the shopping experience, online
Now to the serious business of Online Shopping. I’ve come to this in a roundabout way…
- I’m thinking of switching from Orcon to iHug, picking up their tolls (15c/min in NZ) at the same time (to save $10 month); slinging Clear (12c/min, but you have to buy a minimum of 300 minutes per month) and thereby upgrading my connection speed to 2Mb/s.
- But maybe I could use SkypeOut (about 4c/min) and/or Gizmo CallOut (about 8c/min) instead of using the ISP’s tolls for any really big calls.
- Maybe I need a handset to connect to the iBook to make it easier to use it like a phone. I see Dick Smith have some.
- But wait: what about TradeMe and eBay. Oh yes (much later) they have them too. And cheaper.
- And then… once again ... I run across this.
And the shopping process crashes to a halt. Here it is: the answer to my wannabe hipster cravings, a wireless handset I can use on my mobile (for those trying-far-too-hard ironic moments) and a beautifully practical and usable handset for Skype and Gizmo.
The colour; the shiny curves… I’ve had to steal the photo for here so I can look at it without having to be tempted by the creator’s website.
There is one problem though: it’s £90. Before postage. I need to save. And wait.
susan
30 January 2006, 21:48 #
You don’t think it would make a nice anniversary present then?
Alan
31 January 2006, 05:00 #
Yes it would. Very much so. For me. But I wasn’t asking about something for me… :-)
Patrick
1 February 2006, 23:13 #
Go ihug!
We’re with them (and wow is it easy to use 40GB in a month), but I make no toll calls (they have our tolls if I did though).
(I’m terrible, most of my calls and between 7am-7pm so I just use my cellphone.)
Alan
2 February 2006, 05:11 #
Patrick:
thanks, that’s good feedback. Is your speed always good?
Patrick
2 February 2006, 07:34 #
It was until we went over the cap. Then it got slowwwww. (Have you any idea how slow 64Kbps is when you’re used to 2Mbps?)
I still miss the upstream from cable (especially as they now get 2mbps both ways), but the suitably large download cap makes it worth while.
Alan
2 February 2006, 10:10 #
I like how they only meter downloads (i.e., good for filesharing) and their 2Mb/s “light” plan has a quite nice 20Gb cap (although spilt between peak and off-peak).
These two things together mean I get probably at least three times the effective traffic allowance on iHug than I do Orcon, all for the same dollars. And it’s the same dollars as I pay now for 256k flat rate.
Patrick
3 February 2006, 21:44 #
We opted for the 40GB plan. We used just over it, roughly evenly split too. It’s quite easy to schedule downloads to happen overnight, plus one of my flatmates is basically nocturnal, which helps.
stephen
8 February 2006, 12:21 #
Hey, what’s your beef with Orcon? (I signed up with them a few months ago, no buyer’s remorse yet).
Alan
8 February 2006, 15:55 #
I noticed you’d changed to them. :-)
No beef, it’s just that you can now get better bang for the buck elsewhere.