Orange UK and data. Absolutely ridiculous. Again!

So here I am again commenting on Orange and data.

Whilst we’ve had some educational fireworks with Vodafone over the past few days, at least it works. At least the company is committed to mobile data. At least they’re talking about it — more than that, they’re advertising the hell out of it.

Orange, on the other hand. Dear me. I went into the Orange shop again. I’m a strong believer in paying for stuff (especially if I’m going to be hammering it here on the site). I should, I reckon, at least experience it, no? I’m going to pop into the shop downstairs later and get an N82.

Dan Ilett, editor of Greenbang and my partner in blog services firm, Tollejo Media, sits opposite me. When he’s not writing for the FT or The Telegraph, he’s doing media training or advising clients on how to manage their blog relations. He’s got an Orange-branded Nokia N95. It works. It’s got a data capability. He doesn’t like the Orange interface that they’ve invented and stuck over the standard Nokia one. But he appears satisfied. The only issue, when I see him QIKing I have a virtual heart attack wondering what crazy amounts of money it’s costing him.

Because data clearly isn’t Orange’s forte. Not at all. I picked up a copy of their brochure when I was in the store earlier. I’ve just had a flick through it. Shocking. Hardly a mention AT ALL of mobile data or even mobile browsing. This is MAY 2008. It’s all about text messages and minutes. I find this unreal.

So much so I’ve used The Flip to do a video to show you how crazy it is: