Bane of the Week:
Blue Sky Communications

Island life, like life in general, if full of its ups and downs; however, on the island, you kind of have to accept what comes your way because you have no choice. Okay, maybe I exaggerate a tiny bit. There are some choices. For example, when you go out to dinner, you have the choice between the meal where everything is fried or a sandwich. I mean, I am stuck on a volcanic rock thousands of miles away from any mainland, so it makes sense that the pickin's are a little slim. I am used to living in the world of the have nots, so I did not think that I would be so bothered by the havenottedness of American Samoa. No customer service. I can live with that. No real variety of food. I can deal. Mobile phone network that overcharges and provides backward services. I've drawn the line.

Blue Sky Communications is awarded the Bane of the Week recognition for their exorbitant prices, lack of quality services, weak network reception, and the inabilitly to allow me to make my weekly Sunday-evening phone calls (which I could do until last month) because the number I have to dial is not available from your calling area. Has the island moved?





I have three letters for those working at the Blue Sky offices that got a laugh out of the email that was circulated about the African iPod: MTN.





MTN is an African based mobile phone network that offers services leaps and bounds beyond what we have here in American Samoa. It's easy to poke fun at the creative problem solving employed by our impoverished African brothers and sisters, but some things they really got right.



Sometimes less is more.
(I don't want to be nit-picky, but who ever designed Blue Sky's web site should definietely take a look at the MTN site and get some ideas.)

Oops... Blue Sky did it again. How much plastic coated paper do you need to print a 10-digit authorization code? Apparently in American Samoa they need 18cm x 8 1/2cm. There is not enough trash lying around the island already.