(...)
Here's another thing I meant to post about earlier. I recently got my company phone. It's a nice Motorola piece and the carrier rhymes with Berizon. Did I mention I hate them? I don't hate many things, but Berizon is one of them. They offer a selection of great handsets, and apparently a good network (and hilarious commercials to go with it), but then they lock down the hardware and proceed to nickel and dime customers. It's one thing to sell (lease, whatever) hardware and offer extra functionality for additional fees. Sometimes it's taken too far (lots of DLC falls into this category). But at least the core thing functions as advertised and the customer can decide if the extra bits are worth the cash.
But taking something and locking down innate functionality, ESPECIALLY when the same exact hardware with another vendor is NOT so restricted, is unacceptable. Enter Berizon. The phone I have has both BlueTooth and mini-USB connections. It supports multimedia and can sync calendar and contacts using ICF and VCF files. But out of the box, the only transfer that works is BT beaming of a vCard contact (VCF format). Thankfully, I found out how to format vCards and took a dump from my old Nokia with about 110 contacts, built a new file and BT'ed them to my phone.
That worked they way God and Motorola intended. But that's where the fun stops. Even with Moto's USB drivers installed, I can only browse some of the phone's filesystem and no transfer will complete. So, this weekend, I decided to play Suck It, Trebek!. See, I don't like being told "No". I rarely tell others no and resent when I get hit with one. And "no" in connection to something like fair use and hardware freedom makes me seethe. Really. A quick Google search at home led me to a great page with a three-step process for transferring my own content to the phone and using it as Moto designed it to be used. I think I was up and running with personal ringtones in about 30 minutes. Suck It, Trebek!
Y'know, the problem isn't so much the money. I went to a Berizon counter and asked the gentleman there about the minimum purchase I'd need to make to do what I need - put my own MP3's on the phone for ringers. I don't want to use the phone as a media device. That's TinyWonder's job. But my God, do the included ringers blow. So the clerk points me to a $30 package that includes a CD with software drivers, a USB cable, and a stereo plug-in headset. Did I mention this phone uses 2.5mm plugs so every headset I own doesn't fit? >< But I have a BT earpiece for calls anyway. So, my 30 bones would get me a cable I have 5 of already, a headset I'll never use, and a disc of software I wouldn't need in the first place if they weren't hell-bent on "value-adding" everything to infinity and beyond.
Since I'm not doing anything with the phone it wasn't designed to do in the first place, I don't feel guilty about going a different route for the file copy. I do wish there was a better way to do this - I'd prefer to stick with standard vendor tools for stuff like this. And I'm not opposed to paying for real value. But having an arrogant company spit in my face like that only makes me want to play Suck It, Trebek! all the more. So congrats Berizon, you just lost the game.
Now, If I could only find a way to stick it to our cable monopoly which rhymes with Concast. Oh wait, I already did. ClearWire FTW!
But taking something and locking down innate functionality, ESPECIALLY when the same exact hardware with another vendor is NOT so restricted, is unacceptable. Enter Berizon. The phone I have has both BlueTooth and mini-USB connections. It supports multimedia and can sync calendar and contacts using ICF and VCF files. But out of the box, the only transfer that works is BT beaming of a vCard contact (VCF format). Thankfully, I found out how to format vCards and took a dump from my old Nokia with about 110 contacts, built a new file and BT'ed them to my phone.
That worked they way God and Motorola intended. But that's where the fun stops. Even with Moto's USB drivers installed, I can only browse some of the phone's filesystem and no transfer will complete. So, this weekend, I decided to play Suck It, Trebek!. See, I don't like being told "No". I rarely tell others no and resent when I get hit with one. And "no" in connection to something like fair use and hardware freedom makes me seethe. Really. A quick Google search at home led me to a great page with a three-step process for transferring my own content to the phone and using it as Moto designed it to be used. I think I was up and running with personal ringtones in about 30 minutes. Suck It, Trebek!
Y'know, the problem isn't so much the money. I went to a Berizon counter and asked the gentleman there about the minimum purchase I'd need to make to do what I need - put my own MP3's on the phone for ringers. I don't want to use the phone as a media device. That's TinyWonder's job. But my God, do the included ringers blow. So the clerk points me to a $30 package that includes a CD with software drivers, a USB cable, and a stereo plug-in headset. Did I mention this phone uses 2.5mm plugs so every headset I own doesn't fit? >< But I have a BT earpiece for calls anyway. So, my 30 bones would get me a cable I have 5 of already, a headset I'll never use, and a disc of software I wouldn't need in the first place if they weren't hell-bent on "value-adding" everything to infinity and beyond.
Since I'm not doing anything with the phone it wasn't designed to do in the first place, I don't feel guilty about going a different route for the file copy. I do wish there was a better way to do this - I'd prefer to stick with standard vendor tools for stuff like this. And I'm not opposed to paying for real value. But having an arrogant company spit in my face like that only makes me want to play Suck It, Trebek! all the more. So congrats Berizon, you just lost the game.
Now, If I could only find a way to stick it to our cable monopoly which rhymes with Concast. Oh wait, I already did. ClearWire FTW!
1 comment:
lol all i got to say is FUCK CLEARWIRE
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