h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

No, I wasn't on a five-day drinking binge or anything exciting like that; I was simply waiting for a phone line fault to be rectified. This was a problem owing to dial-up internet...

I'll spare you the details of repeated arguments with the phone company about what they needed to do to fix the fault. I'll just cut straight to the bit where I told them to shove their phone service in an anatomically inadvisable location.

Or to put it another way, I went and got a prepaid wireless broadband thingummy. I've spent the evening getting broadband set up and cutting off the dial-up acount. Then, most enjoyably, I cancelled my home phone as well. So I've gone all modern - wireless broadband and a mobile phone, no landline, no answering machine. My email addresses remain unchanged.

Hands up everyone who thought I'd never join the 21st century? *raises own hand*

But before you all send me your favourite videos and so forth, please note that although this broadband is the best currently available here, so it isn't all that fabulous really. Besides, I have less and less time these days... The main thing is that I can get here at all.

My next target: Skype. Sometime soon. Soonish. Within a year, maybe. I'll get around to it. Honest I will.

What's your data limit?

That's a big step getting rid of the landline I spend far too much time on the phone to manage with a cell.

It's prepaid, so there's no data limit as such - I just need to pay more if I start downloading entire TV series., which I'm unlikely to do as I have hardly any time for watching same.

Once upon a time I though a home phone line would be essential for me, but these days there are only two people who use it, and I've told them to use the mobile instead now. This might make them be more concise when they call, which is an added bonus.

He's back!


And on broadband!!

Goodness, the speed is startling.

Watch him go!

Oh, splendid!

That's the way how world expands.

BROADBAND! yipeenow humour can flowbut not fast Ivan

Prepay... that sounds dangerous. Do you use a credit card (don't look at youtube with that in your hand).

question Ivan, will your home email addy change ??

...and YAY for Ivan - great news about the broadband! You'll finally be able to see where the rest of us are on my "Where are you" page!

WB Ivan (though I thought you were holed up somewhere cosy with a significant other...)

finally!

about time you got all hip and modern

What's dial-up?

Welcome into the the Brave New World...

The more gadgets, the more troubles generally. Skype is good though. I has cut my phone bills significantly - and I've been able too keep in touch with family members abroad without being bankrupt by phone bills. Happy to add you to Skype ASAP.

What's Dial Up?

Assuming you're not actualy joking, Dial Up is the old system of sending data down a phone line. Unlike broadband, if you were online, you couldn't receive phone calls. It is also monumentally slower!!

I thought it made me feel old when my kids' friends looked at my record player and asked "what's that", but do we really have a generation that never knew dial-up? Hell, my best mate used to have one of those modems with the rubber cups that fitted over the handset of your telephone!

Welcome to the 21st Century, Ivan!

Not that broadband is always lightning fast- I've had connection error issues on and off for a couple of weeks now, no idea why.

It's much nicer for looking at photos, though!

My first modem ran at 28k! A 2 minute video on Youtube used to take about 10 or 15 minutes to load! I thought it was amazing when I upgraded to a 56k!!

hoggy, a friend of mine was talking to some guy when this guy's son came storming in and interrupted them by shouting 'dad, dad, i've seen the most amazing printer! it prints even as you still type! '

the kid had never seen an electric typewriter before

- - -

ivan, don't you have an answering machine 'within' your mobile phone

Hoggy, I was joking: I do know what dial-up, I've just never used it. Just teasing Ivan a bit.

Though since I moved out from my parents, I've not lived somewhere with a fixed-line phone. Always been mobile-only.