I'm no iphone fan, in fact I don't own or plan to own any Apple products. I've had 2 Android phones so far, both small by today's standards (Samsung Moment, LG Enlighten) but they fit my hand and pocket just fine. Sure, I'd love to have a fancy dual-core phone with 1GB of RAM and HD video capability but so far the ones I've seen in stores won't fit my pocket and they're harder to use one-handed. The Razr MAXX is about the biggest I would want a phone to be. Like one of the previous poster said, if I wanted a tablet I'd buy a tablet. 4" screen is plenty for a phone IMHO.
Most areas in the US have many ISPs to choose from. We don't have to buy our internet from the local phone company. For instance, I have internet from Speakeasy even though AT&T (formerly SBC) owns the actual wires. Of course I can get AT&T's service but I prefer Speakeasy's features and unrestricted ports. It's a bit more expensive but I run my FTP server from home with no problems. There are also lots of dialup services to choose from all over the country. There are some exceptions in rural areas where most of the big ISPs don't offer service, but that's chaging quickly with newer technology coming online.
There are also the cable TV companies offering broadband. Most of them offer their own internet service, however Time Warner will let you pick from several ISP such as AOL and Earthlink, or you can use TWC's RoadRunner.
AT&T offers basic dynamic DSL 1.5/384 (I might be wrong on the upload) for around $15 US per month, no volume cap. The actual speeds vary due to different wire conditions and distance from the CO (Central Office). Here locally AT&T is installing fiber into neighborhoods, and Verizon is running FIOS in it's coverage areas, so those speed differences are diminishing. Yes I'm sure some of the difference between advertised and actual is just number fudging by the companies involved. So far I haven't seen major discrepancies, either in my own service or anybody I know who has broadband, cable or DSL. I'll take that minor discrepancy over a monthly volume cap any day. No disrespect intended,but I wonder why Australians tolerate such nonsense.
If I'm reading things wrong I apoloigze, but I think there is some confusion here about dc3 and ds3. Pipe Networks is setting up a DC3, but it looks like somebody thought they were talking about a DS3 connection. Also, here in America yes, we have to put up with "up to xxxkbps" speed claims, but hardly any of our ISPs limit how much transfer volume we get. I've heard about how most UK and Aussie ISPs limit how much volume you can use each month. Despite our ISP's fudging the speed numbers, I count myself lucky to not have to endure the monopolistic antics of a company such as Telstra.
With my surfing habits I know I would hit a volume cap the first week of the month, sooner if I ran bittorrents alot like some folks.
Slashdot Mirror
Nevermind, it finally ended so I can see the video I came here to see.
How long is this stupid IBM video? Even television isn't this bad.
I'm no iphone fan, in fact I don't own or plan to own any Apple products. I've had 2 Android phones so far, both small by today's standards (Samsung Moment, LG Enlighten) but they fit my hand and pocket just fine. Sure, I'd love to have a fancy dual-core phone with 1GB of RAM and HD video capability but so far the ones I've seen in stores won't fit my pocket and they're harder to use one-handed. The Razr MAXX is about the biggest I would want a phone to be. Like one of the previous poster said, if I wanted a tablet I'd buy a tablet. 4" screen is plenty for a phone IMHO.
Most areas in the US have many ISPs to choose from. We don't have to buy our internet from the local phone company. For instance, I have internet from Speakeasy even though AT&T (formerly SBC) owns the actual wires. Of course I can get AT&T's service but I prefer Speakeasy's features and unrestricted ports. It's a bit more expensive but I run my FTP server from home with no problems. There are also lots of dialup services to choose from all over the country. There are some exceptions in rural areas where most of the big ISPs don't offer service, but that's chaging quickly with newer technology coming online. There are also the cable TV companies offering broadband. Most of them offer their own internet service, however Time Warner will let you pick from several ISP such as AOL and Earthlink, or you can use TWC's RoadRunner. AT&T offers basic dynamic DSL 1.5/384 (I might be wrong on the upload) for around $15 US per month, no volume cap. The actual speeds vary due to different wire conditions and distance from the CO (Central Office). Here locally AT&T is installing fiber into neighborhoods, and Verizon is running FIOS in it's coverage areas, so those speed differences are diminishing. Yes I'm sure some of the difference between advertised and actual is just number fudging by the companies involved. So far I haven't seen major discrepancies, either in my own service or anybody I know who has broadband, cable or DSL. I'll take that minor discrepancy over a monthly volume cap any day. No disrespect intended,but I wonder why Australians tolerate such nonsense.
If I'm reading things wrong I apoloigze, but I think there is some confusion here about dc3 and ds3. Pipe Networks is setting up a DC3, but it looks like somebody thought they were talking about a DS3 connection. Also, here in America yes, we have to put up with "up to xxxkbps" speed claims, but hardly any of our ISPs limit how much transfer volume we get. I've heard about how most UK and Aussie ISPs limit how much volume you can use each month. Despite our ISP's fudging the speed numbers, I count myself lucky to not have to endure the monopolistic antics of a company such as Telstra. With my surfing habits I know I would hit a volume cap the first week of the month, sooner if I ran bittorrents alot like some folks.