Before a recent business trip, I got a new Nokia 6600 cell phone, which connected my laptop to the Internet using Europe's GPRS standard. T-Mobile, my carrier, has Internet roaming agreements in more than 50 countries, so I could fly into a city, flip open my computer, and presto: Internet everywhere. It was sooo cool until I got my bill. It turns out that a month of wireless abandon on a GPRS network costs $3,500. That's like having my PowerBook stolen by my carrier (but not before getting beaten over the head with it). Yes, the company's access rates appear on its Web site. And yes, I paid. But until we have cheap, flat-rate data roaming, the wireless future will belong to someone else.
1/19/04: $334.01
Long meeting (about 22 Mbytes) at Nokia in Finland, bragging about my GPRS.
1/20/04: $40.43
About 3 Mbytes of Internet Relay Chat from a Frankfurt Airport caf�. (Should have paid for Wi-Fi.)
1/21/04: $269.96
Blogging (18 Mbytes) the World Economic Forum from a friend's house in the mountains of Davos, Switzerland.
1/26/04: $422.32
Reading blogs in a car bound for the Zurich airport, watching the snow, feeling dapper. 28 Mbytes later ...
- Joichi Ito
START
Hype List
The Return of Push!
Bionic Ears
I, Product
My Big Fat Net Roaming Bill
Jet-Set Engine
National Emergency Room
"My Name Is John, and I'm a Textaholic"
How to Get Megabits at 10,000 Volts
jargon watch
5 Bugs That Foil Fake Bills
Speed Metal
Identify Yourself
Hacking the Middle Ages
The Not-So-Great Robot Race
Audio Visual
Keeping Tabs on Steve Wozniak
Wired l Tired l Expired
