So I had my first experience of the wireless, mobile world of modern computer communications today. I finally got around to setting up my Nokia 3330 (which I've had for... about a year and a half now?) for Basic WAP Access (which is all it supports). Initially I had dreams of doing fantastic things with it - updating the AoZ Blog on the move, for example (and therefore perhaps starting my own Blog for mobile observations). Alas WAP is more restricted for me than it seemed in the first ten minutes of use. I seem to have to access sites by following links from a restricted, small set of "trusted sites". Luckily this includes the masterful Google, but therefore adds about two expensive minutes to the access time for each site. I also cannot see the login boxes for username and password on Blogger, which is a huge pain.

The upside, and what looks like being my primary use for it, is the ability to access e-mail - specifically the free e-mail account that comes with my Mobile Phone operator (O2, the mobile arm of British Telecom). So I've set up the ever interesting Bad Signal column from Warren Ellis to send copies there and I may add more as time goes on. I can also access the textual content of the BBC news service with great ease, be it news specific to the UK or world-wide. This should fulfil my lust for information sufficiently for the foreseeable future. The trick is to remember to end the call every time I have several screens of text to read. My wallet may get rather thin if I venture too far...

WAP, despite some over-hyped and over-criticising press it has received, appears to be a useful service. I'm a speedy mobile phone typist so I could easily send useful and coherent e-mails if I want to. As I've already mentioned, I will be able to access several interesting sources of information without too much hassle. Storing access details would have been rather handy (therefore saving me an expensive minute every time I wanted to check the mailbox, for example). So would a removal of this stupid inability to visit most sites without going through Google.

It makes me look forward to the "Land Of Employment", when I can afford a palm-top computer and a better phone. Then I can truly inflict my constant ranting upon the world, no matter where I am. Oh yes, The Word already works pretty well on WAP. I'm a disease, I swear.

Written to Offspring - Burn It Up