Guess where I am right now? In a netopia internet cafe. Yup, despite my two dial up connections (infocom and i-manila) and two laptops, I decided to go here for the moment since the very slow dial up connection drives me nuts. Why then can't I just get broadband or DSL? Well, I am a very mobile person, and I would need to always connect at home at work or wherever I am.
I was mulling on getting We Roam despite some negative reviews on its slow speed. I guess it spells convenience for even if I am in the car I can surf with my laptop. I just had difficulty signing up for one. I am always in a hurry and the office was quite far from makati. I had to gather all the requirements then when it was ready I was busy. After a couple of months, I really needed it for the traffic in the metro drives me nuts specially when I have to send something important. I wouldnt want to do that with my mobile on gprs for that would be quite expensive. I just prefer to be productive even while in a traffic jam.
During the last PICS Congress I was about to sign up specially that the one assisting me was efficient. Unfortunately, the following day when I had all my requirements, the one manning the PLDT booth was far from helpful so I never got the account again. Some other people in the main office kept calling me but then again I didnt have time for that.
If only I had so much dough, I would have broadband at work, in the house plus a We Roam account. Innove has their Universal Access equivalent of PLDT's We Roam but its only for corporate subscribers at the moment.
Why can't the whole metro manila be a hot spot? If you follow my blog, you would have read my recent experience in makati where wi-fi was mistaken for food :)
How I wish it will be easier and more affordable to be connected in this country!
Now for my experience in Netopia - too much security. Well I guess they have to for some users maybe technically challenged. When I first logged in, I went to my 'excite' site where all my bookmarks are located. It will be easier for me to open the sites I regularly visit. It was blocked! I guess its due to the name 'excite' with sexual connotations. Why then is hotmail not banned ? :)
I had to transfer to another cubicle and I heard the staff say, another excite user to be moved to a different computer. It means many people still use this web portal after all. I started organizing my bookmarks with excite and was quite difficult to keep transferring them to yahoo or google or whatever is the present flavor. Guess excite had the first mover advantage in that respect.
When this netopia greenbelt branch was located near the Max Restaurant, they had Adobe Photoshop in their machines. Now there is hardly any program except microsoft office. Hmmm... is it due to the recent BSA raids? :)
Tomorrow I am supposed to attend a 'by invitation only' session sponsored by microsoft. A good friend invited me so I couldnt say no but I had to ask what the agenda was for it was hazy. I was told to check out a link which I did. It seems several small groups were scheduled, maybe a handful per session for there are limited 'gadgets'. From what I have read it seemed we will be taught some basic course on usage of perhaps of the computer, laptop, mobile for work. Hmmm again, isn't that too basic? I called my friend and gave this feedback. If you ask me, I would want to learn something I still dont know and there are lots of them. Nevertheless I will go first because of my friend who is in charge of this, second the food, which will be at hyatt, and third, curiosity :)
Well I guess for the people in this country to be more connected, I do believe the cost of access must be brought down - cost of hardware and connection. The telcos and providers need to follow a similar model to what they did with the mobile phone. How I wish I can see this sooner.
