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There are several things in life that we are charged for that I think should be free.. directory assistance is one of them. Especially mobile directory assistance. Talk about being a captive audience...you are in your car, you need a phone number, you HAVE to dial 411 and while in absolute terms $.150 is not a lot of money, the principle of the charge is just one of those things for me. So, when I saw David Pogue's column titled, Free Service to Inspire your Cellphone, I was in fact inspired to read it. Here's the drill:
Dial 1 - 800-FREE-411 (800-373-3411)...listen to a 20 second ad and you get the number for free. First you talk to a computer and if that fails, they transfer you to a live person.
Hate advertising? 20 seconds seem like an eternity? Well, Send a text message to 46645 (Google without the "e"). Ask for the number such as your doctor, in New York. Seconds later, you get a return message from Google, complete with the name, address, and phone number. Its incredible. You can also ask for a weather report, word definitions, movies, etc.
As I was writing this last night, our power went out under the crush of a winter snow and ice storm. We have lived at this address for almost three years and this was the third power outage, though first winter one. The last two times the experience lasted days, which seemed like years. So, right now I am sitting at Panera Bread, or in the local vernacular, St. Louis Bread Co or just BreadCo where the coffee is hot and the wi-fi is free. As it should be. Thanks again, Panera.
Tags: Panera Bread, Skype, Marianne Richmond, David Pogue, Google, Directory Assistance, Mobile, free wi-fi
Marianne Richmond also blogs at Resonance Partnership and Conversational Media Group.
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