Daily Archives: June 30, 2008

So Much For the iPhone Via Telia

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I admit I was interested. Heck, I was more than interested. I was pretty much sold. Then Telia came out with its subscription and price plan for the 3G iPhone.

Telia iPhone Price Plan

To help you understand my plight a bit more, bear in mind that the rate of exchange is, as of today, 6.02 Swedish Kroner to 1 dollar. Also:

Månadskostnad: monthly cost/fee
Antal fria minuter: number of free minutes
Antal fria SMS: number of free SMS
Datatrafik – antal fria MB: data traffice – number of free MB
18 mån: 18 month (subscription)
24 mån: 24 month (subscription)
prisex: price not including VAT

The thing is, I’m willing to pay 3295kr for a 16GB iPhone. Truth be told, I was ready to pay for 4000kr! However, getting stuck in a price plan with Telia from 18-24 months that forces me to pay from 299-859kr per month is a bit much.

I’ve played around with my friend Erik’s iPhone and it’s a very impressive piece of hardware. So impressive I can easily see myself going past the 100MB limit in a month the iMini package offers. Anything beyond the iMini I’m not willing to pay the monthly fee for. Definitely not when there are deals for 90kr per monthly fees with other companies and better downloading deals.

So, I’m stuck waiting for another vendor to offer the iPhone. Yeah, I could do like some other folks and hunt down a cracked iPhone. I don’t want to do that. That’s not the path I choose. I’ll take the honest route so I don’t have to worry about my warranty and software updates, but most of all because it’s the right thing to do. Besides, I like Apple enough to pay for the great products they offer (to a limit, of course). That being the case, I hope they’re listening to folks like myself.

I want to buy an iPhone; however, I’m not about to pay Telia’s exorbitant prices for one. I hope Apple decides to talk to their competition soon.

Washington Times Piece On Facebook In the Middle East

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I know from experience that cultures clash. This became apparent to me during my first assignment to Crete, Greece while in the U.S. Air Force. Few things are as sobering as landing in a place where the people, language, and even the alphabet are different. It was a wonderful learning experience that I continue to benefit from today.

I’ve learned the same principle applies to technology as well. As an American, or more clearly, a Westerner, I get shocked at the behavior and reactions of certain governments after technology sneaks across their borders like the most covert of forces, offering a freedom to their citizenry that some may not have dreamed of before. But I’ve seen enough now to understand my shock is what it is because I come from where I come from. I’ve met people from all parts of the world, and some don’t get shocked one bit at things that leave me gobsmacked. It’s not that they’re horrible people. Not at all. It’s because that’s the way things are done where they come from. Back to the point, the internet has made things really interesting for some governments. Realizing they can’t close the internet pipe because of the huge economic opportunities, they try censorship. Nevertheless, even in the world of censorship one has to keep up with the times. Enter Facebook.

Facebook has become one of a growing number of social networking challenges for some governments. This article has some examples of just what I’m referring to. It’s interesting, informative, and, to me, very much an indicator of how the future will become even more interesting technologically for the world. Enjoy

NOTE: Hat-tip to the Elvmoz man for this one. ;)