Unpaid advertisement for the new iPhone
3G by Apple® |
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| UNDER DEVELOPMENT |
| Began researching the "Science
of Creation" |
To
believe that the universe inexplicably began from nothing
more than a cosmic catastrophe billions of years ago which
led to the evolution of something so perfectly designed as
the human body demonstrates a greater leap of faith in the
quasi-religion of naturalism than most Christians today. The
human genome
I recently began researching work by scientists on both
sides of the aisle to better understand teh argument of how
the universe bgan and how the earth we see today was shaped.
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For
more of my research, stay tuned for |
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| "Earth touching the sky." Source: www.letsgetrealradio.com
(2008) |
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| AT&T
tarnishes Apple's glow |
| Prices
increase for service and 3G coverage poor |
If you
are like me, you absolutely loved your first generation iPhone.
For me, it was well worth the severeal hours that I waited
in line outside the Apple Store so that I could be one of
the lucky ones to get their hands on it on day one. It revolutionized
the smart phone industry in the way that the iPod and iTunes
changed the face of the music industry forever. Even after
more than a year, the vast majority of smart phone advertisements
on television use the iPhone as a bar to measure their features
by.
On July 11, I again found myself waiting in line at the
Apple Store eager to get my hands on the second generation iPhone.
After watching Steve Jobs' keynote address at the World Wide
Developers Conference, I felt that I had no choice. As I am always
on the road and away from home, the iPhone has become an essential
part of my life if I want to stay connected. The promise of near
wi-fi speeds over AT&T's 3G network was all I needed to hear.
The unbelievably cool new applications were just the icing on
the cake.
Then it happened. As I neared the front of the line I finally
got to see the 'new' pricing plans that AT&T would be offering.
I was ready for the extra $10 a month for the data plan as the
3G network would supposedly allow me to surf the Web up to three
times faster. The $10 was distasteful but not a deal breaker.
As I looked further down the pamplet I saw the 'new' text message
rates. Text messages, or SMS (Short Message Service), are the
tiny little blurbs that people send back and forth. For a smart
phone able to download megabytes in a matter of moments, the
text messages should not pose a problem or any charge above the
$30 per month "unlimited data" fee.
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AT&T logo superimposed over the Death
Star from Star Wars as a show of imerialistic greed.
As clever as I may be, someone
beat me to the punch--last year. (Source: www.nicklevay.com) |
As inconsequential as they
may be at around 160 kilobytes, they pack a big revenue punch
for AT&T who will no longer offer any free messages--the
first generation iPhone base package included 200 messages. Are
you thinking to yourself, "I don't send text messages, soI
don't really need a text message package"? Think again.
You are charged the same fee whether you send or receive
the message, solicited or unsolicited. Many
of the free applications that you download from the
new Apple App Store use the SMS service. That means if someone
sends you a two-word message rather than make a 10-minute phone
call, you get charged 20¢; if you get sent an advertisement from
some 'free' progam, you get charged 20¢; if you turn your phone
on in an area covered by another wireless carrier and are sent
a 'courtesy welcome message', yep, you guessed it--another 20¢.
Add in the good ole taxes, surcharges and fees and you'll soon
be paying out the nose. The best part, you cannot opt out of
it. That is like you being charged the same long distance fees on
your home phone bill as the person who called you in Zimbabwe.
"Oops! Wrong number? That'll be $3.95, please."
Here is to hoping that Apple's
exclusive contract with AT&T ends soon.
In the mean time, I will be rooting for the first little hacker
in his mother's basement hunched over his computer that can crack
the 3G phone to use on another more customer-friendly network. |
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