My first real blog entry for 2010 will be about Google’s press conference regarding their new phone, the Nexus. For a little more than $500, you can own the newest, and coolest, phone on the market running the coolest mobile operating system on the market. Owners of this new phone will have a 1Ghz processor running the Android operating system and interfacing with some fancy accessories (accelerometers, proximity and light sensors, OLED displays, and others). This, however, is not what my blog entry will focus on. There are many other fanboy sites where people are just gushing about this phone. My blog will take a different look.
For $500, I can buy a very nice laptop AND a decent cell phone. Sure, both of them will not have a huge WOW factor, but the two devices will be able to do almost the same things, if not more, than just the Nexus phone. This, mind you, is if you were to purchase the cell phone, outright. Sure, you could have the cost of the phone deferred over the duration of a service contract, which will make the price of the Nexus more palatable, for some. This, however, will have people locked into a mobile contract where the monthly fees are still, in my opinion, very high.
This brings me to the REAL focus of my blog entry. If you are like me, and have a family who wants to be “Connected,” then all of these technologies and innovations take second stage to the price of being connected. A family of four who wants Internet, cable (or satellite) TV, phone service, and mobile service, can spend more money each month on communication than what a no-money-down new car payment would be. In some cases, a mortgage payment might be less than the sum of the communication bills. The real annoying factor is that all of these services are just different forms of sending bits from one location to another.
Yes, there are ways to save money with bundled services and elimination of some services, like land-line and mobile; however, some people still need a POTS line AND mobile service. Also, would one really save if each computer in the house used mobile data versus a routed DSL connection? The needs of each member of my family is different, which is a considering factor in the services I pay for. Also, don’t get me started on all of the taxes and fees which are tacked on to the monthly bills and are also different for each type of service (cable versus pots versus mobile).
What I was looking for, with the Google announcement of Nexus, was something which might change the playing field of data communication charges. I wanted a revolution to start with it ending in a situation where I pay a single, monthly, communication bill which is reasonable for families where each member can be connected. Sadly, all we got was another fancy phone.
At some point in time, people will come to the realization network connectivity is the only service we really need. I wanted Google to usher in that concept. Sadly, I will still have to wait for the total harmonization of communication services. Who knows, maybe when the Apple tablet, Google Chrome devices, and the next Android phone come around, there will be some entrepreneur who will offer a total communication package which will be reasonable in price for individuals AND for families.
Until then, I will still be paying an arm and a leg.
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