Days off are for... well, normal people

[ericasco]

Today was a holiday. I went to work anyway. Twice. It was good, though, as I was able to repair most of the damage from last week's craziness and plot out a plan for the growth of our network infrastructure. Now I just have to carry it all out before paternity leave hits.

someirishdude and his posse came over yesterday for football watching and what could

Comments

[scoreboard]

My only hope is to get NewJob to pay for it. Which will be tough, as adding a data plan to a company phone account requires the signoff of one's manager (easy), of wireless procurement (tougher) and of one's department finance analyst (bloody impossible). I would be willing to take the phone with no data plan and just sponge off the ubiquitous free WiFi all over SiliValley, but everything is so tightly integrated that Cingular has no intention of selling the thing without a contract, let alone unlocked.

Now, that said, there's always the chance that a developer prototype could go missing...from my keyboard to God's ears...

The dagger is that because I *have* a phone for work, there is absolutely no percentage whatsoever in trying to get a second personal phone and have to carry two. And my work plan is voice and text only - I can't even receive MMS. So I am now down to using a Nokia 3120 and an iPod Shuffle.

I get a new niece Thursday, but I doubt I will meet the minimum weight requirement for the Toddler Toss for Distance. However, I found a bar on Friday night that sold me nine drinks for $38.50, and I will set myself against anyone to defend the OldJob Friends of Stalin Intercontinental Piss For Distance title.

[traypup]

I just looked at the iphone stuff, but didn't get a chance to watch the keynote yet. Do we know an approximate cost yet? And do we know what carriers will support it? My "new every two" thingie is up with Verizon in May. I could hold out for the iphone. maybe. couldn't i? sounds like something I really really need.

[scoreboard]

It's Cingular only, $500 for the 4 Gb model and $600 for the 8 GB. We don't know what the service plans will be like. Currently, a Cingular plan with 450 minutes talk time plus 5000 night/weekend minutes, 1000 text messages (sent/received) and unlimited data will set you back around $90 total per month. The speculation is that there will have to be some sort of iPhone-specific plan, much like the Sidekick plans on T-Mobile, but as of yet nobody has announced anything. The integration of hardware and network is so tight (for things like visual voicemail and etc) that you shouldn't expect to see the phone sold separately or available unlocked without great chicanery and diminished service.

My advice is that come May, you should not sign ANYTHING. Free agency is the only way to go at this point in wireless history.