Saturday, May 9, 2009
Connecting In and out of Hong Kong
Although we host an array of desktop computers at home, I have done no air travel with a laptop at my fingertips. Imagine my delight when I found wireless access and laptop work areas equipped with electrical outlets scattered around terminals at the Atlanta, Boston, New York, and Hong Kong airports (okay, call me behind-the-times). Hilda purchased U.S. airport wireless access for a nominal fee, but in the Hong Kong airport, wireless access is free, so I download all my email and let Calliope use the laptop.
As I jet around these airports, the beauty of internet telephony really hits me. I am traveling with my "home phone" and it will work anywhere in the world where I have a computer and broadband access. My home phone currently runs over the internet - a very small, lightweight, practically empty box with a USB connection. I plug it into a computer with either a headset or an actual telephone connected and, voila, my telephone is ready for use. The service costs $20/year. And that's anywhere in the world to anyone in the U.S. or Canada !!
But here we are in the Hong Kong airport considering whom to call back in the United States, and it won't cost us an extra penny. Although I am travel-weary, the novelty of such connectivty cuts through my jetlag fog and I get set up to call Tom. Thankfully, Calliope realizes that there is a twelve hour time difference and it's 3am at home. No phone calls, thank you very much. Maybe it's time for a short nap.
I do realize that there are many other methods to make that phone call. Pay-phones, cell phones, pre-paid phone cards, skype and skype phones, and many other VOIP possibilities. I have used most of these services and I can say first hand that they all have their advantages. But what I am excited about is that given the escalating ubiquity of WiFi, it is now quite easy to bring my exact home phone solution with me around the world, at an exhorbitantly low cost.
As I pull myself out from under the various technical details, I ponder that here in China, I can easily make a phone call halfway around the world using public wireless resources, but I must determine whether water from the tap is safe to drink or must be treated. Modernization arrives at its own pace, in fits and starts. Does it provide a glimpse into the societal priorities of its target audience? Or perhaps of its purveyors? More on that later, I'm sure.
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Remember I told you that I am a digital lady? hehe, yes, I am. I take a fancy to all digital gadgets. I have all those digital things, old and new, packed in my small seaside apartment. I was pleasantly surprised when I found there were hot spots here and there in London. I was even delighted when I suddenly found myself connected to the internet on the first moring of my homestay with an Intalian faimily in Zone 3, London. I am a lady who cannot live without PC, without the internet. I have one Sony laptop(a very cute one, said to be the thinnest and lightest in the world when I purchased it in 2005 )and one desktop at my home. I think I am the first Skype users in China. I chanced upon it six years ago and I was really happy when I found that it has the best sound quality which all the other chatting programs do not feature. Lucky me! I have an USB mobile (only mobile in my apartment, hehe...)and I Skype in and out very often. All my students said that I am a very fashionable lady and keep up with the latest trends. Yes, I am very trendy! Welcome to my seaside home and experience wireless connection at every corner of my small apartment!
ReplyDeleteIt's SO cool that you guys are in China!! I was there in '02 but I know its changed lots since then. Were you shocked at how big the city is? I thought Xiamen would be small... but I was wrong.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to read more... and tell me about your phone will you?
Take care,
Judy
very interesting about the phone and water comment. We are on the way in 11 days to Ethiopia! to bring our son home. In Ethiopia many children can't go to school because they must walk for miles to get drinking water for the family, each day. Same is true for many women. And Jennifer and I have been trying to figure out how to best to stay in touch with Helen while we are there. It is an irony, illuminating as such.
ReplyDeleteJudy, we use a MagicJack. I didn't want to make this sound like an advertisement, so I didn't include the specifics above. For some people, the MagicJack works flawlessly. For us, we have great quality, but it is not always reliable. Amazingly it seems more reliable here in China, running off my laptop, than it did at home. Coincidence? Probably :-)
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