This cellphone is loaded to the hilt with features: GPS, 400×240 WQVGA display, 2 mega-pixel camera, MiniSD slot, 2Mbps net connection, radio receiver and on and on and on…

Why doesn’t North America have phones like these? Why are our networks so damn slow to adopt new technologies?

Come to think of it…

• Land-mass; Canada and the United States are much, much larger than most european and asian countries. The costs and risks of rolling out new technologies across each country are enormous.
• State-owned networks; I believe many of the european and asian states still have state-owned and operated networks. The costs of upgrading networks are most likely subsidized by the government.
• FCC radio spectrum auctions; Can you believe the US gov’t raised $14 BILLION dollars by licensing radio air space? T-Mobile alone spent over $4 billion. That’s quite a bit of money to shell out before spending a single penny on rolling out technology to actually take advantage of the license.

So that explains the networks, but what about the phones themselves? Why are we pre-occupied with form over function phones like the RAZR or PEBL from Motorola? I’d like to get my paws on something that has a nice mix of looks and features without having to sell one of my kidneys in order to get it.

Rant’s over and I still want a fancy pants cell phone. I even have my next phone picked out, a coming-soon-to-Europe-but-maybe-never-to-Canada BenQ-Siemens SL91.

So I get home and have some leftovers but I’m feeling not feeling quite full. No worries, there’s always the old stand-by, buck-a-slice pizza downstairs.

I’m not sure if the term buck-a-slice is universal, so let me elaborate. In downtown Vancouver, you can find an abundance of cheap, in terms of both price (usually $1Cdn/slice) and quality, pizza joints. This is especially true in areas with a high concentration of either ESL (english as second language) schools, bars or night clubs.

Downstairs from where I live, there are two of these pizza places side by side. The one on the corner serves a tastier pie. Everyone goes to the joint on the corner. So much so that they raised the price a bit last year and everyone, myself included, still went there.

So you might be asking, what the heck does this have to do with the next-gen console wars?

Everything.

This was fine when it was say something like $1.25 vs $1.00 per slice. But I have to call bull-shit when the price is now $2.00 vs $1.00. Your pizza may be a better, but it’s not THAT good.

People are dumb gullible but sooner or later they are going to realize that it’s not worth paying that extra quarter or two for the same experience they can get next door.

Sony’s trying to convince everyone that the PS3 is filet mignon just because the PS2 sold like gangbusters and had arguably better games. You hear the Sony exec’s saying that people are going to have to work longer hours so they can afford to have the priviledge of buying this holy grail of gaming. Yeah right.

You’re still that cheap slice of pizza that gives me instant gratification. What makes you think I’ll spend six large for you when I can get the same for less with the 360 and half as much for the Wii?

Smart gamers will have seen through the BS already from Sony’s dismal showing at this year’s E3. Most parents won’t be able to afford a PS3 for their bratty kids, if they can even find one, given Sony’s production problems. Speaking of kids, how many kids would you know that would know the difference between a fine cut of meat and a hamburger from McDonald’s?

Thanks but no thanks Sony, I’ve already gotten my next-gen fill from the Xbox 360. If I do feel a bit peckish around Christmas, I’ll grab a quick snack with the Wii.