(no subject)

[tvordlj]

You may or may not know i have several Coronation Street blogs on the go. I co-edit one in the UK corrie timeline with a friend, and have one of my own that i write in a couple of times a month. I also maintain a Canadian timeline blog with no spoilers as well. About 18 months ago i put Google ads on it. They're fairly discreet and unobtrusive since i didn't want to beat people over the head with it. They don't pay out until you have earned 100 dollars and last month i got my first payment of $120. :) It took 18 months! But i think the traffic on the blog is up some so it may not take that long next time though at the rate it's going it will still take 8 or 9 months. Nice bit of extra money now and then.

This brings me to something i was reading through one of the ad links. It was on the Rogers telecom site for their smartphones and i noticed that the cameras in the various phones are a minimum of 8 megapixels!!! One, a Sony, has 12! Holy Shit. That's pretty amazing for a camera phone. I'm sure the quality is fine but the optics just can't be as good as a full size camera. Not yet anyway. They are all pretty good outdoors, though. Even my little 2 MP camera on the phone is fairly good though i can still tell by looking at the photo that it's from the camera. No zoom either or a very iffy digital zoom. Never use it even on the full size camera. Or rarely. I might if i have it on a high resolution setting and want to get something quite far away, like when watching the tall ships sail out on the harbour. High res and cropping will usually do a bit better job.

I haven't gone to a smartphone. I really don't think i'd get the use out of it and i'm far too cheap! Even a cheap data plan for pay as you go is going to cost 50 to 60 dollars once the taxes and stuff are added on. Fine if you use it. I don't use the phone for more than a quick call or text. I have an ipod touch with wifi that i can use if i have a hotspot to connect to, that's usually fine if by chance i need to find something on a map or check the weather or an email. My phone is a Pay as you go plan, about 10 dollars a month. I buy the 100 dollar vouchers that don't expire for a year so i don't have to top up every month.

All the phone companies here make you do that. It's a real rip off. If you don't top up every month, your minutes expire and you risk losing your phone number altogether after awhile. I think a higher top up amount may give you two months and the 100 dollar one is a one year thing which i find is the best for me even if i sometimes have to give it an extra 20 a few months before the year is up. It's really annoying though. I have a UK SIM card for when i'm over there. I top it up when i go and it's good for about 6 months of inactivity after that. Graham can top it up online for me for a minimal amount. A few times i've lent the phone to friends who were going over so they've used and topped it up which keeps it active for me.

I could probably power it up here and send myself a text if i can get a signal but one of the problems with my old phone is that i could never get a signal in my apartment. It hooks up to the Rogers network with the UK sim cards and that's the worst one here. I used to have to stand on my balcony to get a signal to send a text! That's the main reason i switched companies and i use Telus at the moment. Not a problem getting a signal in my apartment.

Anyway i can't see myself getting a smartphone anytime soon and no doubt there will be some sort of alternative available in the near future. Probably at some point that's all you will be able to get. I just hope the companies get some sort of competition that brings the prices down.

Comments

[lola-is-naughty.livejournal.com]

do people have to click the ads for you to make money or does it generate $ just by people visiting

[tvor.livejournal.com]

I think both. Clicks would be more but i think it depends on the ad, too.

[tammihayne.livejournal.com]

Do you have a home phone? We gave up our home phone and I ported the old home number to my cell phone so we got to keep it but we really found no use to having a home phone anymore. We used that money to put towards an iphone which I use all the time for everything - calendar, email, text, twitter, facebook, surfing, games, apps for stores, you name it - I use it for it. Oh, not to mention I use it for Skype/Facetime, listening to music and podcasts on the bus, use the transit apps for seeing when the next bus is coming, etc.

[tvor.livejournal.com]

I do but it's part of the Eastlink bundle so i don't think i'm even paying very much for it, plus get call waiting, call display and voice mail for free so it's not really costing me much. But yes if i was still paying Aliant for their gouging prices, it would make sense to put it towards a smartphone plan.