Cheesy Stuff
Hmm... I really feel like posting some cheesy confessions here in my weblog. I don't know if it's appropriate to post it here, though-- I'm using my real identity here. ;)
Fair Competition
I bought my cell phone, which has seen better days, more than three years ago. Knowing that Touch Mobile was Globe's bet in piercing the C and D market, I opted to buy its SIM card rather than Globe's. I believed that it would give me better value for my money while still enjoying the same quality of the Globe network. Although I was initially disappointed upon discovering that it did not support WAP and GPRS (perhaps it did, but info in setting it up was not readily available), I was contented with its services.
Since Globe Prepaid was geared towards the lower A and upper BC market, it introduced the GenTxt card and exploited people's desire to belong to the "in" crowd. Saying "yes" to the question of, "are you one of us" was marketed to sound elitist. There was no such gimmick, however, for Touch Mobile. I was expecting them to wage an aggressive campaign against Smart's Talk-n-text, since it was clearly loosing in its bid to capture the mass market.
Maybe, just maybe, the reason why they failed to do so is that they focused on quality rather than on quantity. I have observed that they concentrated on increasing their cell site density on urban areas and its surrounding suburbs, rather than on expanding its coverage of the Philippine archipelago. Until last year, Globe did not even have a signal in Chocolate Hills, a popular tourist spot, contrary to its claim that its signal is "kusog sa Bohol." At the expense of being looked down (or up, depending on your point of view) in rural areas as "sosyal," it resulted in a very high-quality network that guarantees that your messages will be sent near-instantaneously even on peak hours. I believe that Smart, on the other hand, concentrated in capturing the market first, before improving its network. True, they provided unsatisfactory services, but it endeared itself to the masses by providing signal to far-flung poblacions.
Because I was starting to perceive Touch Mobile as a stripped down version of Globe Prepaid, I was seriously planning to switch to the latter. If not for the hassle of informing my contacts and of the fact that my cell number propagates on it own without my knowing (it found its way many times to my long-lost friends), I would have already switched a long time ago.
It is high time for Touch Mobile to provide an unlimited 24/7 plan to its clients. To safeguard Globe from overloading its network, it must allocate a certain bandwidth and limit its 24/7 plan to it, so as not to incense the post-paid subscribers and regular users. Their clients should be assured that Globe intends this to be a long-term plan, and not just a promo. Since it is more profitable for them to charge calls by the minute, they should leave this as an option to 24/7 clients, so that when their bandwidth allocation is overloaded, they can opt to avail of this premium service.
The question is, should this become successful, is it wise to provide a 24/7 plan to Globe Prepaid? In my humble opinion, it is not. First, requiring people to buy Touch Mobile SIM cards spells profits. Second, there should be a clear distinction as to what market they cater to. Third, it may encourage post-paid subscribers to discontinue their account especially if Globe's network proves to be superior in handling large amounts of traffic.
This is the beauty of fair competition. Will Globe or Smart be forced to slash their intra-network SMS rates to 0.50-0.75 per message? In a few months, Sun Cellular will shock us again with creative strategies that will strengthen their niche in the market.
While experimenting with Redhat Linux in pure text mode, I came across this quote in file /usr/share/games/fortune/science:
A Severe Strain on the Credulity
As a method of sending a missile to the higher, and even to the highest parts of the earth's atmospheric envelope, Professor Goddard's rocket is a practicable and therefore promising device. It is when one considers the multiple-charge rocket as a traveler to the moon that one begins to doubt... for after the rocket quits our air and really starts on its journey, its flight would be neither accelerated nor maintained by the explosion of the charges it then might have left. Professor Goddard, with his "chair" in Clark College and countenancing of the Smithsonian Institution, does not know the relation of action to re-action, and of the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react... Of course he only seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.
-- New York Times Editorial, 1920
This quote, recorded forever in the annals of history, is an example of why I no longer have much motivation to air out my opinions here in the blogosphere. A few years ago, when I was just entering the stage of puberty, my raging hormones seem to compel myself to type my thoughts online without inhibitions whatsoever.
Reading the archives, which are recorded in the databases of cyberspace, made me realize the absurdity of many of my posts, most especially on flame wars with adults who have nary a clue on what my age was. I hope my experiences have taught me how to use the Internet properly. Now that I can focus and defocus my attention, and restrain my hyperactivity with better control, I will try to explore more on this newfound passion of expressing my thoughts, using literature as my medium.
Posted by: simoncpu
Modified on March 2, 2005 at 10:03 AM
Fatalistic Blabbering (Rewritten in Sober Times)
If only good luck does not come in packages.
I greeted 2005 with a feeling of being "special," what with my life falling into place with a series of coincidences and serendipitous encounters. Yet, February has been quite an unlucky month. If superstitions are true, then I must be destined to borrow money the whole year because I had to cough up valuable bukos just to remove fluid from my lips on Chinese New Year.
In order to transform back into human form, after looking like a frog or rabbit on February 8, I had no choice but to undergo a root canal procedure the next day. It wrecked havoc on my carefully budgeted allowance. For a short, yet vivid narration of my experience, please refer to the "Autistic Thoughts" section of this blog. Nothing inspires writing than genuine emotions.
I have also been ripped-off by two business establishments, both at the most inopportune times. Feeling so helpless, I wished them bad fortune and ill fate. Eight or nine days later, the first one was bombed. Although I am not eager to see what will happen next, it will be the last time for me to curse someone. I do not believe in the power of curse, nor do I see life as a predetermined existence devoid of freewill; yet, guilt was the feeling I felt for though the unfortunate event coincided at the time when I wanted to exact vengeance, it was too much vengeance unwarranted. This was not the first time such fulfillment happened.
I am okay now. Cost-cutting measures, which impelled me to forego simple pleasures in life, are finally yielding its fruits. Just a little bit of patience and I will be fine. If past events were to give me any clue as to what my future brings, then I suppose that these are foreshadowings of some sort for bigger things to come. The lesson that I have learned in this experience is that I need to have the discipline in maintaining an "emergency fund" to cushion myself from unforeseen events.
I am rewriting this post in times of soberness. Until now, I never knew how a blog could be such an effective catharsis.
Posted by: simoncpu
Modified on March 2, 2005 at 10:02 AM
Kahulugan
"Nagtampo ako noon nang wala akong sapatapos na maisuot.
Hanggang sa makakita ako ng taong walang mga paa..."
--Walang May Akda
Sa lakbay ng ating buhay, madalas tayong nagtatanong kung bakit nga ba kay rami ng mga balakid at pagsubok na ating nasasalubong. Nagtatanong tayo kung bakit ang ating mga plano ay tila hindi natutupad, at kung bakit ang ihip ng Tadhana ay tila pilit na naglalayo roon sa ninanais nating paroroonan. Nagtatanong din tayo kung bakit ba ang mga bagay na ating ninanais ay hindi napapasaatin.
Hindi ko mapigilan ang pagranas ng nostalgia habang iniisip ko ito.
Una akong namulat sa katotohanan ng buhay malamang sa edad na dos o tres anyos. Nakatira pa kami noon sa Lungsod ng Quezon, Metro Manila, at hindi pa nakapag-desisyon ang aking mga magulang na lumipat sa Leyte upang makapamuhay ng matiwasay sa probinsya at matugonan ang kanilang animo'y "true calling."
Isang araw, kalilipas lamang ng pagtaligsik ng ulan, ang aming pamilya'y pumanta roon sa SM Shoemart upang mag-shopping. Tila parang kahapon lamang ito. Naamoy ko pa ang singaw ng lupa na kailan pa lamang ay tumanggap ng mga luhang langit, at naririnig ko pa ang simponya ng mga bus at jeep na nagmamartsa sa madulas na kalsada.
Sapagkat ako'y isang musmos na inosente lamang, hindi ko alam kung ano ang okasyon sa araw na iyon; ngunit, hanggang ngayon, natatandaan ko pa ang laruan na ibinili ni itay sa akin-isang plastik Lego set na, sa paglaki ko, nagbigay sa akin ng inspirasyon na gawin namang "metal Lego" ang mga appliances sa bahay namin.
Galit na galit at umiiyak-iyak ako noon, sapagkat ako'y talagang nagnanais na magkaroon ng isang miniature race track, laruang usong-uso doon sa aming maliit na village. Ang sagot lamang ni itay ay bata pa raw ako, at hindi ko pa alam kung bakit Lego ang kanyang ibinigay. Nang hindi pa rin ako tumigil sa kaiiyak, pinagsabihan agad ako ni yaya Elsa na huwag daw akong maging maarte at balang araw ay magpapasalamat din ako sa kanya. Hindi pa rin ako tumigil sa kaiiyak noon hanggan sa ako'y pinalo.
Himala at tumigil rin ako sa kaiiyak. Papauwi na sana kami nang ako'y biglang nagulat sa aking natanaw-isang bata, kasing--edad ko, na umiiyak sapagkat walang makain. Sila'y nakatira lamang sa isang basurahan, at ang kanilang bubong ay yari lamang ng isang karton--karton na katulad sa nilalagyan ng aming mga groceries.
"Mommy, bakit siya cry ng cry?", inosenteng tanong ko kay inay.
"Kase, anak, wala siyang pagkin tulad mo", sagot naman ni inay. "Matanong nga, bakit nga ba iyak ka ng iyak kanina?"
"Mommy, sabi ko nga eh I want a vroom-vroom! Buy me a vroom-vroom!"
"Neil-neil, asan ba mas importante, vroom-vroom o pagkain?" <
~HW in Fili3, April 2003
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Posted by: simoncpu
Modified on February 2, 2005 at 11:42 AM