I'm an Andoid... "you will be assimilated."

1 replies
I admit it...

I hate cell phones.

I hate being held hostage by cell phone companies.

Many years ago I was a member of a "class" from a class action that Verizon settled.

They held me hostage and I paid them the ransom telling them that I was paying it for the right never to have to speak with them again.

That was nearly 10 years ago. Since then Verizon has changed their ways not only becoming the #1 wireless network but also the top rated in customer service etc...

But I hold grudges.

I have never really needed a cell phone... until now.

I have always had the fastest (fiber) internet connection available, had dedicated business lines, and stayed at hotels that offered the best connectivity...

It just has not been an issue.

But recently I changed my business model and having a cell is now a necessity.

I am a gadget addict... and I was tempted when the iPhone hit the market... but ATT sucks and I always had an iPod touch.

Plus I just don't like talking on the cell and until recently I had never wanted to send a text message through anything but google voice.

For the last couple years I have been keeping up on all the top mobile gagets waiting for them to improve and mature to the point that they could do (almost) everything I wanted...

Then the EVO was offered from Sprint... that is an awesome phone for an internet addict like me! And rumor was that Sprint roams on Verizon and plus Sprint offered true "Unlimited" data.

I was almost sold... almost.

I did a lot of research Sprint was the lowest priced contract, the most liberal data plan and the EVO is killer...

Then I found it... the small print... that only exists in some obscure pamphlet in some mall kiosk...

Sprint only provides you 300mb of data when you are roaming and then you pay $.03 per kb after that... That means a web page could cost you $10... you might pay $3 just to view an image.

What a joke.

The reason that was a deal killer for me was that I live in the mountain west... and I plan on roaming... a lot if I were on Sprint's sucky network.

My plan was to test whatever provider I decided on and whatever Andriod phone I decided on while I was on a week long vacation stretching from Idaho through Yellow Stone to Billings.

Since ATT sucks (and only gives you 2gb of data) and since Sprint roaming was out of the question I broke down... I ended my decade long grudge with Verizon and once again I became a verizon customer and purchased the Droid Incredible.

Then I gave it hell...

I streamed youtube videos and their audio (over blue tooth to the car speakers for the Kids) from Boise to Yellow Stone to Billings.

There was only one dead zone... and that was about 10 miles of road between the West Yellow Stone Park entrance and Old Faithful, which has five bars at its location by the way... the kids got a bit impatient waiting for it to erupt so I proved it was worth waiting for by showing them a youtube video of it :-)

At any rate... while I was gone I did site reviews in the van (was not driving) talking into the blue tooth speaker device, managed my kayako support desk, checked email, kept in contact with my employees back at the office etc.

I'll admit that not being a cell phone user made me feel a bit out of date when I first started using the device...

But what really amazed me was this:

One evening it was late and windy/cold and the kids were hungry. I looked up some reviews online on the phone for a good place to eat. I clicked on the phone number (text) in the review and the phone called it and I asked what the wait was at the place we wanted to eat. I then clicked on the address and clicked navigate and the phone led me for two blocks walking direct to the door of the pizza joint...

The line was out the door but my family sat at a picnic table outside while I walked up to the window and read the menu. I called them again and ordered delivery... told them to deliver it to the front door. We were eating before the people waiting to be seated even got a chance to sit down and order.

Zoom for the web on the Andriod works incredible. zoom is automatic when you click a form field, typing is great and much easier than on my iPod touch, navigating the web is better than on my iPod touch, multi tasking is great. Drop down menus turn into zoomed in radio options (very easy to use)...

I have played with iPhones and iPads... in fact I am buying a 3g iPad for one of my employees as a bonus... but I was not really impressed. Give me an Android pad and that is a tool I would use.

There really was nothing about the Driod Incredible and the Android operating system I could complain about... except the stock battery life... but I ordered the extended life battery which is great.

I gave my Droid Incredible the test from hell... I used and abused it. The network is all its boasted to be. The phone is killer. I ran through nearly 6 gigs of data in just a week.

I have spent thousands on digital cameras and portable camcorders and the camera on this thing took some of the best pictures I have ever shot on a digi cam... like the one of the emu trying to eat the hat off my 2 year old son's head or the video of a baby goat head butting a grown sheep

Part of me still hates the cell companies and their long term contracts... that they force you into even if you are like me and willing to pay full price for all the hardware...

As a business productivity tool... I am convinced. As a family entertainment device... I am convinced.

I still think the cell companies need to wake up and offer better data plans. They have created devices that are not meant for casual use and their data plans are far from sufficient for the kind of use that a family on vacation for a week plus the CEO of a company can put on such a device.

The iPhone has nothing on the new Android phones. I just don't think there is any benefit that makes it a must have over an Andriod.. and especially when it comes to the network options.

But for now I am an Android... and I am sure many of you will be assimilated
#andoid #you will be assimilated
  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Josh Anderson View Post

    Many years ago I was a member of a "class" from a class action that Verizon settled.

    They held me hostage and I paid them the ransom telling them that I was paying it for the right never to have to speak with them again.

    That was nearly 10 years ago. Since then Verizon has changed their ways not only becoming the #1 wireless network but also the top rated in customer service etc...

    But I hold grudges.
    Dude ... you caved. I still hate them, but unfortunately have a landline through them
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2352241].message }}

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