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By Brian White at 05/28/07 09:55
Imagine, if you will, a world in which you're not tethered to the horrible constraints of your locally monopolized telephone provider. Unlike other industries who lobbied hard to keep taxes in check, these companies have invented whole new categories of laurels upon which to rest while service levels fell, costs escalated, and the appearance of equity and competition never even bothered to surface.I first disconnected from the grid in 1998 because I had a zillion minutes, and my house was long-distance calling range from my work, family and friends, even though I was only ten-miles from the nearest of them. I had tri-state coverage on the cell phone, since it pre-dated affordable national calling, but here's why you're going to be the next to disconnect from that system. 1 – Nationwide calling, no such thing as long-distance charges. 2 – The taxes are lower, so the bill is always less. 3 – You can take the phone with you wherever you go, and if that's a bad thing, just put it on "silent". 4 – Unless you spend countless hours on the phone, it's always going to be cheaper. Oh, unless you count "nights and weekends", because those are almost universally free. 5 – You only need a "home telephone" if you don't have a VOIP service like Vonage, and then only if your internet connection is tied to your telephone. 6 – You'll almost never get an unsolicited call, unless you go crazy signing up for drawings you simply can't win. 7 – Free caller-ID, free call-forwarding, and free voice mail. All of these are services your landline likely charges you extra for. Tags: cell phones • landlines •
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By Brian White at 05/28/07 09:18
There are myths and legends a'plenty that caution you against using the telephone in a lightning storm. They say lighting will strike, and that you'll be electrocuted for being on the telephone when it happens, which is totally ridiculous, I assure you.Here are the reasons you know it isn't true: 1 – It's never happened. Those are facts, so there you go. 2 – Lightning strikes are exceptionally rare, even in places where they're common. 3 – Telephone wires, specifically the ones in your house, are very thin, and evaporate when struck by high-voltage things, especially lightning. That means that if there was a lightning strike it would fry the wire way before it fries you. 4 – There are warning posted even for illogical, unfounded things like cell phones at the gas station, but no warnings on any telephones anywhere, ever, under any circumstances. Tags: lightening storms • electrocution •
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By Brian White at 05/28/07 09:15
Vonage has been horribly unscrupulous when it comes to dealing with publishers, but they've earned all kinds of accolades with consumers. Cheap, effective, pretty consistent, and did I already mention cheap?If you travel overseas, it can't be beat. You can have a US phone number, no matter where you live in the world, as long as you have a high-speed connection. Just plug it in and you're back in the states for most every purpose. If you're locked in the states, it's still the best. Call all fifty-states without ever paying a penny for long-distance, and you won't pay long-distance to call Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico and most of Western Europe. It's a fairly consistent service, rarely gives callers trouble, and is easily half (or less) the cost of traditional telephone service. Tags: vonage • voip •
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