Here, this is interesting

[solarbird]

This is a good article on smartphone usage and networks in North America vs. everywhere else in the world, posted by mattsnaps over on his Facebook account. I know that I would happily trade half my "minutes" allotment (550, the smallest they offer; I never even approach that number) for twice as many txt messages, and the phone company would make much more money, not less. I want txt; I don't care about yakking so much. It's bad enough that I've been installing IM clients so I can txt IM functionality without paying AT&T's stupidly expensive SMS charges, which are both standard in North America and a complete scam.

Everything the author says about the primitiveness of the US cell network - and the providers who run it - is true, btw. Canada's is even worse. (Rogers, I'm looking in your direction. And glaring. Nastily.) I had a little exposure to non-North American phones in Japan, and I missed my crap leased phone until just the last week or so, when I got spazzkat's old iPhone when he upgraded. That's comparing Japanese junk phones to top of the North American line; the common non-"smart" consumer phone still sucks.

Comments

[cow.livejournal.com]

The one thing I will say in defence of Canada's networks is that it is much easier to get a low-minute, high-text plan here. (When I paid for my own phone I had 100 minutes per month plus 400 texts for $15 or $20.) iPhone not included, but other smartphones are.

[maellenkleth]

hah! once again, Finnish technological savvy will out.... ^_^

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Lisa said that if it were actually possible to get a phone like the low-end rental phones we had at Nippon 2007, she would consider getting a mobile phone. But of course you can't buy that phone in the USA.