Wireless Experiences?

[Randy Whittle <whittle@usc.edu>]

        I received a mail solicitation from Wynd Communications that offers
a 1-month free deal to get started using their service & free use (for the
month) of a wireless radio-modem.

        I'll not get into the details of the technology behind it (suffice
it to say a couple of packet-radio networks are in place that make this
methodology very workable for almost any urban-dweller--even inside
buildings), but the service seems intriguing and I think perhaps worthwhile
for what I could/would use it for.  You can send E-mail, faxes,
text-to-voice messages, alpha pages, etc. and also receive E-mail and
voice-to-text messages.

        The long and the short of it is for $30 per month, you get 200 free
messages (in/out) of 150 characters or less.  Each 150 character increment
beyond that is $0.05, and then special surcharges apply if you're sending
stuff to faxes, text-to-voice, etc. (usually around $0.30 to $0.40 each
time).  You *can* get, for $150 per month, unlimited messaging capability
(in & out--though I think the additional features/surcharges still apply for
faxes & stuff)  I'm told that 98% of their users are on the "cheapee"
$30/month plan, and with a reasonable level of frequent usage, they pay an
average of $50 to $55 per month (there are features in the software to
automatically forward all messages over a certain size to another E-mail
address--saves you from having to pay for huge messages that someone might
send to your wireless address).  This is a bit more than I pay for a
cellular phone and frankly, would negate some of what I would use a cellular
phone for anyway.

        I would primarily use this with my HP 200LX palmtop (because of its
small size and portability), but it will also work with my IBM ThinkPad 560
(with more features, due to the Windows software), so there will likely be
occasions to use it on that platform too.

        I am interested as to whether anyone on the list either uses or has
used this wireless E-mail?  Either RadioMail or Wynd (or whatever else is
out there), and for that matter what the advantages/disadvantages are to
using the RAM Mobile Data Network vs. Ardis & packet radio vs. CDPD.  For
that matter, I am interested in anyone's experiences using any particular
make/model of wireless modem.  The one I intend to get will be the Megahertz
All-Points Wireless.  I wanted the Motorola 100C or D, but it only works on
CDPD while Wynd doesn't use that network.  The only other option *appears*
to be one made by IBM, but its a Type III card--wouldn't work in my HP 200LX.

        Thoughts, comments, etc. are actively requested.  :-)

(Just as an aside, the above--not including this line, the header, or the
signature below, would cost $0.70 to receive over Wynd Mail.  It is 2118
characters.)

-------
Randy Whittle		rwhittle@usa.net
USC Graduate School of Business    http://www-scf.usc.edu/~whittle
  "If you've been in the game for 30 minutes and still don't know who
is the patsy...*YOU* are the patsy."      - Warren Buffet