It doesn’t seem all that long ago that many of us (and I’m one), were trying to live without the need for a mobile phone.  Slowly, that resistance for most has melted away and now picking up the phone is part of walking out the door.  Certainly it’s hard to contemplate doing business without being available to customers.

They still add a layer of complexity though.  Which network to be on, how to estimate the charges and get a reasonable deal, how to not let the bill run completely away, and now that we’ve found a network that gives us coverage in the South /west, Telstra have decided that CDMA wasn’t what we needed at all.

Which brings me to a great little story about making something good from what seemed to have no up side.  Standing in the mobile phone shop the other day getting more and more steamed because our favourite carrier was letting me down again, I finally got connected to the new and improved network.  What I held in my hand was a phone that had been working fine but was now junk... mildly radioactive, full of heavy metals and dodgy to dispose of.

The guy behind the counter at Leading Edge Telecoms offered to take the phone from me, and through his rotary connections, he’s got a deal with Princess Margaret Hospital.  The offer goes that they can dismantle the phones and EVERY COMPONENT has another use, some of which raise funds for treating ill children.