Being a smartphone user means having mobile Internet, tethering me to the world wide web almost 24/7. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t addicted to the Internet because of this.
The first thing I miss when I’m abroad? My dogs, then my unlimited mobile Internet. I hate the feeling of being disconnected, reduced to being at the mercy of intermittent Wi-Fi hotspots.
The first thing I do when I land home? Turn on my mobile Internet.
It’s radically altered the way I do things. I’m able to respond to e-mails faster, work on the fly and keep in touch with friends on Twitter, Facebook or instant messaging. Arguments between friends are settled easily when mobile Internet is around. Google is present to be the arbiter and decide who had it right all along.
My anger at bad traffic has steadily declined, since I can stream videos or check my news feed to kill time. My abominable sense of direction is a thing of the past, thanks to Google Maps.
Of course, being connected to the Internet all the time has left me with some pretty bad habits, like how I end up searching the plot of a film I’m currently watching on Wikipedia when it starts dragging, or becomes too suspenseful for me to wait ’til the end. Or how I’m always procrastinating from doing work because it’s imperative that I check the latest meme or Twitter celebrity fight.
There are many ways to make mobile Internet work for you. Bloggers can interact with their readers quicker and create blog entries while on the move, while shoppers can be sure they’re getting the latest deals by Googling the merchandise they’re about to purchase and checking if the prices are lower elsewhere.
Facebook addicts can stalk, I mean, check up on their exes and who they’re dating. The possibilities are truly endless.
There were early adopters that swore off mobile Internet after getting insane phone bills, but now that smartphones have become ubiquitous, more plans have been made to accommodate different lifestyles and budgets. If you haven’t gotten yourself a mobile browsing plan, it’s high time for you to do so; you’ll thank us after.
Your mobile browsing in figures
Curious to know how much it costs to snoop on your annoying friend on Facebook? Globe Telecom’s stats share the details:
A one-minute video on YouTube is approximately 2MB, so the latest Beyonce music vid is 10MB, while the highlights of the latest NBA game could range from 4-6MB.
The sweet price of being right is 40KB. A one-page Google search result yields 40 KB worth of data.
Facebook trawling? One page will cost you 25 KB. With an unlimited mobile Internet plan (P999 with Globe), you can Facebook hunt to your heart’s content.
Find the best mobile surfing plan based on your lifestyle via Globe’s data usage wizard at www.globe.com.ph/surf.