phones at The Observer's Log

Posts Tagged ‘phones’

Steve Jobs blows it. Again.

10 Sep 2008

Sigh. There’s nothing more frustrating than watching Apple come so close to finally tying the knot, only to leave threads dangling.

I speak, of course, of yesterday’s Let’s Rock event where the apparently-not-dead (but much gaunter-looking) Steve Jobs talked at length about iTunes and iPods. And they played Jack Johnson, who is somehow the most popular male performer on iTunes to this point in history. (Yeah, I don’t get that either. Don’t get me wrong, Jack, you’re a great performer — just didn’t see that coming.)

But why — oh why! — does Apple have to continually deny us a complete entertainment experience?

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The phones I ordered finally showed up

8 Aug 2008

Augh.

I called it yesterday, when I got my new cell phone. A month ago, we ordered phones over the internet. They were shipped US Postal Service. They entered Costa Rica on 8 July. And then sat in customs. When I got my Nokia, I said (knowing this was truth) that our eBay-ordered phones would show up today.

I hate it when I’m right.

My new 1998-era Nokia TDMA cell phone

8 Aug 2008

Note today’s date: 8 August 2008. That’s (almost) two months since we first came to Costa Rica. Two months ago, we tried to start getting things like cars, bank accounts, work visas (a fairly significant need), and cell phones, as these were the things we felt were necessary to be able to do our jobs effectively.

To date, we’ve all managed to get bank accounts. Only Mark has successfully bought a car (Jason and Jen are still looking, and we’re still waiting for our money to arrive from Canada), and the work visas are in the application process (read: not completed).

Yesterday, despite phones ordered via eBay still being stuck in Costa Rica customs, we finally got cell phones.

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It’s Mañana Time!

19 Jun 2008

We’re slowly getting ourselves up-to-speed down here. But the reality is that things are not happening at anywhere near the speed we’re used to. This was something we were warned about — you need to relax and allow things to take their time. Things do not happen quickly here, and getting all bent out of shape only makes things go more slowly. (And no, totally slacking off doesn’t cause the reverse.)

For us up-tight North Americans, this is the single hardest thing to contend with. Uncertainty is the name of our game, so unknown things aren’t a problem. It’s the ability to do simple little things.

Like call each other. Hard to do when you have no phone.

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Hello, unlimited wireless data in Canada!

3 Jan 2008

Until today — 12:42 MT, to be exact — I had a [[Apple doesn't hate Canada ... Rogers, Bell, and Telus do|particularly negative view of the Canadian mobile market]]. Generally, I expected the Big 3 telcos to basically keep screwing over us little folk, and continue to treat Canada as a lovely little cash cow where there’s no competition.

Anyone who’s on Telus, pay attention! The game has changed.

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Apple doesn’t hate Canada … Rogers, Bell, and Telus do

20 Sep 2007

Those of us who’ve paid not only close attention to the rollout of the much-anticipated Apple iPhone but also to the Canadian mobile market don’t find this surprising. But we’re in the minority. A significantly larger portion of the Canadian iPhone-hungry masses are incensed by Apple’s announcement of the iPhone’s release in the UK.

Why do you hate us Apple? Why do you not let us poor Canucks use your wonderful product?

Guess what, my fellow Hosers, it ain’t Apple. You want the culprit? Look at your cell phone for a hint.

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The iPhone is obsolete

18 Sep 2007

Unless you”ve been living in the middle of Mongolia for the last six months, you know that Apple”s iPhone is one of the hottest products of 2007. It”s heralding a new breed of mobile devices. It”s forcing dramatic changes in the wireless landscape. It”s expensive, but to almost everyone who uses one, it”s worth the cost. It”s generated at least one phone copy cat (and even a router).

It”s all that and a bag of chips.

Only one problem: it”s already obsolete. Gathering dust. Old news. How did it become passé so quickly? Because Steve Jobs said so.