The more likely reason: Telecom lobbyists in Washington are pushing for a delay so AT&T and Verizon will have longer licenses on the airwaves they bought at auction last year. Other lobbyists were against the delay. Hmm...

I warned of how bad the transition was going to be back in December. I couldn't believe the wait for my coupons. I requested them in early December, and didn't receive them until last week.

The problem with this delay is that it also delays the possibility of seeing rural wireless broadband access any time soon. Many Americans are "left in the dark" when it comes to high speed internet access.

Obama supports this delay, so there's no chance of a veto...

US Broadband Access

The United States isn't even in the top 20 for in-home broadband use, even though we are the second highest user of the internet behind China. Ten percent of Americans don't even have an option for broadband access. This is primarily in rural areas. It's been a long time since I had dial-up access, and I would be sad if this was my only option. This will hopefully be changed by the use of the white spaces opened up by the television frequencies that were auctioned off earlier this year.

Unfortunately, the FCC cancelled their recent meeting that was to be devoted to discussions about the wireless broadband movement in America. The reason it was cancelled: more planning was required for the digital television transition scheduled for February 17, 2009. (Good luck getting a converter box coupon here - they're almost out of money, and there's at least a 60 day waiting list)

University of Michigan Law Professor Susan Crawford likens broadband internet access to other utilities such as water or electricity as a necessary commodity for surviving and thriving in this world. Susan Crawford spoke at the Tech Policy Summit in Los Angeles and is advising the Obama/Biden transition team regarding the FCC.

What we need here: More broadband internet companies. It's hurting us to have so few options. The satellite dish options are fairly expensive, leaving just two options for most - their local cable and phone company. Other world countries have many more competitors, which increases the offerings and decreases the prices.



Bush administration opposes Free Broadband

Tell Cable to Shove it!

I have finally officially said "screw you" to Charter cable in Kalamazoo. I have wanted to do this for a while, I just couldn't bring myself to give up my college football games, and DVR. After a year of debating, I finally canceled my service, and ordered a 768K DSL line from AT&T for $20/month without a home phone. I am very happy with the cost - VERY happy. I was paying nearly $100 for Charter's internet (5MB) and basic digital service (under 100 crappy reception channels) with one DVR - and that was a promo price! The DSL line is definitely slower than the cable, but I barely notice it when I am trying to stream off sites like hulu.com. Every once in a while, I have to pause for a few seconds and resume the program. But for savings of $80/month - I'll deal with that! I can watch most of what I watched before on cable via the internet or over the air on the TV. With AT&T, you can even stream many of the ESPN sports events to your computer. iTunes also has a lot of free programming.

I can even watch it all on the TV! Both of our laptops have S-Video outs and I run stereo sound to the TV via the headphone or SPDIF jack and an RCA Y-connector.

More people need to start doing this and tell big cable to shove it. We all could use a little more money in our pockets (and a little more time for reading).

So here it is: Screw you Charter! Get with the times, lower your prices, and start offering better quality digital and high-def feeds or you will lose many more customers. AT&T's U-verse is going to be your demise. Good-bye!

My Quest for iPhone 3G: Part IV

I never did update the blog with the outcome of the iPhone 3G trial. I decided to keep it, and I couldn't be happier. I have been very happy with the phone, and mostly happy with the service. AT&T is a much more robust network that Nextel ever will be, and the calls are crystal clear. I lose signal occasionally in the hospital, elevators, or anywhere deep inside a building. Nextel's service seemed to outperform AT&T in terms of building penetration. Beyond that, Nextel sucks. (And they're for sale.)


Just a few of the things I've done recently with my all-in-one iPhone device:

-Listen to podcasts (which I'm really enjoying)

-Listen to music out on the golf course (the built in speaker of the iPhone isn't too bad for iPod playback, but for conference calls, it leaves much to be desired)

-Facebook mobile

-Instant email

-Taking and sharing pictures

-GPS

-Fighting off enemies with my Light Saber

My Quest for iPhone 3G: Part III

It's finally almost here. My very own iPhone 3G. It's the 8GB Black one. If I am able to activate it today or tomorrow, I'll be taking it up north with me camping for a true coverage test comparing AT&T to Nextel. Any bets on who will win?

I'm like a kid at Christmas... :)

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