A Study in Cultures
Having spent 9 days in the US I am now in Wiesbaden, Germany. The hotel has graciously provided each room with Free 56k Internet Service as advertised by the small sign in the room and the 3 pages of poorly photocopied instructions on how to get on line. I foolishly attempted to download a couple of podcasts when I connected. I was booted off. Needless to say, I won't be posting photos until I have something a little faster.
Cultural Study I: Cell phones
All told, I paid 225 euro ($270) up front and will pay 25 euro ($30) per month for 50 minutes with each additional minute costing me 0.40 euro ($0.48) per minute. I do get free weekend minutes, though. Internet will be an even bigger whammy. If DSL is available where I live I need to pay a 60 euro ($70) activation fee for my phone (apparently you can't get DSL without a landline phone) and 100 euro ($120) activation fee for the DSL and a DSL modem for 80 euro ($95). Then I get to pay at least 16 euro ($20) per month for the phone (that doesn't include actual usage, which costs a few cents per minute, depending on your plan, for local calls) and 25 euro ($30) for DSL 6000. Next month's credit card will be a big one.
Cultural Study I: Cell phones
Korea
I used my cell phone from work in conjunction with phone cards while in Korea, so I never purchased a phone. Others detail the process as follows.
Purchase process: Walk into store, point to phone. Owner will tell you the price. Pay for phone and a calling card. Leave with functional phone.
Total time: 5 minutes
United States
While in the US I purchased a cheap cell phone with pre-paid minutes so I wouldn't be without a phone. While I didn't need to use it on the 9-hour drive from Maine to DC, it was comforting to have it.
Purchase process: Walk into dealer. Explain what you want. Dealer will pull phone from the back room, put a SIM card in it, ask for some information and your credit card. Dealer will program the phone and hand it to you, ready to use.
Total time: 20 minutes
Germany
This was my adventure today.
Purchase process: Walk into dealer. Explain what you want. Dealer describes that you will need to fork over a small fortune for a phone. Provide credit card and a bank account number in addition to 3 forms and various other paperwork. Wait at least 3 hours for a credit check that will not be run on Sundays. When credit check is complete you may come by and pick up your then-operational phone.
Total time: 4-48 hours
All told, I paid 225 euro ($270) up front and will pay 25 euro ($30) per month for 50 minutes with each additional minute costing me 0.40 euro ($0.48) per minute. I do get free weekend minutes, though. Internet will be an even bigger whammy. If DSL is available where I live I need to pay a 60 euro ($70) activation fee for my phone (apparently you can't get DSL without a landline phone) and 100 euro ($120) activation fee for the DSL and a DSL modem for 80 euro ($95). Then I get to pay at least 16 euro ($20) per month for the phone (that doesn't include actual usage, which costs a few cents per minute, depending on your plan, for local calls) and 25 euro ($30) for DSL 6000. Next month's credit card will be a big one.
1 Comments:
But what's the phone number?
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