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It’s ironic that, for all the supposed technological superiority America holds over other nations, our American telecommunications industry seems to be made up of 80-year-olds who sit around muttering about the good old days of business. I usually wouldn’t care less about their archaic ways until I’m forced to switch cell phone carriers.
As it turns out, the cheapest way was through Chinese ninjitsu, otherwise known as using shady corporate policy loopholes to one’s advantage. My parents had a plan via Verizon Wireless, and one reseller had the means to sign me up for a new plan (with complimentary new phone), then switch me over to a family plan with my parents in a month. Since I don’t even use that many minutes on a given day, this made perfect sense and saves me $20-$25/month. (1)
Having used the phone for a month or two now, I’ve come to the conclusion that Verizon’s just as good (or bad, the glass being half empty) as the other companies, and worst, they charge the most for their plans and their services. I don’t mind getting my fair share of dropped calls and bad reception sessions – but they also take complete control over your phone and nickel-and-dime you to death with micropayments.
That is, they absolutely love locking up their phones: disabling bluetooth functionality (you must buy new wallpapers from our crappy selection!), disabling file transfers via the onboard memory card (pay 4x for a snippet of that song you already own!), and overriding elegant interfaces with their truly hideous menus. I guess they figure people enjoy repeatedly paying money for the same content on different mediums that they invent.
This rant has a happy ending, fortunately. For a measly $15, I was able to grab a data cable and with the help of sites like Hacking the Motorola E815, get back some of the features in the phone that I paid for. Here’s one for the little guy.
- For those not familiar with American phone companies, Verizon’s the one who came up with the genius “Can you hear me now? Good!” ads and supposedly touts the best reception and service of all the major companies, as well as having the least wallet-friendly plans and deals. (↩)