Verizon

I recently purchased the new Verizon BlackBerry Pearl. I researched the pricing on Verizon's website and it quoted me a price about $100. So I went down to the Verizon store at the Cambridge Side Galleria ready to plunk down my money for a new phone and 2yr agreement. What ensued seemed like something froma used car dealership. First the Verizon guy asked me to login to my account to show him the price I was quoted on the Verizon site. Once he was satisfied that it was a legit price, he proceeded over 15-20 mins of constant back and forth with the 'back row' Verizon representatives. At the mall store there's the front row folks, and directly behind them is another row or reps who apparently have all the pricing power. From time to time he would update me on the 'success' or 'failure' of his ability to get me the same deal. Keep in mind this is a Verizon branded store not a generic cell phone shop. Over the 15-20 mins my wife observed that the back row reps were all fairly young (less than 21) and seemed to act like they were in an exclusive club and how dare anyone try to bargain with them! Finally the best deal they could offer to match their own online price was $150 and a mail in rebate of $50. So I said thanks, declined their counter-offer and went back home. Ordered the phone online for $100 and it showed up 2 days later. I was able to activate it over the phone and am quite happy with my new BB Pearl.

I also bought my wife a new phone via the web, but we still had to transfer the stored phone numbers so we went to another Verizon store this time in Everett on Mystic View Rd. Our experience here was what one would expect. Professional, courteous and efficient. We walked in, talked to the greeter, he took us over to the tech support folks, we gave them the phones and less than 10 mins later walked out with the phonebook transferred from old phone to new phone.

Moral of the story, if you want a new phone,try to do it online first for the best deals, and stay away from the mall stores where it seems that customer service takes a back seat to bratty behavior.

Frozen in Cambridge

Winter has come to Cambridge with a vengeance. Too bad as I was really enjoying the mild winter in December. We've gotten some snow and wind, oh the wind. And recently we've had some arctic air come down over Cambridge and drop temperatures in the single digits with wind chills in the negatives. On a recent trip to Indiana I missed the cold weather in Cambridge only to get some freezing rain in Indiana. The pictures are from the next day and yes the entire tree is coated in ice, it might look like water dripping of the tree, but trust me its ice. All of the trees in Columbus IN were coated, making it look like Christmas again.

Err

Err and Ignignokt caused much stress and confusion for some and fun for others in the city of Boston this week. On Wednesday there were bomb reports all over the city that devices which contained components of IEDs were placed on bridges and buildings in the city. I-93, the major interstate thru Boston was shut down for a period along with several bridges, major roads around the city and the subway as bomb squads removed the offending devices.
However, the devices turned out to be nothing more than a bunch of LEDs on a circuit board with some Duracell D batteries. Any why were they placed there? All part of a viral marketing stunt gone wrong, for the Cartoon Network's Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Turner Broadcasting owned up to the scheme and offered to pay the city's costs. Funny or Serious?

Here's what I found interesting about the whole thing:

• The 'devices' were in place for 2-3 weeks before being found on Wednesday, if they were actual bombs then that doesn't say much for our post 9-11 security.
• They shoot a water cannon at the 'device' to disable it. Umm very high tech.
• Now some folks in other cities where the ad campaign didn't create a huge public scare are selling the devices on ebay for about $600.
• The blogs and other internet sources had it figured out by about noon. Yet the authorities continued their efforts through 5pm. Timeline.
  

While you can't fault the Boston authorities for doing what they did, since they have to take every threat seriously, a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. Prosecuting the two guys who were responsible for putting up the signs seems a little overzealous since their intent was not malicious.

Its not like incidents like this have not happened before. The Orson Wells War of the Worlds radio cast in 1938 certainly caused quite a stir. Let's hope future events are as benign as this one.