Wheres the Beef?
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From: The Empire State
Wheres the Beef?
I just wanted to throw something out there that many of you may not know...
Cell phones in the US suck.
Seriously most european countries and asian countries get new phones wayyyy before they hit American shores. Why? I'm not quite sure. But its really starting to piss me off.
If anyone cares to voice their opinion of why I would be glad to hear it.
For those of you wondering why I am ranting, go here.... CLickity CLick Here
My thoughts on why... America is finally doing the long needed switch to GSM (as its becoming outdated) but the biggest companies refuse to (Sprint and Verizon).
Seriously these phones below are hitting other countries as we speak, but they wont hit america for months or maybe even never.,
and my favorite of the bunch...
(the Siemens SK65)
Cell phones in the US suck.
Seriously most european countries and asian countries get new phones wayyyy before they hit American shores. Why? I'm not quite sure. But its really starting to piss me off.
If anyone cares to voice their opinion of why I would be glad to hear it.
For those of you wondering why I am ranting, go here.... CLickity CLick Here
My thoughts on why... America is finally doing the long needed switch to GSM (as its becoming outdated) but the biggest companies refuse to (Sprint and Verizon).
Seriously these phones below are hitting other countries as we speak, but they wont hit america for months or maybe even never.,
and my favorite of the bunch...
(the Siemens SK65)
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From: City
why do I need a color display on my cell phone? Why would I want to take pictures with my phone? Why would I find an advantage in paying extra to send my crappy pics to someone else? Why is the "ability" to play games wirelessly with others via my cell phone a "must have?"
What pisses me off is this mindless "advance" that renders perfectly working technology obselete in an effort to make everyone buy a new phone every few years. All a cell phone needs to do is allow person A to contact person B wherever each person happens to be, and convey voice communications at a relatively understandable quality. Anything else is merely frosting on the cake, and I prefer bread to layer cake on a regular basis, thank you very much.
And why are all cell phones plastic? There is this wonderful, shiny substance that has unparalleled durability, consistent value, and is easily worked into fantastic shapes. It is not rare, it is present in all avenues of life, and the manufacturing technology is thousands of years old. It is called metal. I would kill for an aluminum cell phone case with upgradeable guts, so I could add memory if I had need, add functionality by adding a new chip or button pad, and basically keep my phone for as long as I wanted, instead of having to buy a new phone simply because the plastic casing broke, the LCD screen failed/cracked, or I needed new features. There are a ton of different phone styles out there, but there have been no changes in size for the last few years, because the technology has reached a point where the phone guts can be made smaller than is convenient. Why not take advantage of the years of technological and manufacturing advancement, and separate the technology from the packaging?
What pisses me off is this mindless "advance" that renders perfectly working technology obselete in an effort to make everyone buy a new phone every few years. All a cell phone needs to do is allow person A to contact person B wherever each person happens to be, and convey voice communications at a relatively understandable quality. Anything else is merely frosting on the cake, and I prefer bread to layer cake on a regular basis, thank you very much.
And why are all cell phones plastic? There is this wonderful, shiny substance that has unparalleled durability, consistent value, and is easily worked into fantastic shapes. It is not rare, it is present in all avenues of life, and the manufacturing technology is thousands of years old. It is called metal. I would kill for an aluminum cell phone case with upgradeable guts, so I could add memory if I had need, add functionality by adding a new chip or button pad, and basically keep my phone for as long as I wanted, instead of having to buy a new phone simply because the plastic casing broke, the LCD screen failed/cracked, or I needed new features. There are a ton of different phone styles out there, but there have been no changes in size for the last few years, because the technology has reached a point where the phone guts can be made smaller than is convenient. Why not take advantage of the years of technological and manufacturing advancement, and separate the technology from the packaging?
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From: The Empire State
I dont care for camera phones either, dont care for pretty colors either. Was just posting those pics to draw attention.
What I do care about is a phone that is new technology; not to charge me more ever few years, but to make my calls clearer. Functionality is a huge plus in my book. Bluetooth makes life easier for me as I work on my computer all the time, and transfering files to and fro' is easier with out the cables. Got your self a nice PDA (not your inparticular no really) I dont need one my phone handles all of that.
I am just ranting for choice, we are a country built apon freedoms but we have no real freedom of choice. Yes we can choose from the selection the have at the stores but I want more choices since I know they exist. Let me atleast buy the phone from a third party and hook it up to the network. (you can and cannot do this) Since the network is the only reason I need coverage provider.
You may not need these phones, and truth be told I dont need them either (not absolute needs) but I want choices for my $50 a month. And dont worry too much they will still have the low end phones for free or under $50 for those who dont want the new technology.
And please no more crapping on my thread.
What I do care about is a phone that is new technology; not to charge me more ever few years, but to make my calls clearer. Functionality is a huge plus in my book. Bluetooth makes life easier for me as I work on my computer all the time, and transfering files to and fro' is easier with out the cables. Got your self a nice PDA (not your inparticular no really) I dont need one my phone handles all of that.
I am just ranting for choice, we are a country built apon freedoms but we have no real freedom of choice. Yes we can choose from the selection the have at the stores but I want more choices since I know they exist. Let me atleast buy the phone from a third party and hook it up to the network. (you can and cannot do this) Since the network is the only reason I need coverage provider.
You may not need these phones, and truth be told I dont need them either (not absolute needs) but I want choices for my $50 a month. And dont worry too much they will still have the low end phones for free or under $50 for those who dont want the new technology.
And please no more crapping on my thread.
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From: temple city
Originally Posted by no_really,Oct 14 2004, 04:55 PM
why do I need a color display on my cell phone? Why would I want to take pictures with my phone? Why would I find an advantage in paying extra to send my crappy pics to someone else? Why is the "ability" to play games wirelessly with others via my cell phone a "must have?"
What pisses me off is this mindless "advance" that renders perfectly working technology obselete in an effort to make everyone buy a new phone every few years. All a cell phone needs to do is allow person A to contact person B wherever each person happens to be, and convey voice communications at a relatively understandable quality. Anything else is merely frosting on the cake, and I prefer bread to layer cake on a regular basis, thank you very much.
And why are all cell phones plastic? There is this wonderful, shiny substance that has unparalleled durability, consistent value, and is easily worked into fantastic shapes. It is not rare, it is present in all avenues of life, and the manufacturing technology is thousands of years old. It is called metal. I would kill for an aluminum cell phone case with upgradeable guts, so I could add memory if I had need, add functionality by adding a new chip or button pad, and basically keep my phone for as long as I wanted, instead of having to buy a new phone simply because the plastic casing broke, the LCD screen failed/cracked, or I needed new features. There are a ton of different phone styles out there, but there have been no changes in size for the last few years, because the technology has reached a point where the phone guts can be made smaller than is convenient. Why not take advantage of the years of technological and manufacturing advancement, and separate the technology from the packaging?
What pisses me off is this mindless "advance" that renders perfectly working technology obselete in an effort to make everyone buy a new phone every few years. All a cell phone needs to do is allow person A to contact person B wherever each person happens to be, and convey voice communications at a relatively understandable quality. Anything else is merely frosting on the cake, and I prefer bread to layer cake on a regular basis, thank you very much.
And why are all cell phones plastic? There is this wonderful, shiny substance that has unparalleled durability, consistent value, and is easily worked into fantastic shapes. It is not rare, it is present in all avenues of life, and the manufacturing technology is thousands of years old. It is called metal. I would kill for an aluminum cell phone case with upgradeable guts, so I could add memory if I had need, add functionality by adding a new chip or button pad, and basically keep my phone for as long as I wanted, instead of having to buy a new phone simply because the plastic casing broke, the LCD screen failed/cracked, or I needed new features. There are a ton of different phone styles out there, but there have been no changes in size for the last few years, because the technology has reached a point where the phone guts can be made smaller than is convenient. Why not take advantage of the years of technological and manufacturing advancement, and separate the technology from the packaging?
why buy a new car? or any car more expensive than say, a kia. the purpose of a car is to get from point A to point B so why do we need leather seats. v12's with 500 hp, radios, nav.. the list goes on. when your kia breaks, you can always get it fixed. if the whole world only drove 1 car, imagine how cheap it would be to fix it.
there will always be the simple basic phone out there for one to purchase. then there are the new ones with all the bells and whistles for people like me
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From: City
the difference is, I don't need to buy a new Corvette to drive to work every few years, but when I switched from AT&T to Sprint I needed to buy a new phone, which was designed to be non-functional in less than five years. I'm not suggesting companies not offer bells and whistles to people who want to pay for them, just that every person who wants a phone not have to buy a whole new phone every time they turn around. And the main gist of my argument was that cell phone cases don't need to be part and parcel to the guts inside them. I have bought 3 phones inthe last 5 years, and they all have the same form factor. Why not let me buy a phone case once, and swap the guts when I change companies or want some bells and whistles?
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From: The Empire State
I hate to tell you this but your right about the phone from Sprint being obsolete in 5 years. Sprints technology is old school. GSM is the future so when they and Verizon finally bite the bullet and switch over everyone under them is going to have to buy new phones. The reason they stay is its cheaper to put up CDMA antennas and their damn good at fixing those antennas.
The problem is that the bandwidth of those antennas is limited (why there was little cell use on 9/11, the system was full) the ability to use your phone on the internet (may not appeal to many) is constricted on those antennas (but if you are a stock trader this may be a big problem) the major manufacturers of phones really are trying to get out of that network. They dont want to keep making phones for just Verizon and Sprint (and a few small other companies) while all they have to do is make the same phone and rebadge it ATT or Cingular or Tmobile or whatever.
My major problem (and why I started this thread) is I am in the market for a new phone and I hate seeing all these that are available all over but not here.
The problem is that the bandwidth of those antennas is limited (why there was little cell use on 9/11, the system was full) the ability to use your phone on the internet (may not appeal to many) is constricted on those antennas (but if you are a stock trader this may be a big problem) the major manufacturers of phones really are trying to get out of that network. They dont want to keep making phones for just Verizon and Sprint (and a few small other companies) while all they have to do is make the same phone and rebadge it ATT or Cingular or Tmobile or whatever.
My major problem (and why I started this thread) is I am in the market for a new phone and I hate seeing all these that are available all over but not here.
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From: Raleigh
Why is GSM so much better than CDMA? Just because the rest of the world has standardized on it? I agree that it would be nicer to have cool phones, but I disagree with the statement that CDMA is old. I do believe that Verizon's EVDO rollout is the fastest 3G platform available (i think in the world). I think you might want to read some white papers before you claim that one technology is better than the others.
Here are some site that i googled, (notice the articles stating that CDMA actually has more capacity than GSM)
http://www.mouthshut.com/readreview/34390-1.html
*quick overview
http://www.skytel.mn/cdma.shtml
* CDMA emits less radiation, higher capacity, and more secure
http://www.newmobilecomputing.com/st...p?news_id=3091
* talks about 3G, and the future for both camps is 1 of 2 versions of CDMA
i do agree about the phones though. Motorola's upcoming Razor phone is on my wish list.
I'm not flaming, but i just wanted to make sure that your facts are straight on the technology. There are also some other reasons, such as US land size, legacy networks, etc. but i'll not get into that here
Dave
Here are some site that i googled, (notice the articles stating that CDMA actually has more capacity than GSM)
http://www.mouthshut.com/readreview/34390-1.html
*quick overview
http://www.skytel.mn/cdma.shtml
* CDMA emits less radiation, higher capacity, and more secure
http://www.newmobilecomputing.com/st...p?news_id=3091
* talks about 3G, and the future for both camps is 1 of 2 versions of CDMA
i do agree about the phones though. Motorola's upcoming Razor phone is on my wish list.
I'm not flaming, but i just wanted to make sure that your facts are straight on the technology. There are also some other reasons, such as US land size, legacy networks, etc. but i'll not get into that here
Dave
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From: Bay Area
I agree with ninethreeeleven. It's frustrating to see the same damned phones on nokiausa's "Expected Soon" list for nearly a whole year, while other countries have those phones and many new ones we won't get until hell freezes over.
I think there are a couple reasons:
1) Every phone sold in the US needs its own FCC approval, which slows things down and weeds out some variety
2) Even though T-mo, ATT and Cingular are GSM, the latter two use GSM 850 which is rather unique to the US. The traditional "World Phone" is GSM 900/1800/1900. T-Mo uses these phones but I believe their service is only GSM 1900 in the US. For ATT and Cingular, they often have to wait longer for manufacturers to come out with 850/1800/1900 versions, and those are scarce due to 1)
3) I think there's just not as much demand for bleeding edge phones here. More than other countries, phones are subsidised by long term contracts here- and the biggest demand is always for lower end "free" phones.
Right now I am using an ancient (2.5 yr old) Nokia 8290 on Cingular. I really want a new phone, but can't honestly find one that's enough of an improvement to sign a contract for.
Peter
I think there are a couple reasons:
1) Every phone sold in the US needs its own FCC approval, which slows things down and weeds out some variety
2) Even though T-mo, ATT and Cingular are GSM, the latter two use GSM 850 which is rather unique to the US. The traditional "World Phone" is GSM 900/1800/1900. T-Mo uses these phones but I believe their service is only GSM 1900 in the US. For ATT and Cingular, they often have to wait longer for manufacturers to come out with 850/1800/1900 versions, and those are scarce due to 1)
3) I think there's just not as much demand for bleeding edge phones here. More than other countries, phones are subsidised by long term contracts here- and the biggest demand is always for lower end "free" phones.
Right now I am using an ancient (2.5 yr old) Nokia 8290 on Cingular. I really want a new phone, but can't honestly find one that's enough of an improvement to sign a contract for.
Peter
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