Mr.CBB’s Personal Finance Reading List #5- Hello Blackberry Z10 and Show Me The Money Ticketmaster!
“Out of the Ditch and back in the right direction” sums it all up in this article about the Blackberry Z10 and the new name for RIM this past Wednesday in New York City.
The surprise when CEO Thorsten Heins said goodbye to RIM and hello to Blackberry was as if something new had been born and I’m sure the feeling is mutual all around.
I think it was long overdue and Blackberry will now start to pump up the volume sort of speak, something they’ve wanted to do for some time. Joshua Topolosky goes on to say in his review of the new Blackberry device that it is a perfectly usable device with a strong (OS) but the battery life is not much to be desired.
One thing with cell phones that I used to find a con was the battery life as well and I’m sure you’re all shaking your head in agreeance. There’s nothing worse than having to charge your phone day after day because it won’t hold a proper or long enough charge.
Many of us are on the go for hours or days on end and plugging in to charge up can be a bit of a slow-down although there’s nothing wrong with a plug-in during sleeping hours.
Will you make the switch back to Blackberry? When I asked one of my mates they said no they have no desire to move back and forth. The article says the phones will hit the shelves in Canada Feb 5 which still leaves you time to think about your options.
Personally, I don’t own a cell phone but I did in the UK as it was cheaper than a land-line.
The price point is still hard for me swallow as it’s much more expensive to own a phone in Canada than in the UK. The wife has a phone but nothing fancy and only has it for vehicle emergencies even though I still don’t think that’s necessary.
We did grow up in the 70’s after all and we made it through just fine without them.
Go ahead, try your luck and haggle a great deal with Rogers or whomever for a fancy phone if you want but we’re already looking for ways to cut our budget. In my opinion (not the Mrs.), unless someone REALLY needs a cell phone, then it’s a pointless waste of money with these high prices, even if the Mrs. still insists on it.
Never know, I might be back to this post one day and eat my words but for now I’m sticking to it.
On an even brighter note Ticketmaster has been ordered to pay back $850,000 in a court order settlement to Canadians who bought tickets from a site called TicketNow a resale site for concerts and events.
The cheque might not be much $36 less some legal fees but it sends out a big message to the organization.
Apparently, Ticketmaster would say they were “sold out” yet divert customers to TicketNow who magically had tickets BUT the catch is you would have paid a premium cost for those tickets.
According to the Yahoo article, “Ontario and Manitoba have enacted a anti-scalping legislation that makes it illegal to divert regularly priced tickets to a site that demands premium price”.
Although who’s to say this is even going to stop the scalpers, likely not as they will always find a way and hope they don’t get caught.
I have yet to go to a Concert in Canada and it’s because costs are astronomical and they know people will pay the price. If you really think about it, who is their competition, no one.
Back in the UK I used to go to concerts once in a while but have since stopped because I really don’t fancy paying the crazy prices.
Time to come back to reality, but just like everything else once money starts to be abundant some can get greedy and want more and more.
There is always someone, somewhere willing to pay the price even if it is overinflated for that once in a lifetime opportunity, so they think.
Those will be the one’s that will argue the toss about what I have to say and that the price is worth it to see their number one band live and that’s OK, spend your money, it’s yours after all.
When was the last time you went to a live concert and what did you pay?
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Thanks for the mentions. I’ve been to two concerts in my life. The first was Live8 in Philadelphia. I lived just an hour away at the time, so it was a no brainer to attend a free concert with some of the biggest names in music. Since then I went to a Christian rock band show with my wife about 2 years ago. Those tickets cost about $20,
Hey I would have went if it were free as well, why not right. Cheers mate.
Thanks for the blog mention! Wow that last concert I don’t even remember (not including a local live band at a bar), but I did go see the sing a long sound of music at the hollywood bowl in sep, so that probably counts. I used to go ALL the time in my 20’s and even in my 30’s…but I’ve mellowed out. 🙂 It’s hard to know anyone who doesn’t own a cell phone now! wow! I don’t have a land line so it’s my only phone.
I think if it’s your only phone that’s fine, I did the same in the UK. Here in Canada I simply can’t justify having both. Have a lovely weekend Tonya.
Man, I cannot go back to the blackberry! That said, I have been an apple fan for quite a long time and I am thinking about Samsung all of a sudden..Things are getting interesting, indeed. Thanks for the mention, and keep up the incredible work!!
I don’t have either nor have I ever, guess you can’t miss what you never had! Cheers mate… have a good one
Thanks for the mention Mr. CBB. That’s some pretty shady business practices for Ticketmaster to take part in. Glad that I’m not a concert fan. Have a great weekend.
True, guess the consumers will be happy when they get a cheque in the mail but the good part is they were exposed.
Thanks so much for including my link Mr.CBB (and for sending me that email).
As for the blackberry – There is almost nothing on Blackberry that I want. So why would I move. I’m pretty sure Google and Apple have this market covered and RIM like Nokia is a company that was great years ago, but failed to keep up with what the market wanted and is now paying the price.
There is always going to be competition and one having the upper hand over the other with one feature or another. Are consumers really going to keep bouncing back and forth?
Thanks for including our post, Mr. CBB!
Mr. PoP got a blackberry playbook back when stores were struggling to get them off the shelves and is hopeful that RIM, err.. Blackberry, is going to stick around as a company for a while and keep updating their legacy technology.
Wouldn’t that be a bummer… what if though? What a waste of $$$ … everything in life is a risk I say! Have a good one mate.
I’m hoping RIM turns it around, simply because they’re Canadian. But as someone who switched to Apple about 8 months ago, I won’t be switching anytime soon.
I agree Eddie, the last thing I would want to see is Waterloo shut down because (Blackberry) gets flushed down the toilet. I know people that work there that went and bought these HUGE houses in Waterloo and now they are treading water with the ups and downs of this company. Never put your eggs in one basket… ya, I’d say so. I hope they can recover and show us what they are made of even if they don’t get back those that left… there’s always more customers waiting in the line-up…. cheers mate.
We haven’t been to a concert in a few years, but when we do go it is a vacation because we have to travel at least to a major city. I’d spend money if it was someone I loved. Thanks for including me. Have a great weekend.
Another good point, so not only are the tickets costing a fortune you have to factor in all the extras if you live outside of the major city. I’d say that would be a mini vacation alright… have a good weekend Kim
I like the look of the new Blackberry, and the personal/work segmentation. But I don’t think it is enough to cause me to switch. Plus, Apple and Android will most likely have the feature relatively soon.
Thanks for the mention.
Mates of ours don’t fancy switching back now that they have the Apple IPhone.. it can get costly with the tug of war of technology. Cheers
Haha, I like how you did the round up of featured posts. Thanks for mentioning me, MR. CBB. Have a delightfully wonderful weekend!
Ya, thought I would switch it up. I might start having some sarcastic fun that way maybe lol..
First off thanks for adding me to your weekly round up Mr. CBB. I truly appreciate it. I’ve never had a Blackberry before so I can’t say if it’s any better or worse but my brother had one and he switched to an iphone and said it was far simpler to use.
Ya same here never owned one of those fancy phones. I’m afraid if I go near one I’m doomed forever lol.. have a great weekend Chris! Cheers Mr.CBB
Thanks for the mention – I’ve heard of TicketNow, who knew they were so sleazy! Or is it Ticketmaster who is sleazy…
I own a PAYG phone and we have no land line here, it’s not possible. I just discovered that if I buy my internet credit on certain days, they will give me bonus minutes on the phone, so phone calls are basically free from now on. I rarely call friends but do call contractors, banks and the like, if I want anything done I have to. I also like the fact that people can reach me if they need, but apart from that wouldn’t want or need the last gadget around.
Last concert? No idea! A few free ones during summer in Europe and we had tickets to go see Andrea Bocelli in Central Park back in September (free too) but couldn’t make it so we gave them to friends. One even came from Guatemala just for the show! Tickets here are pretty cheap, maybe $20 if you don’t go VIP, but there aren’t many good bands coming. Red Hot Chili Peppers next months though! Thanks for the mention.
Hey if you can get cheap tickets I’d say go for it. They can price gauge us in some places of this world. In the UK I had a pay as you go as well BUT they minutes rolled over every month NOT HERE… you use em or you lose em… so if I put $20 on my phone and didn’t use them in the month.. bye bye and frankly, I’m not a phone type of guy. I’m more like yes, yes, ok.. later… type of guy. Cheers mate… have a good one.
I would love one of the new BBs! I really want the multiple profiles feature. That’s impressive that neither of you have cell phones that you use all the time. We don’t have a landline, but two smartphones definitely come with a cost 😉
If we killed our landline here and went with one smart phone we could do that. To justify a landline and 2 smart phones is really silly though. IMO….
What an update this week Mr. CBB! I had Blackberry a few years ago, but they already fell off my radar. Many companies around here have dropped them completely for iPhones or other ones because they were tired of dealing with the issues. Thanks for the mention and I hope you have a good weekend!
Sometimes it’s good to see who’s listening and reading but the list will shorten when I move to the new site. I’ll keep it to the BEST of the week.. at least that’s the goal. Not this guy, although you never know what the future holds for Mr.CBB and a cell phone haha Cheers mate.
Thanks for the mention as always Mr. CBB! It has been a LONG time since we’ve been to a live concert. The last one I can remember was seeing U2 live here before we had our daughter and she is five now…so it’s been a while. 🙂 The tickets were in the range of $150/piece, but were worth every cent of it. Have a great weekend sir!