tewha.net

I’ve been putting this off, because I really don’t want to clash horns with The Macalope. Mostly because he’s got, well, a nice rack. And I don’t. But a recent tweet by the horny one meant I have to get this off my chest.¹

I live in Canada, so I only wish I had the prices and plans available that AT&T offers. But even then, I note an interesting consequence to the way the new iPhone costs you money:

Assuming the Macalope’s numbers are right, sure, the iPhone 3G is $40 more expensive. But that’s over two years! On the day you sign the contract and leave the store with a nice, shiny box on your way to your “unboxing!” photo shoot, you’ve got an extra $300 in your pocket.

All of which begs the question of what you’re going to do with that extra $300 until then. I suggest that instead of blowing it on a Wii² you consider how to turn it into $340 by the end of the contract. That’s only 13% over two years. I’m no financial whiz and I’m not even sure how to spell “whiz,”³ but I bet even I could manage that one. If you don’t think you can, maybe you should step away from the computer long enough to think of something.

Sure, it isn’t cheaper. But if you play your cards correctly⁴ it may turn out to be to your benefit anyway. For the record, I don’t give credit to Apple for that. I’m sure no one there said “Hey, let’s hike the price, but we’ll make them pay the extra over two years. Our customers will be able to invest the money they save on the initial purchase and end up ahead!” It’s just the way the numbers work. Hooray for math!

1. Wow, it would be fun to be paid to write like this. [↩]
2. Because, let’s face it, you either already own one or are mocking the people who do. [↩]
3. I guessed financial, too. [↩]
4. And odds are you won’t, but whose fault is that? [↩]

In Canada we have two GSM cellphone providers: Fido and Rogers. Well, actually, we don’t really. A few years ago, Rogers bought Fido. So these days, I’m used to Fido getting the short straw out of every cup.

I called service a few days ago for an unrelated reason was surprised to hear “If you are calling about the iPhone, press 2.”¹ After completing that call, I tried 611 again and hit 2.

I was expecting “The iPhone will not be available to Fido customers,” but I was surprised. The iPhone will be available to Fido customers. Don’t believe me? There’s actually a news story on CBC. This seems to be a big turn-around by Rogers in offering Fido customers a good phone.

I don’t know how affordable the data plan will be, though.

1. The message has since been removed; I guess the rush died down. [↩]

I think we finally have our phone lines and fax machine (better known as the money printer, since we get purchase orders through it) set up again.

I find it almost impossible to believe that our phone lines lagged behind our physical office move by two weeks. Our Internet is still not right here, and will probably take many more months. All of this after we gave Telus over two months notice of our move.

Luckily, VoIP works really well over Shaw, despite Telus insisting it was impossible to run VoIP over cable. In fact, it works so well that I plan to skip getting a home phone line next month when I move. I’ll either rely on cell phone (unlimited local calls via Fido) or get a VoIP line if I anticipate a lot of North American-long distance. A land line just does nothing that I need anymore.

I guess it goes without saying that all phone companies are inherently evil. What doesn’t go without saying is that ours in particular is also stupid enough to think they still have a monopoly on voice communications. Telus is going to be blind-sided, and it couldn’t happen to a better group of people.