Verizon’s DataGate
In less than two weeks Verizon will be implementing tiered data for new smartphone activations. The policy is very draconian in nature and unfair to users. It represents a major step backward in the way companies are trying to handle new technology. While yes current users are grandfathered into the plan it will be a matter of time before that will be taken away. The problem with tiered data is not that they are charging you for X GB for $N. It is a unfar pricing structure.
The structure is currently looks like this:
Image from Android Central
The unlimited plan will turn into a 2GB cap for $30. If you go over you will have to pay $10 per GB after that. Your first two GB’s are charged at an upfront cost of $15 per GB and you have to pay for both of them even if you only use half of the alloted price per month. If Verizon wants to charged on a tiered model going toward a pay what you use model is a good idea. If you only use 1 GB you can pay for that, if you use more than that you pay for that total use.
This is a good scare tactic to get people out there to sign up for Verizon or upgrade their phones now. The problem is this doesn’t fix the “problem” of data hogs. If you already are on Verizon’s network and being a data hog you are not punished If you are or were data hog on another network you will run to Verizon to get grandfathered in on the unlimited data.
If you are in contract with another cell provider I don’t know why you would buy out you contract for the prospect of “unlimited” mobile data. I use about 1GB of data a month. I don’t know how I would even cross 2 or 3 GB in a month. Tiered data packages will start to kill the streaming media that is making its way to the cell phones. How much Hulu, Netflix, or streaming music can you use on a two GB plan with out going over?
The Back-Up Plan
After my loss of OS crash I decided to look for a backup plan. I looked for something that would provide ease of use and that would allow me to have a complete back up. I looked into cloud back-ups like Carbonite, thought about purchasing a removable hard drive system, I thought about using another internal drive as a backup solution. I thought about many different solutions.
Making my back up solution choice was not easy. I have a tendency to just coast for a bit and ignore certain things. Before I decided on a plan I had to decide what data is important to back up. Not all digital data is created equally.
I broke my data down into three categories. This allows me to back what I feel is important. Here are my categories:
- Easily Replaceable – This pretty much anything that can be replaced with ease. For instance a large majority of my MP3 collection is ripped right from CDs I own. If I lost it, it would be a pain to re-rip and re-tag all of them, but I could do it. This also includes all MP3s I bought as digital downloads.
- Hard to replace – Things that would be hard to replace but are out there. I have a large collection of Desktop Wallpaper that I’ve accumulated from various niche websites and forums.
- Irreplaceable – Photos, documents, thoughts, My Documents, unfinished projects.
I back up both the Hard to Replace and the Irreplaceable on a portable 500GB Western Digital drive about once a week. I say about because I have missed back-ups. I typically do a full back up instead of an incremental. I take my weekly back-up with me to work every day.
I also double back up my Irreplaceable files to an online could service call Sky Drive. Sky Drive is part of Windows Live Services and allows me 25GB of free online storage. I update the documents less frequently.
The cloud back-up is my last resort if anything happens to my computers location. This back-up is not up-to-date with the latest changes on certain documents but it can get me buy if needed.
To create a better back-up system I am tempted to add in another portable drive and create a rotation of back-ups. Each drive would be at the rotation two weeks out of date.
Do you have a back-up plan? What is it? Does it cover your needs?
