I've had my eye on the MotoRAZR V3r for awhile. With four bands, a deep crimson color, 1.2 Megapixel camera, built-in mp3 player, removable micro memory and a host of esoteric gadgets, gizmos, doodads, whoozumwhatzits, and whooptiedoos that I have yet to understand, I only understood one thing...promotions!
I make my own ringtones and graphics. Most of what currently sits on my phone are fragments of songs by Reism, Nightwish, Falco, Carfax Abbey, KMFDM, etc. The sound quality kicks ass on the new phone. Now, here are the downsides. In order for the camera to reach its full potential and get higher definition out of it...you gotta have the Micro SD memory card. Remember that SIM card you kept swapping in and out of phones? Forget it...no more...gotta transfer the whole lot to this new 3G card or all of your features aren't going to work. Now once you get through all those pains in the ass...you're solid gold...this thing is a veritable media machine.
After talking extensively with the customer service representative about the features of this portable media studio condensed to pocket-size, this is when I asked.
I have wondered why they've called Cingular "The New AT&T" and what I should be calling them or what should be on my phone.
I got my answers, rather, I was blindsided by them.
As she explained, years ago, the federal government had stepped in and succeeded in breaking up Ma Bell. Couldn't have a monopoly right? Over time, the cellphone companies came into play and began merging. AT&T and several other existing telecoms then branched off into the cellphone market and then, with the integration of The Internet, The Great Franchise War began. They rose up on all sides and didn't just begin merging...they began to devour each other. Cingular, Sprint, Nextel and Centennial are now the four that dominate the market with Centennial in the path of potentially getting eaten. Cingular has been the fattest thus far, devouring the Great AT&T Giant, using the equipment they've then inherited and then grinding up BellSouth in their great and immense corporate gears.
When I made the statement "So the monopoly is coming back together?" she answered with a resounding, "Yep, that's about it."
With out telecommunications slipping into fewer and fewer hands, who's to say we won't have one on our hands? This will effectively set a precedent in a longstanding violation of The Sherman Anti-Trust Act and will eliminate free enterprise and competition in this realm. Once this realm is out, they can name their price and allow anyone with the money and the corporate/political steam to virtually inhale their competition and spit them out.
So, I have to wonder, our alphabet agencies want to up the level of nicotene in cigarettes (a nation of addicts), keep two drugs that do nada for us (cigarettes and alcohol), outlaw the natural ones that open up our perception to how badly we're getting screwed (marijuana and mushrooms), restrict our telecommunication past known limits (refer to Net Neutrality), database the whole lot of us (The Real ID Act), shut down our borders to all citizens outgoing who are NOT willing to spend copious amounts of cash and time hopping through hoops (tougher immigration laws, my ass), kill free enterprise (prior explanation) and database the entire lot of us...possibly microchip us (The Real ID Act).
I'm sorry but does anyone else see The U.S. as being the biggest penal colony/police state ever?
