Bell Strives to Ensure Canada Remains Technologically
Inferior
Oh Canada, the true North strong and backwards. Since the
inception of technology the Great White North has been embroiled in a two party
system when it comes to cell phone carriers and internet service providers. Both are nation
wide and as docile as a sedated kitten. Innovation is something other
companies, other non-Canadian companies, do. So what you get is the ‘trickle-down’
effect where a few short months or years after new technology comes out in the
States, Bell or Rogers will start to consider submitting the papers for a request
to try a demo.
The lack of competition has left Canada with only one
carrier to provide 3G service, as well as a whole host of over-priced services.
If something is new, Canadians can expect to pay through the nose for it. And
so with the advent of Twitter came a handsome opportunity for Bell Canada to
further gouge their customers. Having already reworked contracts to instate a
mandatory incoming text fee of 15 cents (which still infuriates customers since
they have next to no control over who sends them SMS messages) Bell is slapping
down the 15 cent charge on all incoming and outgoing Twitters. This move comes
after Twitter shutdown their outbound service in Canada in response to the
original introduction of the 15 cent fee.
So now we have a service designed to carry out numerous
line-by-line updates that could cost customers hundreds of dollars a year. Twitter was supposed to be cheap and fast. With Bell and their painfully slow 2G network, it`s neither.
The Oscar Bump
The Oscars are out and Netflix couldn’t be happier. It seems
the annual awards have given a significant bump in rentals to the by-mail movie
rental agency. How big was the Oscar bump? Try two million rentals during the three
hour Oscars presentation alone!
TWSS On the Go
Whether you recognize the acronym of not, you`re likely
familiar with its full fledged form. It’s an expression heard all too often
these days. Some dude at a party. Some guy on the bus. The desperately funny,
the funnily desperate; these are the kind of people that say ‘That’s What She
Said’ over and over and over…
But even this has to be beneath them: a free iPhone app that
simply says the expression at the press of the button. Maybe it’s some tactic
to deflect the ire and eye rolling of friends onto the phone itself, maybe it’s
for the vocally impaired who want to be unfunny too. Who knows. But it exists,
and children starve in Africa. How does this world make any sense!
As seen on Gadget Addiction this week:
- World’s First Fully Flexible Touchscreen!
- Solar Cells On-Demand
- The Fitbit for Fitness
- HTC Touch Pro2
- Solar Cell Phones from Samsung and LG
