Well I finally cancelled Bell and said goodbye to my landline. I'm now with Wind.
So why did I make the jump. It's pretty simple really.
With Bell, a basic landline, no voicemail, no caller ID, no call waiting, nothing but a basic line, costs 30 bucks a month.
With Wind, for 35 bucks a month, I get:
As you can see, for five dollars a month extra, the choice is simple. (I should note, this is a special Wind is running right now, in 12 months when it ends, my bill will go from 35 a month to 50 a month I think. Unless they have another special running, in which case they will give you that instead. So I suspect my bill will remain 35 even after the special ends).
Cons that I can think of with going with a smartphone include:
When it came to picking a phone, I picked the Google Nexus S. I really struggled as to go with a RIM or the Nexus (Apple wasn't even a consideration, I'm not an Apple fan boy). I wanted to get a RIM and support RIM (as a proud Canadian if you will) but I have no idea what kind of support RIM will provide in the future.
With the Wind deal, the phone is free if you stay with them for three years. This isn't a locked-in contract like with Rogers, you can leave any time and simply pay out the phone. But if you stay for three years, the phone becomes yours with no payment required even if you leave Wind. So whatever phone I got, my plans were to use it for the next three years.
With this in mind I asked myself, what kind of support will I be getting from RIM in two years from now? And in a year from now will I be kicking myself that I've got a BB7 BlackBerry instead of the new BB10 BlackBerry.
With the Nexus I know that bare minimum I'll be running off Ice Cream Sandwich (the latest Android OS) and that the phone will deliver most of the services and features that pop up over the next three years.
I will say this about Android versus IOS, Android definitely feels much more like a PC operating system. So for folks that like really really simple, the iPhone might be your better bet. Myself, I hate being constrained by an OS and I like as much flexibility as I can get. Android gives you that, with the same sense of customization and control that PC users are accustomed to.
That said, I've got my mom on a Google Nexus and she's using it just fine. Keep in mind, my mom has trouble using Google search on a PC! So Android is not that difficult to learn if she can figure it out.
I'll miss my RIM qwerty, but the voice-to-text should help in that transition. It's shocking how much time you can save with it, it's actually must faster than typing on a qwerty when the translation is accurate (which it usually is).
So there you have it, I'm super happy with my switch. I now no longer have any services with either Rogers or Bell.
I get my Internet from Teksavvy (which I'm loving by the way).
I get my television from the Internet (it's been a year now I've been doing this and I'll never go back to paying for cable tv).
And I get my phone service from Wind.
Despite the fact that I'm getting great service for half the cost, there's also the satisfaction of knowing that I'm not contributing to crazy pricing behaviors of the big boys. They really pissed me off with their Usage Based Billing attempts and if I can I'll avoid doing all business with them moving forward.
The only thing I wish I had was the ability to twin my PC to my smartphone. Years ago I use to work for a company named CounterPath, which makes softphones. Basically a phone on your PC. For the life of me I don't know why someone like RIM doesn't acquire those guys and create a seamless connection between your smartphone and your PC.
Right now, if I want to make PC-based calls, I have to use Skype or Google. Yet they are totally separate services from my smartphone. I could use CounterPath, but then I'd have to sign up with a SIP provider, and yet again, it would be a different phone number and different set of services.
If RIM were smart they'd acquire CounterPath and then enable a hosted softphone so that you can load up your phone service from any PC in the world. I suppose the carrier would have to buy in to the offering since they technically host the call control, but I'm sure RIM could figure out some way of enabling this service such that the softphone control was taken care of by RIM servers.
If they had such an offering, I would have bought a RIM instead of an Android phone.
The only reason I can think of as to why they wouldn't do this is that such a model would make it REALLY easy to cut all ties with the carrier (so carriers might get really upset with RIM for enabling their customers to essentially cancel their landline services).
If you've got a fully functioning phone on your PC, with the same number as your cell phone, and you've twinned them to your home phones (for convenience), then there's really zero reason to have a landline. So despite carriers not liking this, I think RIM should pursue it anyway because it's what customers want and in the end carriers would cave to market demand and RIM would win big time.
Anyway, RIM's not dumb and have probably thought of this, but have erred on the side of not pissing the carriers off by threatening their landline revenues with an enhanced smartphone-PC communications experience. Unfortunately, it's this kind of thinking that is absolutely killing RIM as a company and why they may not even be around in a few years.
I'll let you know how cutting my landline goes in a few months, but so far it has been an enjoyable experience.
Free At Last!
So why did I make the jump. It's pretty simple really.
With Bell, a basic landline, no voicemail, no caller ID, no call waiting, nothing but a basic line, costs 30 bucks a month.
With Wind, for 35 bucks a month, I get:
- A free phone (I got the Google Nexus, valued at 380 bucks)
- Unlimited calling in Canada
- Unlimited calling any time of the day
- Unlimited data
- Unlimited texting
- All the benefits of a smartphone (applications, camera, video camera, etc.)
- Caller ID, Call waiting, Call holding
- And best of all, I'm not locked in to any contract (just 30 days notification to cancel)
As you can see, for five dollars a month extra, the choice is simple. (I should note, this is a special Wind is running right now, in 12 months when it ends, my bill will go from 35 a month to 50 a month I think. Unless they have another special running, in which case they will give you that instead. So I suspect my bill will remain 35 even after the special ends).Now, getting rid of your landline isn't feasible for everyone. A family of four for instance probably gets good value from the landline versus getting everyone a smartphone. Yet, on an individual basis, it makes no sense any more to have a landline.
But even if you are big on using landline phones in your home, there are adapters which twin your smartphone to your home phones using bluetooth. So when a call comes in to your phone, your home phones all ring and can pick up the call and chat using them.
Cons that I can think of with going with a smartphone include:
- If you lose it, you're in trouble. Not only do you have no way of calling anyone, but you also have to dish out some bucks for a new phone. This is why if you are going to go all smartphone, you should have a headset for your PC so that you can use Skype or Google Voice to call people should you lose your phone. You'll also want to use Skype to call your phone in that scenario! Hopefully someone answers and you can get it back.
- Landlines never have to be charged. With a smartphone you have to charge it once every day or two. Not a big deal, but for those that are forgetful they may find this annoying.
- You may not hear your ringer if you left the phone in another room. With landlines you often have three or more handsets all ringing, so it's hard to not hear the phone. Yet with a smartphone only, if you left it in another room, you may not hear the ring over the television or music you've got playing.
- Safety issues. One thing about landlines is that they are always in the same spot and easy to quickly grab and dial 911. If you are having a heart attack the last thing you want to be doing is scrambling around the room trying to find your smartphone. So for those with safety or health issues, I'd advise getting that adapter that lets you twin your home phones to your cell phone.
- You'll also have to buy a case. I got a nice case-mate cover for 30 bucks and it does a great job of protecting the phone in case I were to drop it. You can get cases for as low as five bucks, but I like ones that look nifty.
So there you go. So far I'm loving it. The reception from Wind is excellent, so no complaints regarding call quality or reception.
I'm loving the Google Nexus Voice-to-text application which so far is highly accurate. And I'll admit, the integration of Google apps definitely make you want to start using things like Gmail and google calendar much more.
When it came to picking a phone, I picked the Google Nexus S. I really struggled as to go with a RIM or the Nexus (Apple wasn't even a consideration, I'm not an Apple fan boy). I wanted to get a RIM and support RIM (as a proud Canadian if you will) but I have no idea what kind of support RIM will provide in the future.
With the Wind deal, the phone is free if you stay with them for three years. This isn't a locked-in contract like with Rogers, you can leave any time and simply pay out the phone. But if you stay for three years, the phone becomes yours with no payment required even if you leave Wind. So whatever phone I got, my plans were to use it for the next three years.
With this in mind I asked myself, what kind of support will I be getting from RIM in two years from now? And in a year from now will I be kicking myself that I've got a BB7 BlackBerry instead of the new BB10 BlackBerry.
With the Nexus I know that bare minimum I'll be running off Ice Cream Sandwich (the latest Android OS) and that the phone will deliver most of the services and features that pop up over the next three years.
I will say this about Android versus IOS, Android definitely feels much more like a PC operating system. So for folks that like really really simple, the iPhone might be your better bet. Myself, I hate being constrained by an OS and I like as much flexibility as I can get. Android gives you that, with the same sense of customization and control that PC users are accustomed to.
That said, I've got my mom on a Google Nexus and she's using it just fine. Keep in mind, my mom has trouble using Google search on a PC! So Android is not that difficult to learn if she can figure it out.
I'll miss my RIM qwerty, but the voice-to-text should help in that transition. It's shocking how much time you can save with it, it's actually must faster than typing on a qwerty when the translation is accurate (which it usually is).
So there you have it, I'm super happy with my switch. I now no longer have any services with either Rogers or Bell.
I get my Internet from Teksavvy (which I'm loving by the way).
I get my television from the Internet (it's been a year now I've been doing this and I'll never go back to paying for cable tv).
And I get my phone service from Wind.
Despite the fact that I'm getting great service for half the cost, there's also the satisfaction of knowing that I'm not contributing to crazy pricing behaviors of the big boys. They really pissed me off with their Usage Based Billing attempts and if I can I'll avoid doing all business with them moving forward.
The only thing I wish I had was the ability to twin my PC to my smartphone. Years ago I use to work for a company named CounterPath, which makes softphones. Basically a phone on your PC. For the life of me I don't know why someone like RIM doesn't acquire those guys and create a seamless connection between your smartphone and your PC.
Right now, if I want to make PC-based calls, I have to use Skype or Google. Yet they are totally separate services from my smartphone. I could use CounterPath, but then I'd have to sign up with a SIP provider, and yet again, it would be a different phone number and different set of services.
If RIM were smart they'd acquire CounterPath and then enable a hosted softphone so that you can load up your phone service from any PC in the world. I suppose the carrier would have to buy in to the offering since they technically host the call control, but I'm sure RIM could figure out some way of enabling this service such that the softphone control was taken care of by RIM servers.
If they had such an offering, I would have bought a RIM instead of an Android phone.
The only reason I can think of as to why they wouldn't do this is that such a model would make it REALLY easy to cut all ties with the carrier (so carriers might get really upset with RIM for enabling their customers to essentially cancel their landline services).
If you've got a fully functioning phone on your PC, with the same number as your cell phone, and you've twinned them to your home phones (for convenience), then there's really zero reason to have a landline. So despite carriers not liking this, I think RIM should pursue it anyway because it's what customers want and in the end carriers would cave to market demand and RIM would win big time.
Anyway, RIM's not dumb and have probably thought of this, but have erred on the side of not pissing the carriers off by threatening their landline revenues with an enhanced smartphone-PC communications experience. Unfortunately, it's this kind of thinking that is absolutely killing RIM as a company and why they may not even be around in a few years.
I'll let you know how cutting my landline goes in a few months, but so far it has been an enjoyable experience.
Free At Last!
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