I've had a high end BlackBerry on my hip, every day of my life since May of 2005.

I just returned my last RIM device, and exchanged it for a Samsung Galaxy S 2. Let me rephrase that. After exchanging 4 DOA units, I finally gave up on the new Bold 9900, and swapped it for Android.

The issues I have had with the 9900 (apparently, a flagship device)

• 1st one had a screen that flickered like a CRT @ 60hz. When I was exchanging this one in store, the RIM rep was there, and confirmed that he had seen the issue, in fact his own device did the same thing, he excused it as being "a preproduction issue"
• 2nd one, was swapped not even 15 minutes later, as it would not boot if there was a MicroSD card in the memory slot. We tested the 32GB card that I had in the first one, as well as the 8GB card from the store rep's phone.
• 3rd one asked me to reboot after installing a new version of BlackBerry App world. Went into what I can only call as a boot loop. It would show the BlackBerry boot screen, scroll all the way across and then reboot. Continuously.

• 4th one had a half dozen dead pixels on the screen, out of the box...

• 5th one, did the boot loop thing again. I reflashed the device using BlackBerry desktop manager, and started from scratch.

I've since reflashed it a half dozen times, because every time it reboots, it refuses to boot again, until I flash it completely. So, I took the bloody thing back. The sales rep that I spoke to mentioned that he was on his 4th device as well, citing the boot loop issues, as well as unknown JVM errors on boot.

I won't touch their garbage again, ever.

In Canada at least the data plans for BIS and "SmartPhone" are the same cost with most carriers. RIM Data (well, email and IM only) is actually cheaper ($15/ month) than a 500MB data plan ($$25/ month)

it sounds like you work for my old employer...

the had an SonicWall in every location (~300 stores) that they relied on for everything security related, and as soon as some of the younger kids realized they could just https to whatever they wanted, it was game over and the PC's stopped working.

what was even better, was when the kiddies figured out they could unplug the ethernet cable from the laptops we had as our POS systems, and plug in their iPhone and tether that way, completely bypassing everything.

So, can someone explain to me how this is different from a small personal CNC mill? With the obvious exception that this is plastic goo, instead of a block of alloy to start with.

Better question, what advantages does this have over a small CNC mill?

It's more like they're squatting, renters at least give some cash back!

My Samsung Galaxy Tab, has for the most part replaced my laptop in the 6 weeks that I have had it. It's completely replaced the Asus EEEPC900 that came before it.

If all you are doing is consuming information on the web (which, 99% of what I do online is consuming info and quick little bits of research) there is no need for anything more complicated than a tablet. The simple facts that it fits inside my daytimer, last a full day on a single charge, and replaced my aging iPod, all in ones device doomed my netbook to obsolescence.

I own a Samsung Galaxy Tab, and I -LOVE- the bloody thing

Let me tell you the niche that it has filled for me, in my day to day role as a Store Manager for a busy cell phone store in Canada...

• Sales Tracking: I have a simple spread sheet that I whipped up years ago, I enter mine (as well as my rep's sales) on a daily basis, to help me calculate sales trends. This is useful when coaching my staff to hit their targets (80+ phones per month, each)
• Entertainment: Can't sleep, want to watch some TV, but don't want to wake up the wife? My Tablet (With Bell Mobility) has the Bell TV application included. I can watch live TV on it, and not disturb her at all while she sleeps.
• Simple games. Need for Speed on the Tablet is great fun during some down time away from the store. It also keeps me entertained on the bus or train home from work. Let's not forget the joy that Angry Birds can be for entertaining the niece and nephew when I'm out with my sister and her family.
• MP3 Player. I have the 16GB on board filled with tunes, and 32 full of movies and recorded TV shows. I listen to my music using a Sony Bluetooth set up, and keep the tablet in my day timer the whole day. I chose the Samsung over an iPad, because the small size allows me to do that, I would need a newer, much larger day timer to use an iPad the same way.
• Comic Book viewer. I get my Marvel and DC on the tablet, instead of buying hard copies now. It kills the dead paper collection, but I don't care.
• Online Banking: 'nuff said.
• WIFI Access point for the PC's at the store when our Shaw modem goes down. This has happened twice.
• Android Apps. All the same apps that I have on my Captivate, just with a bigger screen.
• Web Access. My smart phones (I've tried them all, currently using an HTC HD7 and a BB9780. iPhone 2 and Samsung Captivate have been retired) suck because of the small screen.
• Active Sync: All my email and calendar now go to the tablet, instead of a smart phone.

I'd be hard pressed to run my store and do my job the way I have become accustomed to, without the tablet. It's a fantastic device that if more people would just look at it with open eyes, would sell far better than it does.

Or the old Palm OS
Or Windows Mobile
Or BlackBerry

It wasn't that long ago that our "app store" was located @ handango.com

It's not always that way though. The BlackBerry Bold 9700 attached to my hip would cost me more to replace than the Asus EEEPC that I use as my primary laptop, and am using right now. Even the Dell that I have at home would probably cost less to replace than my phone.

Strange world we live in...

I work in wireless, so the results of this don't surprise me at all. I personally don't txt that much (pin, bbm and email on the other hand...)...

Back on topic though. I recently had a customer who was looking for a new phone for her 15 year old daughter, who had literally worn out the blackberry 8800 that I sold them a few years back,

Upon taking a quick look at the daughter's usage, because mom had asked if there was any way they could save some money, I was astonished to find out that she had a total of 18,000 text messages sent/received in a single month. 600 a day, or about 25 an hour.

I have no idea how this is possible, and when I called the dealer support group to make a few changes to her plan to save mom some cash, the rep I spoke to looked at usage as well and confirmed that she averages 15K messages per month, and has done up to 28K messages in the summer months. Bulk sending the same message to all of her friends at the same time HAS to be a part of it.

I'll be interested to see if she has discovered Rogers new "Extreme Text" and what she can do with that once she sets up a couple of distribution lists.

Nah. I've traveled this amazing country from coast to coast, and have lived in 5 different provinces (admittedly, for as little as 6 months).

I think that the national reputation that we in Alberta have earned (smug, arrogant redneck bastards) is well deserved and has definitely been earned.

I just don't think that it reflects against us all as individuals. It definitely makes sense why we would be viewed that way from the outside though.

funny thing is, I can. 4 points left =)

It very well could be a family thing, but I don't think so. The infighting between the two of them didn't start until Shane (CPS) got onto the police force. They were fine before then. I really don't know, like I said, I just tell them to shut up and have a beer, and things get instantly peaceful.

It's also not an "alberta thing", because Rick (The RC) isn't even in Alberta (Barrie Ontario), and the family reunion where the last argument was took place in Winnipeg, which is where they are both originally from.

For the record, Albertans (at least this one) don't hate the rest of the country (not even Quebec!), we're just a tad arrogant, and don't really care what every one else thinks.

The investigation that pressed the criminal charges was conducted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, not the local Calgary Police Service. The Royal's are the Canuck equivalent to the American FBI, and are a national police force.

There is a lot of infighting between the various Law Enforcement Agencies in Canada over jurisdictional rights, etc, and to the best of my knowledge, they don't really go out of each others way to help each other out that much.

This is very evident at family functions. I have a couple of cousins (cousins to each other as well) one is local CPS, and the other is RC. They get into pissing matches with each other all the time over who has the more important role in Canadian Civilization, and I am usually the one who gets to moderate their arguments, generally by telling them both to STFU, and handing them a beer.

This guy has an amazing sense of entitlement, and I say this as someone who lives in the Calgary area, and has heard of him through friends who live in the Bowness/Montgomery area.

Just reading the index to the main site that you listed it is obvious that he just has an axe to grind against the entire community association, probably because he was expelled. Why was he expelled? I have no idea, as all we are able to see is his side of the story, and as we all know there are always at least 3 sides to every story. Yours, Mine, The truth, which is inevitably somewhere in between.

My side, is that he's an troll who just wants attention, and should not be fed.