2006 January » deafbiz.com

31st January 2006

No such thing as a free lunch

I’m noticing that I’m getting emails from the “getitfree” website from certain deaf friends who thinks that if they send 5 emails, they’ll get their stuff for free. Just out of curiousity, I checked the website. Their search feature sucks. Instead of a system wide search, I have to pick one category and type a keyword for each category. So, looking for “sidekick” I selected the Electronics category. No T-Mobile Sidekick there but there’s a free Cingular & AT&T Ogo Wireless! WOW! I can annoy my friends to get an obsolete, non-functional Ogo Pager! LIKE WOW!!!

And as I was typing this, I just got zapped by another getitfree email for Sidekick II. I finally found it in the Wireless category. First listing is for a T-Mobile Color Sidekick Phone. Seeing the picture it’s a Sidekick I. Did you know that Overstock.com now has an inventory of Sidekick I??? I guess they can’t get rid of it fast enough. Second listing is for Sidekick II for T-Mobile. Doesn’t say if a new T-Mobile account with activation is required. Third is for a prepaid Sidekick II. Since it can go for as up to $350, if you’ve applied to T-Mobile and got denied, then this “getitfree” for a prepaid Sidekick II “may” be a good deal.

So what’s the catch? Here’s the fine print:

To receive a free gift, members must complete a sponsored offer and get 5 friends to do the same. These offers are hosted externally on our advertisers’ websites, and a signup process may be required for offer completion.

Some of our sponsored offers include

Blockbuster Onlineâ„¢

DiscoverÂ® Platinum credit card

Netflixâ„¢

Columbia HouseÂ® DVDs

BMGâ„¢ Music Service

Citibank CitiÂ® credit card

Please keep in mind that our advertisers may take 4 to 8 weeks to report an offer completion.

Get it? You AND YOUR 5 FRIENDS have to sign up and get a confirmation of the offer, which could take up to 8 weeks! Some of the choices means applying for a credit card (you credit score may go lower). Deafies ain’t gonna sign up for the BMG Music Service. So that leaves Netflix and Columbia House DVD as possible suitable choices. The fine print didn’t say HOW LONG you have to remain a subscriber. But I’m guessing more than 2 months because the advertisers can take up to 8 weeks to report that you and your buddies stayed on the program long enough, plus getitfree can take their sweet time to process the freebie. So if you’re a subscriber of Netflix or Columbia house DVD, then it’s probably wise to continue as a subscriber until your buddy get a free Sidekick II and then cancel the services. (Google to get a discount coupon code for Netflix and Columbia House DVD).

This reminds me of the wild days when WinfreePCS was selling Sidekicks. For a while there was a frenzy about getting Sidekicks for free. The catch is that they have to sign up for a Data AND VOICE services. So we would “do the math” for our customers. We would ask them to compare the cost of paying for a Sidekick with Data plan for one year, and then compare the total cost of voice/data plan for one year. Turns out that the “free Sidekick” was NOT a good deal to deaf customers. Why pay for something you will never use?

So again, this is not quite a free offer. The catch is that you have to bet on your friends to sign up and PAY for the services for a few months in order for you to get a free Sidekick II.

Which is more important - friendship, or a freebie that may or may not arrive?

posted in Deaf, General, Technology, deaf culture | 2 Comments

21st January 2006

Deaf and ASL Videos on Google

This is what we’ll be seeing more in the future.
Instead of inserting videos in email (and hogging the bandwidth), just send the link and watch the videos!

http://video.google.com

I’ve used the search terms “deaf”, “asl”, “sign language”

With luck you’ll see some well-known oldies!

posted in Current Affairs, Deaf, Hearing Loss, Technology, deaf culture, sign language | 1 Comment

19th January 2006

Petition warning: T-Mobile Sidekick Price Skyrocket

There is yet another online petition being passed around that regarding the “Sidekick Price Skyrocket”

I am the manager of WinfreePCS Inc., which sold many Sidekicks and thus I have knowledge about how the cell phone pricing works.

So I would like to input my expertise regarding this petition.

T-Mobile is the provider that sells Sidekick device or the deaf community since few years, it has been popular allows deaf people to communicate freely to anyone in the world with powerful tools such as AIM, E-Mail and other features.

Yep, the Sidekick is a great simple starter cell phone for anyone, not just for deaf people.

For past year and half, many people have complained that T-Mobile charged too much money for the device, the current price today is $349.99, with no discounts. If you are a current customer and would like to make upgrades, you are forced to pay the discount price of $249.99.

During the time we were selling Sidekick I and II, there were insane pricing wars. Go check the archives at some Yahoo Groups related to deafness. You’ll see past advertisment for “free” Sidekicks with Data Plan. At DeafNation Expo for the past two years, certain T-Mobile dealers were advertising “free” sidekick, with or without rebates.

I have news for customers that didn’t buy the Sidekick for “free” when they had a chance: Those days of “free” Sidekicks with data plan only are G-O-N-E! Those days of $49 Sidekicks with data plan are G-O-N-E! The lowest Sidekick price with data plan is $99. Ask around or do a little digging… the bargains are still there. Go to a DeafNation Expo or a major deaf expo. Chances are there will be a T-Mobile dealer selling Sidekicks at a low price.

So the current price of Sidekick is $349.99? B.S. Even T-Mobile doesn’t sell at $349.99 without a contract. On second though, I suspect that the insignator of this petition wasn’t being that upfront that the $349.99 is probably the price for buying a Sidekick II without a contract or credit history check, much like buying a prepaid cell phone.

80% deaf people cannot afford these cost, most of the people are on SSI or almost no money, we need make sure T-Mobile to offer reasonable and make it affordable for us.

If you can’t afford a cell phone, you have no business buying one. Period. Need a cell phone? There’s cheaper 2 way pagers on the market. Or buy a prepaid phone with SMS.

T-Mobile is not legally obligated to make it more “affordable”. T-Mobile has every right to set a price to recoup the investment for building a network infrastructure, paying for employees, paying for sales commission, covering fraud (LOTS OF FRAUD), and set aside money to upgrade the network to the next generation of wireless technology.

We need our strong actions to be heard, T-Mobile will need to listen our concerns not care about our needs, they want our money, we do not have jobs like hearing world has. We do not make a lot of money, deaf people do have hard time with jobs out there and T-Mobile just cant expect us to pay the full price. Mostly of deaf people have Sidekick under parents name because of credit.

Crab theory and I’m tired of it.

Many deaf people have bad credit and impossible to get sidekick. T-Mobile needs to develop a special program where deaf people can be able to purchase them with a discounted or a payment plan.

T-Mobile is not legally obligated to provide a layaway plan. Either save money, or buy a cheaper 2 way pagers, or a prepaid cellphone with SMS or do without.

If they have bad credit, there’s so many books in the library to help them fix it and manage their money better. There’s so many excellent financial blogs. You are responsible to educate yourself on financial savvy.

If you agree with this, you feel you should pay less and be able to get it without credit check or some solution, sign this petition and show the support and we will send your voice to T-Mobile and I will make sure that they will hear our concerns!

I do not agree with this petition. I will not sign it and I will not include a URL for anyone else to sign it.

posted in Current Affairs, Deaf, General, Technology | 3 Comments

11th January 2006