Thursday December 10
09:20
40+ days later
After 40+ days, Google has restored my gmail account. No mail to say it was restored. No explanation as to why it was taken offline.
Logging in, there is no mail or spam from Oct 31st to Nov 4th and from Nov 12th until Dec 9th. The gap with some mail in the middle would suggest that my account was restored in that time, though I have never been able to login anytime I tried, and if it was restored, why would they ban it again Nov 12th?
In any case, I’ve lost any mail sent to me between the dates above – with no mail and no explanation – and since it looks like they suddenly banned it again mid Nov, who is to say it wont happen again?
I’ve lost all trust in Google’s “cloud”. No way I’m trusting my docs and stuff to them.
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Nikon D700
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Nikon D90
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Panasonic DMC-G1
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Panasonic DMC-GH1/G1HD (check availability)
congrats on getting it back. if not goog’s cloud, then who would you trust? i used to use hotmail/msn, that is until all my mail were purged cuz i hadn’t logged on in a month…
btw, in my quest to buy an iphone, i was rejected by kt/show on the grounds of not being korean enough. i waited like a week to find this out–they didnt bother calling me. so, my 2 choices are: buy the iphone outright without the 2-year plan (and subsidies) or get sj to buy it in her name. i can buy an apartment but kt lacks the trust that a foreigner can afford to buy an iphone. how backward is that?!
Ideally we should have a standards based “portable” cloud.
A cloud is essentially a storage space. It would be great to move it from provider to provider. I could host it with my webhost, or move it to google, or move it to somewhere that has service level agreements.
In fact, I kind of have my own cloud at the moment. I can access my PC via the internet whenever I want to – via VNC or via Orb live on the iPhone.
Very surprised about KTF. There are weird rules about getting an iPhone in Japan also – they insist on monthly payment by credit card rather than monthly bank debit. It’s the only phone where that’s insisted upon. I have no idea why – maybe so that they can grab from your credit card if you run up ridiculous roaming fees.
BTW, make sure you get an unlimited data plan. My data is routinely 600,000 yen per month – about 6000 USD. Thankfully it’s capped at about 5,000 yen. And that’s without using the phone overseas.
When I was in Korea, different KTF places had different policies. A lot of them didn’t actually know the rules for non-”real”-Koreans. Make sure you get the definitive rules from KTF themselves – it’s worth phoning and speaking with a supervisor and checking the website. If they are different from what the shop is saying, print out the official rules or get the supervisor to fax you them or get refer the shop to the supervisor. I had to do something like that to get a Nate account, and I’ve had to do the same in Japan also to get a phone.
as much as i hate skt, i hate kt/show more. but i want the iphone. i’m sure something will give, as more and more people start complaining…
case in point, here’s a good rant on the iphone debacle: http://metropolitician.blogs.com/scribblings_of_the_metrop/2009/12/iphone-korea-not-for-foreigners-says-ktf.html
I tried to comment on Metropolitician’s blog, but I am not allowed because unless I am a Facebook, Twitter, Google, Myspace, or “free” blogging tool user user then I cannot comment. No way am I using my Facebook or Google profiles for blog commenting, and I host my own blog. So I’m locked out. Man, it’s harder to comment on that blog than for me to get a credit card. I’ve been blogging since 2001 (though old posts are hidden) and still I don’t qualify. ;)
So he’ll never get to read my comments unless he happens to stumble across my blog.
But I’ll write them here anyway.
Firstly, I really feel for anyone who hits these brick walls in Korea. I hit enough of them myself when trying to get phones, trying to get a Nate account, trying to use any website that wouldn’t accept foreign registration numbers.
However I think you need to re-evaluate what is “racist” Korean behaviour and what is not.
In any country it’s impossible to get a credit card unless you have the provable employment, or you are a university student. It might not be something that we like, but it isn’t unique to Korea.
Secondly, in Japan the iPhone also requires a credit card. It is the only phone to require a credit card – no other phone does. It applies to both Japanese and Foreigners, though I’ve heard a rumour that English teachers require two credit cards (joke).
There are two reasons I can think of for this.
Firstly, Apple make it really difficult to create an App Store account without a credit card. Even using PayPal, you need a credit card. Here is the only way to do it:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2534
I’m not entirely convinced that works without problems either.
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, using the iPhone overseas without roaming disabled costs a fortune. Stories like this are very common:
http://current.newsweek.com/budgettravel/2009/09/how_to_get_hit_with_a_5000_iph.html
The phone companies want to make sure they can get their money – and after you give them authorisation to charge your credit card, it becomes almost impossible to revoke.
For reference, my iPhone bill is approx 5000 USD per month which is reduced to about 50 USD because my plan caps it. If I was to use overseas where there is no capping, it would be 5000+ USD. That’s not a realistic amount to take as a deposit. (Clearly there is a huge issue with iPhones and overseas roaming, but that’s another argument.)
The points I wish to illustrate is that these are not racist Korean things against foreigners. They are not even Korean only things.
That said, I think the visa requirement – where you must have 2 years left on your visa – is ridiculous. I remember I had the same issue with LG in Korea. I solved it by printing out the requirements from the LG website and being able to show them in store. I’ve had to do the same in Japan also where I’ve been refused phones for ridiculous reasons.
In this iPhone/KTF case, I’d recommend getting the official requirements direct from KTF in written form. If they are not available on the KTF website, speak to someone in management in KTF and get them to send you the requirements. Don’t trust what people tell you instore or over the phone – get something in writing.
Then if the requirements are as restrictive as you have been told, separate out what is “racist Koreans” and what is not. Heck, if someone gets the exact requirements document and we can come up with a logical statement about how this impacts foreigners without just blaming it on “racist Korea”, I’ll put a notice about it on The Korean Blog List. We can maybe get Engadget etc interested, and maybe get Apple to change. We could certainly get Korean bloggers to link to the KBL notice about it and spread the word, right?
Maybe you want to post a link to these comments on Metropolitician’s blog. I have to say I find it mildly amusing that someone who is criticising Koreans for shutting out a small minority – foreigners – is also shutting out a minority from commenting on his blog: those who don’t use “free” blogging tools and those who don’t want to give their public Google profiles.
Heck, I could take the comment “And SK already solved this problem. KTF — what the fucksake is wrong with you? Just too lazy to change? Or just don’t give a shit?” and apply it here, replacing SK with wordpress.com and KTF with metropolitician.blogs.com. Hehe.. Just some perspective. ;)
And to the person who asked on M’s blog “does anyone know how it works if you already have an iphone? i’ve got one, am addicted to/in love with it”…
Your iPhone will be locked unless you are one of the very few with an unlocked iPhone. That means you cannot buy a new SIM for it when you move to a new country.
In Japan, even if you have a legally unlocked iPhone, you cannot buy a SIM card for it. You cannot go into Softbank or Apple and say “I have an iPhone, can I get a simcard”. You can use the phone here on roaming, but that’s it. No way to get onto the unlimited data plan. You must buy a new iPhone.
And in KTF’s defense – it’s as easy to get a phone with KTF for an F* visa holder as it is with SK. It’s only the iPhone which has this issue.
why not write the above as an individual post, and do a trackback to metropolitician’s original post?
Who reads trackbacks? ;)
btw, KT/Show’s official policy states: an F-visa holder has to pay upfront the full, unsubsidized amount of the handset. thus for F-visa holders who want the iPhone, this ‘policy’ kills their chances from the get-go. since you aren’t qualified for the 2-year plan (to pay in monthly installments), you can’t receive the built-in massive discounts/subsidies. also, they don’t offer the opportunity to buy the handset outright without a plan.
when it was called KTF a couple of years back, they forced me to pay the full amount for the blackjack. i didn’t get the subsidies back then either.
Interesting.
In Japan we can pay upfront and get a discount monthly OR get it free and no discount monthly (but with penalties). However you buy it, everyone MUST join the same unlimited plan and it’s the same cost for everyone.
Is there a webpage which describes the KTF options for buying?
Of course, you could just get your wifie to buy it for you.
http://www.kt.com/eng/index.jsp
“How can we help? 82-1588-8448″
Give them a call and ask for the regulations for signing up for an iPhone for wayguks. Get it in writing.
I can’t use show.co.kr to find out the details because I cant install the 10s of plugins required on this PC. If I try to go there from the iPhone it says “Netscape 6.0은 지원하지 않습니다” then “Not supported function” then repeats the notifications. Clearly you can’t use an iPhone to view KTF’s pages.
For the credit card, will they accept an international one? I am sure they do because I had an international credit card registered with them.
im using firefox and im not getting that Netscape 6.0 message. thx, i’ll look into getting a written statement.
have you posted the aforementioned as a post?
metropolitician’s follow post: http://metropolitician.blogs.com/scribblings_of_the_metrop/2009/12/iphone-wars-ii-the-saga-continues.html
I haven’t written a post about this iPhone issue yet, if that’s what you mean. Until I see the conditions myself, all I have at the moment is people who were each told different inconsistent things. I need hard facts as well as the user reports.
question about your data usage stats. let me get this right. 600,000 yen per month? as in 6,000,000 KRW/mo?
KT is rigging the iPhones to utilize the country-wide Nespot wifi for data…i’ll need to confirm this for the nth time when i get the iphone. so sj ordered the 32GB iphone for me last night. (they have the 8GB, physically in stock not the 3G-S). hopefully i’ll have one by next week.
Yes, about 6,000,000 KRW/month – but it is capped it 50,000 won. It is seriously easy to use iPhone bandwidth. Don’t even think of getting a plan which isn’t unlimited.
> so sj ordered the 32GB iphone for me last night. (they have the 8GB, physically in stock not the 3G-S).
Yeah, make sure you get a 3GS.
> KT is rigging the iPhones to utilize the country-wide Nespot wifi for data
That’s not a bad thing as long as (1) 3G is still OK and (2) they do it properly.
It basically means that they will set up WIFI to make it a known service.
Softbank in Japan also has a WIFI network and we can connect to it for free, but it’s a bit arse-about-tit. Your phone will connect but unless you go to Safari and open a webpage to activate a cookie, no other apps can use it. If KTF don’t require that cookie step, it’s cool.
Over WIFI you can download apps over 10MB and use Skype, so it’s advantageous. My phone automatically connects to my home WIFI network when I get home which means I can use Skype to make calls on the iPhone.
Some good apps:
Echofon – free twitter client
RssReader – free RSS reader (there’s also NetNewsWire which syncs with Google Reader)
EN-KO Dict – the cheapest one (I think it’s from clickgamer). It’s about $2 but works well.
Dictionary!
MochaVNC – access your home PC from your iPhone. They have a free version.
KorSubway
Files lite – carry files on your iPhone, eg pdfs
Shazam – tells you what music is playing
SnapTell – identifies a book from taking a photo of it
Remote – from Apple; control your home iTunes via WIFI at home
OrbLive – stream music, video, and webcam over 3G to your phone
Skype, obviously
For games, try the free version of Parking Mania. It’s quite fun.