Another Reason Why It’s Dumb to Have a Smart Phone!
I picked this up in the Sunday Times, but it’s reported here in detail on the BBC. Basically use your smart phone abroad in some countries and you’ll get a bill bigger than the holiday you’re having.
I’ll stick to my Nokia 6310i.
The Advantage of Being a Widow
Let’s face it, there aren’t many advantages in losing your long-term partner, but there is one.
You often immediately know that a phone call is a scam or just downright fraud.
I just had a call from a number 0845-1113111, which because of its form I thought was one of those rediculous automated text messages. Annoying those may be, but at least they are genuine. If you need to know more about the number that called me, look here.
I knew when the caller started that it was an unwanted call, as the idiot on the line asked for Mr. or Mrs. xxxx. As my wife died over three years ago now, it wasn’t the smartest thing for him to do. I told him politely that she’d died and the number was registered with the Telephone Preference Service. But he kept going on about government grants and in the end I told him to Foxtrot Oscar and left him talking to the radio.
Anybody who asks for my late wife is always considered by me to be a scammer unless they prove themselves otherwise. Some do, as they are solicitors or other genuine callers trying to reach her, who haven’t heard that she in fact has passed on.
Who Nicked A Mobile Phone Network?
Apparently thieves have stolen some crucial hardware from Vodafone, causing thousands to lose their service.
I suspect that many will think this is something more sinister than just simple theft, but I wouldn’t think it’s linked to anything like the company’s shutting down of their Egyptian network.
Could it be just for the copper? Or the other expensive metals in the equipment? If it is, we’ll probably be seeing other attempts at this type of theft.
The Telegraph are musing over the questions in this article.
Nokia Blows It
I use a Nokia 6310i, as it does everything I want from a mobile phone and more. So where did they all go wrong? As rumours are that they are in serious trouble.
According to this article, they spent too much time in the sauna.
I doubt I’ll ever buy a smart phone, as they just don’t suit my lifestyle. I’m even taking my laptop on trains less, as a magazine or paper and my phone give me all the entertainment I need.
I do wonder sometimes, whether a large part of the population are growing tired of electronic toys. Reality is so much more fun!
How to turn a Nokia 6310i Into A Smarter Phone
People laugh at me because I don’t have a smart phone like an iPhone. But then apparently Elton John doesn’t even have any mobile phone.
But then my Nokia 6310i can send and receive text messages, tweet and even send and receive normal phone calls to anybody with a number. That last bit is really cool. Or is it Koool? Who cares anyway? The only thing it doesn’t have is an automatic reject of calls that are trying to cheat me out of money in various ways. But no-one has a phone that does that! Yet! But hopefully, it will come in the next 100 years or so.
I’ve had my 6310i eleven or twelve years now and even now, I find new features that I am starting to use. I’ve known about it for some time, but now I’m using the to-do-list feature to make notes as I ride around London, often at the front on the top deck of a bus. Try doing that in a car!
As the phone stores quite a few text messages, when I have information I might need on the move, I just text it to my phone using LiquidDrop. I’ve just picked up my tickets for Barnsley and I’ve texted the itinerary to the phone for Saturday. No hated piece of paper to take, but I suspect W H Smug, will try and load me up. Perhaps, I’ll buy my Saturday paper in M&S or on the way to St. Pancras.
So the 6310i is getting to be a smarter phone. This is what everyone wants! I once said, “Computers make good slaves, but very bad masters!” That applies to phones as well. And especially mobile ones.
Clearing Out the Phone
Over the years, all and sundry have been added to the memory in my mobile phone.
Today, whilst I was having lunch, I finally cleared out the detritus of my life in the country.
Sad in many ways, but it would have had to be done at some time.
Some were years old and some I hadn’t a clue who they were.
An Engineering Icon
BBC Breakfast were talking about BT and showed a background of the Forth Rail Bridge. Nothing about telecoms, but it shows how iconic and well-known the bridge is.
How About An iPhone Tax?
I hate smart phones and I did try one once and found that it gave me no advantages, but many disadvatages over my Nokia 6310i. To be fair for someone like me, who’s had a stroke, smart phones are just not robust enough.
One of the major troubles with iPhones and their cousins is that people spend so much time playing with them, that they don’t do their jobs properly.
So perhaps, if they had a higher rate of VAT, then the extra revenue raised could be used to fix the problems that smart phone addicts don’t solve.
Has the Banking System Failed Us This Christmas?
I don’t have any specific issues, but it did seem that all of my payments and transfers seemed to be taking a day or two longer than normal. But then it is some years since Christmas and New Year has fallen squarely on a Saturday and Sunday. As I’ve moved, I also had set up quite a few utility direct debits, so perhaps I was putting a bit more strain in than most.
So perhaps if they did fail us, it was more in the matter of communicating the strain the system would be under.
If I have a personal issue, it might be with Virgin Media, as I can’t find any trace of my payment to them in my bank account. But this morning, I woke up with no TV and broadband. It is now working properly, although they haven’t been able to transfer my number yet.
So I think, I’ll be on the phone again on Monday.
Rare Earth Prices May Hit Smart Phones
I’ve just been hearing on the BBC’s Wake up to Money, that rare earth prices are set to rise, as China imposes export restrictions. This may mean that defence equipment won’t be able to get everything it needs and prices of devices like smart phones may rise.
Am I bothered?
Not really, as I believe that the real developments in the future in defence, security and medicine will be mind-based like software and no-one has ever proved to me any decent reason to buy a smart phone. After all who needs something physical to be smart? Smartness comes from your own brain.
I can text, tweet and make phone calls from my trusty Nokia 6310i and it’s as smart as I need. If it were smarter it might start to rule my life! But, that’s my job!
The Anonymous Widower 