iPhone 4, iPad, Blackberry, Android: Are They a Need or a Want or Just Too Expensive in Canada
Today, Steve Jobs introduced the world to the new iPhone 4. Is the latest great thing from Apple, which you can actually make video-to-video calls. Needless to say, I had to laugh when Steve Jobs tried to show off loading WebPages versus previous iterations of iPhones. Long story short, the device wouldn’t work supposedly because there was too much of a load on the wireless network within the conference hall. So much for technological choreography!
This all coincided with me getting my hands on an iPad at the Partridge Creek Apple store in Clinton Township Michigan. I had to run over there for something and while there, saw all the iPads on display. In terms of cool, it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever handled that resembled a tablet computer. I might even own one of those one of these days but who knows. My computer needs are all taken care of.
We are living in the age of gotcha gadgets, fed to us by a technological driven media, which thinks, it’s the next big thing. For instance I can do without an iPad, iPhone 4 or any other iteration of the smart phone but if you believe some in the media, life is passing me by. For those of you who know me, you’ll know I’m one of the most technologically advanced people in my profession. So with all these gadgets coming down the line I’m openly questioning what it’s leading to. As the wealthy Barber said many years ago there is a difference between wants and needs.
Case in point was an article written by a very gifted tech author, Amber MacArthur. I have read Amber MacArthur’s technological writings for many years now have been an avid fan of her podcast Command N. (http://commandn.tv/) On June 7 in the Globe and Mail she wrote the column “I’m tired of the Telco run around”. (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/trending-tech/im-tired-of-the-telco-runaround/article1594614/) In that article Amber details her frustration with the wireless providers in Canada based on her experiences with various smart phones. What I took back from the article was if Amber MacArthur is having trouble with this, how about the rest of us? She is in my opinion a gifted tech author who knows everything about computers smart phones and everything in between. If she is frustrated with this, maybe we are reaching a critical mass where this technology is confusing the public. Sure all this technology is great but if consumers have a bad experience with it, everything is ruined. In Canada I think we are very close to that.
I say this because I think it is very real. Our experience with wireless technology in Canada is extremely expensive. I chafe at fellow writers to its pound on the virtues of getting a Smartphone but who never want to talk about the hundred dollars a month addiction that it brings with it. And my question is for what? Sure some of us might think we need instant Web access and e-mail plus texting but most of us don’t. At the end of the day it’s making many Canadians poorer and the big Canadian wireless monopolies vastly richer. I don’t think it makes any sense.
The sad part is I am a technology lover. For instance I use speech recognition software to write this column and I also podcast using the GarageBand software, free on every Mac sold. I have done this for years and before that I used fax modems not five years ago but over 20 years ago. The wireless tech knowledge that is being invented by companies like Apple is wonderful but it is being ruined especially here in Canada. If we could have affordable wireless choices, not only when everybody would have a smart phone but everybody would be served better as well.
The federal government is going to try to do something about this. In the next few days they are releasing a consultation paper on the wireless industry and the possibility of new entrants into it. Traditional providers want ownership restrictions in the stringently regulated sector to be opened up for every firm at the same time, and new entrants want the restrictions eased only for companies with less than 10 per cent market share. In other words, the old Telcos are trying to preserve their perverse profits and moribund service.
It is what it is and that is good. Sure we’ve got our problems in the wireless industry but maybe too we’ve got our problems with our personal tech choices. Do you really need all this stuff? I don’t think so especially in a regulatory environment, which makes it extremely expensive and at the same time while serving consumers poorly. I think in 2010 it’s all about tech choices and one of those choices is simply to take a pass for now. Hopefully, there will be cheaper and better tech choices in the near future.