Life Online Mobile

For much of the last month, my online life has been conducted via my mobile phone.
The big difference is that I haven't read anything very long or deep for a while.
In theory, picking up a copy the Weekend Age (Melbourne's major broadsheet newspaper) should have tempted into a solid read - but I didn't have that reaction. I think the days of reading newspapers are gone for me. I suspect I now have a reluctance to read a passive medium one where I have no ability to split off to check a point/detail/issue as it arises in reading - or to add a blog note as a response thought occurs.
I find I get annoyed at having to eye-scan around to re-find something I'd noticed, or at the inability to clip text from the page to put into a search engine.
One the twitterers I follow recently said "dear newspapers: your industry is dying and it is your own goddamned fault" and I have to say I agree.
Not that I've been reading the web much on my mobile - full browsing I've reserved for matters of need. Instead, FaceBook and Twitter have been my friends, letting me keep in touch with folks back in W.A. via the latter and lightly entertained via the former. Quite often I've passed over Tweets with hyerlinks with "must read that page later" thoughts. And it is to do those that I'm waiting patiently to have a new home with a fast cheap net connection to enjoy.
I haven't missed TV at all. Thankfully I don't seem to have missed any operas on SBS on Saturday afternoons in January. I did a test recording of digital TV on the notebook last night (using an antenna cable+splitter that we had couriered to the serviced apartment) so hopefully that will cover whatever few unmissable things are coming up.

Mobile Wireless Broadband

We also picked up a mobile wireless to help in house/job hunting but being one connection only that has been rationed to vital purposes only so far. After shopping around, the best deal was Crazy John's with a dongle modem (via Vodafone) + 30 days of 1G data for $79. CJ's also had the best sales staff, who simply listened to what I needed and gave me the least cost good enough solution. Brickbats to the Optus shop(s) who were unable to answer questions or unable to deal with a sequence of clients. One even stated blank that there was no such thing as Optus pre-paid broadband and offered me Virgin. As it happened I got the best Optus info from a TeleChoice vendor. The wierd thing about all of them is that apart from topping up their credit there is currently no way to later use the broadband modems - specifically as there is no such thing as a SIM-only deal from any of the networks. Hence all you can do is top up for the network whose SIM came with the modem. Presumably this may happen at some later stage.
p.s. I can easily forgive those who get confused about what "wireless" broadband refers to. When I use WiFi to connected to a (presumably) wired broadband, either at home or while at a hotspot, surely that is also "wireless" broadband". There never seems to be an end to the situations where the ICT industry almost seems to be trying to confuse people.