ISP choice: decisions, decisions. (And usability determines the winner.)
This post could also be titled: "EMI finally got a clue, but they still suck."
When I am in a place of my own, the first utility to set up will be electricity, because that powers the Internet access. Then it's time to decide on an ISP.
I had thought I had made my choice: $70/mth will get me Naked DSL from iiNet, including hardware, VoIP and sufficient data quota for my current needs. In theory, I could get a service from AAPT, but have typically not found them appealing enough. Competitive, yes; groundbreaking, no. The latest offer, however, seems to have changed that, with a $100/mth deal including unlimited data, music streaming, line rental and hardware. Oh, and some credit for music purchases.
At first I dismissed it, because the generic version of the site is EMI-only. However, AAPT's just using it for the technology, and has signed agreements with the rest of the big four, with independants now being added.
So, is it worth it? Well, it would be - if it worked. I'd love to be able to stream music that I'm not sure about buying, and being able to hear more than piddly little 30 second previews would make me more likely to buy anyway.
But here's where it all falls down: Flash. The site is powered by a poorly designed Flash application that crashes my browser and has extremely poor usability. If I have to struggle to queue up an album to listen to, and then have my computer's fan going berserk before the whole thing falls in a heap, then clearly I'm not going to bother on a regular basis.
So, back to iiNet as my preferred choice. The extra $30/mth is worth it for those with high data usage, but for me, something smaller is about right.
When I am in a place of my own, the first utility to set up will be electricity, because that powers the Internet access. Then it's time to decide on an ISP.
I had thought I had made my choice: $70/mth will get me Naked DSL from iiNet, including hardware, VoIP and sufficient data quota for my current needs. In theory, I could get a service from AAPT, but have typically not found them appealing enough. Competitive, yes; groundbreaking, no. The latest offer, however, seems to have changed that, with a $100/mth deal including unlimited data, music streaming, line rental and hardware. Oh, and some credit for music purchases.
At first I dismissed it, because the generic version of the site is EMI-only. However, AAPT's just using it for the technology, and has signed agreements with the rest of the big four, with independants now being added.
So, is it worth it? Well, it would be - if it worked. I'd love to be able to stream music that I'm not sure about buying, and being able to hear more than piddly little 30 second previews would make me more likely to buy anyway.
But here's where it all falls down: Flash. The site is powered by a poorly designed Flash application that crashes my browser and has extremely poor usability. If I have to struggle to queue up an album to listen to, and then have my computer's fan going berserk before the whole thing falls in a heap, then clearly I'm not going to bother on a regular basis.
So, back to iiNet as my preferred choice. The extra $30/mth is worth it for those with high data usage, but for me, something smaller is about right.