Google voice is the best thing I have ever used. It may be the push that will help me win that $21,000 lawsuit for the idiot debt collector who thinks I'm bluffing when I say "I'm recording this phone call." Maybe they'll think twice now before saying things like "we'll make sure you go to jail if you refuse to pay this," or "we know who you are, stop lying.' (I'm not the person they're looking for, yet they accuse me of lying every day).

Oh well, I digress. Google Voice kicks ass, and I think the cell phone idea would be better if you could record calls and block calls as well. If they had an app available for most phones, I think it would work well.

Does that mean I can play "Walmart Bingo" right from the comfort of my own home?

speak for yourself. i live in "America" and i only use prepaid for the simple fact that i don't like being tied down and subjected to bullshit contracts. i have never been convicted of a crime, i live in a nice house in a great suburb, and i have almost perfect credit.

it's not just you... and it's not just the mobile telecom industry - it's the US telecom industry in general. land-lines, cable, dsl... virtually every way to communicate in the US is controlled by the top corporate giants (time warner, comcast, charter, at&t, verizon...)

i think the biggest problem with the cell carrier industry here is the fact that the towers are not owned/operated by the government as they are in other countries - so the smaller cell companies that cant afford to build/buy many of their own towers have crappy coverage and don't compete well. or, they have to buy tower/network usage from the big guys - which is very expensive.

most of my family lives in Canada, and they say it's the same raw deal for telecommunications there.

i really hope this is a step toward the end of forced contractual ties to carriers.

oops, that was supposed to go to the spam post!

my bad.

"Why I would buy from company can't afford advertising, and use English no good?"

This is the fourth forum on Engadget today that I have read with these damn spam posts. What is this - youtube?

Well, they're pretty damn forgiving. First of all - if you can't pay your bill, they will let you use your phone AND text messaging features for almost a full month and a half after the missed payment.

AND... even when they shut your service off - you can still receive calls (good for people who are waiting on an employer to call them back, emergencies, ect.)

I dunno, it sounds pretty damn forgiving to me, considering you signed the damn contract that spelled it all out from the very beginning that you would stick with them for at least two years, and pay them every month for service.

It really ends up being your stupid decision to sign on to use a company for two full years.

Oh yeah, that measly $200 you pay (when you decide to BREAK your LEGAL agreement) covers the cost of you $400 phone that you got for free. So... it sounds pretty damn fair all and all.

@ Millah

Read the post above the one you just posted. As I have already stated, twice now, Apple clearly has the right of way.

"Everyone knows iTunes" is not to the contrary. Not in the least It's simply the statement of "why" Palm would be doing this. Before calling something a "piss poor excuse" for an argument, make sure that it is - in fact - an argument.

My statement wasn't "Palm is right and Apple is wrong." It was a statement as to why a company would continue such a battle, ultimately landing it in unfavorable territory. The whole thing is comical. And yes, I do like seeing Apple get a little pissy. It tickles me. BUT that doesn't mean I think what Palm is doing is right.

Oh yeah

@ Mike:

I agree! Of course money is relative to this whole debacle, which is why Apple doesn't want Palm mooching. Like I said, it's understandable from Apple's point of reference.

@ Millah

Of course there are a plethora of wonderful applications that perform the same tasks as iTunes (and in some cases better or more efficiently). I for one use Songbird, (it still needs work, but it's coming along nicely).

But everyone seems to be missing the point of this whole issue! The mass market for portable media is influenced greatly by iTunes. Ask anyone who has an iPod what software they use, and 98% of the time they'll say iTunes. It's the mass market that Palm wants to attract! Idiot customers don't want to spend their precious time learning other music/media software. As soon as they hear: "it works with iTunes!", they're on board. When grandma wants to buy her 19 year old grandson a new phone, and the salesperson says, "it works with iTunes!," she may not know what that means, but she has heard of "iTunes" before - and that familiarity helps the sale.

My point is, MOST people are familiar with iTunes. People stick with what they are familiar with, it's human nature. It's unfortunate that many of the great media management apps out there haven't gained as much attention (Apple wouldn't want it any other way). Even if Palm introduces it's own syncing software, it will be foreign to iTunes users. This, in turn, is unattractive for the prospective Pre customer.

Palm, like any company, knows it's competitors. Palm is smart enough to know that whatever syncing software it produces, no matter the quality - it won't gain nearly as much attention as iTunes has. BUT, Palm doesn't want to pay dues to Apple for the opportunity, so they're circumventing the software. And with that, we're back to the issue at hand.