The Other Drummer

“Hello, David.”

I was accused in my last post (by sincere friends who only have my best interests at heart) of being a phone slut. To this allegation I can only say, “Well, yeah.”

There. I said it. Step one? Check.

You would curl your toes if you knew how many phones I’ve owned. I can’t tell you because, honestly, I don’t know – it’s that many. But I can guess.

Around the block a time or two. Or three.

In the four years between returning home from my mission and getting married I think I had about 13 phones. This includes phones I tried for the “14 day trial period” and then exchanged for a different model, phones I bought and sold, etc.

Ratio: A new phone every four months.

Family man.

After getting married I realized I needed to settle down so I scaled way, way back. In the six years I’ve been married I’ve only had eight phones. I do have a vague recollection of some of these:

1. Sanyo Sprint phone 01
2. Sanyo Sprint phone 02
3. Motorola Razor (T-Mobile)
4. Sony Ericsson k750i (imported and unlocked – T-Mobile)
5. iPhone (original – unlocked on T-Mobile)
6. Sony Ericsson phone (Sold unopened – T-Mobile)
7. iPhone 3GS (unlocked on T-Mobile)
8. Motorola Droid 2 (work phone – Verizon)

Ratio: A new phone every eight months.

I’m half as phone slutty as I used to be! This is progress people!

Turning point: the iPhone

When the iPhone was announced it was a, “That’s it. Game over.” moment. I’d futilely jumped between phones for the lamest of reasons (except the k750i – that was a truly awesome phone) but after seeing the iPhone, I realized there wouldn’t be a reason to use anything but that for a long, long time. It changed the entire market and, through the lens of a geek, the world.

Now that the iPhone has become a bit stale I’ve ventured out looking for greener pastures. Although I did turn on my iPhone 3GS last night and played with it again. Definitely wish Android had that level of polish and refinement. Where are you my mythical HTC Incredible HD?

Image courtesy of beachblogger42.

While providing moral support to my father in-law at Best Buy this weekend* I got to fondle a Windows Phone 7 phone (redundant?). Specifically, the HTC Surround.

Wow.

In a good way.

Wow.

I love HTC’s hardware to begin with, but it was the OS itself that was most impressive. Smooth, intuitive, original, fresh… so un-Microsoft it caught me off-guard.

It makes iOS look antiquated and Android seem like a bad joke.

It was a visual pleasure, never stuttered or got laggy, the keyboard was great. After only a few minutes of playing with it I walked away thinking, “Apple had better bring it with iOS 5.0 – grids of static icons aren’t cutting it.”

I really liked it.

If Microsoft can get developers on board and can figure out how to market this thing (HA!) it may not be too late for them after all.

*Free tip: Don’t plan on relying on a Best Buy employee to be able to help you figure out what you need – do your research ahead of time. We got the same wrong information from three separate employees which turned what should have been a 20 minute trip into a two hour debacle. Thank you for killing my evening.

HTC is doing exactly what Google envisioned for Android: take it, run with it, make it better.

That they did. And they’re blowing the iPhone out of the water in a lot of respects. Flash your optics upon the seven minute video above and see the, “Duh, that was brilliant” features they’re putting in their phones (or at least the Desire HD). Such as:

• Phone detects when it’s shoved in the bottom of your bag, so it will ring louder.
• Phone ringing? As soon as you pick it up, the ringer quiets. Turn it face down, and the ringer shuts off.
• Maps that cache on the phone so you don’t have to wait for the little grey squares to load while you’re driving.

Then there’s HTCSense.com. Heard of Find my iPhone? Same thing, but better…and free. (Jump to about 6:20 in the video.)

I’m going to get a work phone and I’m debating between the Motorola Droid X and the HTC Incredible. Despite the smaller screen and poorer battery life I think Sense and HTCSense.com may swing me toward the Incredible.

Have you used either phone? Any advice? Let me know in the comments.

Mr. Hatch,

I’m writing in regard to the recent Google/Verizon proposed policy regarding net neutrality. I think their proposal is absurd. It proposes establishing net neutrality retroactively and leaves future technologies (wireless and other “additional, differentiated online services”) open to the discretion of massive corporations which put their interests over those of the public.

The proposed legislation is the equivalent of saying, “The masses can use a hand-crank printing press for anything they want. But Verizon and other corporations will have control over telegraph, radio, telephones, TV, and anything that might come in the future.”

This is unacceptable. I believe an open, unhindered Internet is crucial to free speech, innovation and democracy. The wireless spectrum that was licensed to Verizon and other carriers belongs to the American people and should be used in our best interest. What was proposed by Google and Verizon clearly isn’t.

Senator Hatch, please don’t accept this policy or any other policy that benefits large, anti-competitive corporations instead of the American people.

This was also sent to Congressman Matheson. Use these links to find your Senators and Representatives in Washington and tell them what you think of the proposed policy.

Google has moved one step further away from its mantra of “don’t be evil”.

Google has been in closed-door talks with Verizon crafting their version of net neutrality. After information about the meetings was leaked the two behemoth companies held a press conference to discuss what was “really” going on.

The good part

Googizon (Veroogle?) have been working on drafting public policy to submit to the government with regard to net neutrality. They’re OK with net neutrality existing on existing broadband networks (meaning one company can’t pay for faster speed/priority for their content at the detriment to others). This is good. It means everyone has a level playing field, from Google to the startup working out of a garage. It fosters innovation and preserves the most significant advance in technology the world has known since the printing press.

Then it gets evil

The bad part comes when you read what they left out:

1. It doesn’t apply to wireless networks (which is the future of broadband and arguably more important than wired communications)
2. It doesn’t apply to any new networks that are developed (the future of broadband)
3. The FCC very little control to enforce the rules

This means a second network (the Schminternet, if you will – great post, read it) could be created and the net neutrality rules which helped bring so much innovation and advancement in our society would be stuck on the old, slow, clunky networks while Google and Verizon and the other incumbents frolic on their speedy new networks, untouchable by other potential competitors.

Think of it as all “the little people” using dial-up and only the big players being able to use a fiber optic connection.

Why is this evil?

Bailing on net neutrality (which Google has been a big proponent of, so what gives?) would horribly stifle innovation. Who is going to use a new, yet-to-be-discovered search engine, or social network, or video service that runs slow when Google, Facebook and YouTube’s respective sites load so much faster and, therefore, is capable of so many more features?

Give us the dumb pipe

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: all we really want are dumb pipes. Give me my data, give it to me fast and where I want. Let me connect whatever I want to it. Make that the grounds on which you compete, not someone CEO’s decision about what I should and shouldn’t be able to do with the service I pay for.

Sadly, I feel a little dirty right now as I look at all the Google services I use. But what are the other options? Each alternative I can think of also has major downsides as well. The upside is that this is just a draft of something they’re proposing – it isn’t law. Still, the fact that Google has gone from champion of the free Internet to getting in bed with Verizon royally ticks me off.

Additional reading

Here are some articles you should check out:

Engadget (Thorough, understandable analysis. Must read.)
Wired (“Why Google Became A Carrier @#$$!@#, Net Neutrality Surrender Monkey”)
Buzzmachine (All about the second Internet.)

Let’s talk

I do think there could be space for some careful regulation of the Internet – providers need to be able to protect their networks from malicious activity, obviously. There are obviously many more facets to this discussion. Where do we draw the line? Who draws it?