[PLUG-TALK] cell phones

[Michael Rasmussen]

Rich Shepard wrote:
>   I hope the move was by your choice and that it's as easy a bike ride as 
>   the former shop.

ohmygawd was it by my choice!  While bumping along very unhappy with what
my former job had morphed into after the two acquisitions and outsourcing
of my work to EDS I received a call from an ex coworker.  He asked two 
questions:

	Are you comfortable in a Unix work environment?
	Are you still scripting?
	
I replied that 100% of my home computers are Linux based and that when it 
came to scripting he should be aware that Perl is the only language I'm 
comfortable using at a production level.  He was happy with both those
answers so we continued to talk.  The position is close to what I'd want
to do if just asked to describe what I'd like to do.  Hopefully reality
will match closely. ;)

The bike ride is three times longer with more hills and wind built
in. That's an advantage, I need the stronger exercise challenge.


>   Consider what you need before walking in any store. 

Hence the question.  Interesting features include:
	rural Oregon and Washington coverage, 
	ability to use the phone in Canada w/out too high a surcharge
	reliable phone handset
	photos, given a couple of restrictions

>   I've been with Verizon since 1996, when they were AirTouch. I have had
> excellent service with them and have no reason to spend any time shopping
> around. 
>  (And Ed seconded this experience) 
>   Now Kyocera has the QCP-7135 which is the same phone/pda but with a color
> screen and, I believe, Palm OS 5. 

I can't find that model on the Verizon web site.  Hmmmm.

It's reassuring that you two, and a bunch of people I've asked, like Verizon.

Incidentally Rich, if you were to go to Vernonia the Verizon signal drops out.
You can still get Cingular there.  


>   I don't want a camera, web browsing, e-mail, music, or other (ahem!)
> "features" in my phone. 

I'll want a camera if two conditions are met, greater than 2megapixel and
the ability to pull the photos off the phone without sending them over the
air.  The charges for sending pics today are just way too high.

Another good, for me, feature with Verizon is that I'll get a corporate
discount on the calling plan. 

Thanks for the thoughts.

-- 
    Michael Rasmussen, Portland Oregon  
  Be appropriate && Follow your curiosity
 http://meme.patch.com/memes/BicycleRiding
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"Here comes Mr. Bill's dog."
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