Netflix, a single entity, now accounts for. 20% of the United States Internet traffic. Living On A Cloud. 1st Quarter 2011

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1 1st Quarter 2011 I n s i d e L i n e Committed To Meeting Our Members Needs Living On A Cloud When it comes to technology, it seems that people generally fit into one of two categories - either you don t really care about WHY something works, just that it does work or you are one those who want to know ALL the details on how something works. Call it natural curiosity or inquisitiveness, MAC versus PC user or anything else, when the media today talks about cloud services, some of us just gotta know more. So first off, what are people talking about when they refer to the cloud? In general, the cloud has been with us since the beginning of the Internet. It used to refer to the broad system of networks that were interconnected to allow Internet users to connect their computer to some information source somewhere in the world. Today, the cloud refers to this and much more as the old Dot- Netflix, a single entity, now accounts for 20% of the United States Internet traffic. Com companies of a few years ago have rebranded themselves into Cloud Service Providers. The new cloud branding brings visions of both mystery and the ability to allow users to connect anywhere, anytime, to their data, entertainment and much more, like never before. However, a person has always been able to connect to these services as long as both the consumer and the service provider had connections to the Internet. Nothing new here. What is new, however, is the dramatic increase in companies doing business on the Internet or even exclusively on the Internet. Data storage companies and software service providers allow you to store your data online and access software applications/ programs instead of keeping them resident on your PC or Mac. Still, other companies provide interface services that make it easy for the consumer to search and access data on the Internet. Shopping has actually become fun, possibly even addicting for us non-shoppers, particularly for us late Christmas shoppers. Additionally, another change is the number of devices, other than computers, that now connect to the Internet. Televisions and game controllers like Xbox, Playstations and Wii s provide intuitive Continued on page 5

2 2 Troops Benefit from Your Donations A Letter of Thanks On behalf of Cell Phones for Soldiers and the troops that benefit from your generous donation, thank you! Each donated used mobile phone allows Cell Phones for Soldiers to fulfill the mission of providing service men and women with the opportunity to communicate with loved ones for free. Last month, we received 120 phones from your organization, which generated 7200 minutes of calling time for troops. Thanks to kind people such as you, we can provide enriching experiences to soldiers overseas who cannot talk to their families often. One phone call can truly make a difference. To date, Cell Phones for Soldiers has raised more than $7 million and provided more than 90 million minutes of free talk time. Due to the mobile phone recycling program, more than 7.5 million cell phones have been recycled since 2004, thus reducing the impact on landfills. As an advocate for Cell Phones for Soldiers, please encourage family and friends to support our troops by making a cash contribution today or donating a mobile device to the program. To keep in touch with our activities, please visit the Cell Phones for Soldiers Facebook page, Cell Phones For Soldiers and sign up for the e-newsletter. Again, we want to express our gratitude for your contribution. The success and growth of this program is directly impacted by your considerate support. Many thanks, Cell Phones for Soldiers The Bergquist Family

3 3 Mark Your Calendar Eckman Lake Kid Fishing Derby and Child Safety ID Event The Eckman Lake Annual Kid s Fishing Derby and Pioneer s Child Safety ID event will be held on Saturday, May 14th in Waldport at the First Baptist Church. Partnering with the fishing derby for the last 10 years has been very successful. During that time, Pioneer has provided over 1000 new or updated IDs to children attending the event. Pioneer employees will record each child s vital statistics, such as date of birth, height and weight. Fingerprints are also taken and assembled into a free ID kit for parents. This program is a reminder to put our children s safety first and it makes us feel good that we can offer such a service to our community, says Virginia Tucker, Marketing Supervisor at Pioneer. We believe that more families can have peace of mind knowing they are better prepared for emergencies. Stop by on May 14th between 8:00am and 12:00pm to have your child s ID taken See You There! Drop Box Being Discontinued Effective May 1st, 2011, we will no longer be accepting bill payments at the last two remaining payment drop boxes located at the Philomath Thriftway Grocery store and John Boy s Alsea Mercantile. Over the last few years, we ve noticed a decline in their use and at times weeks go by without a payment being made through these collection points. Because of this, and the many ways our members can now pay their bill, it appears there is no longer any need to maintain these drop boxes. If you have utilized these drop boxes in the past, please take advantage of our online payment capability, auto-deduction, call-in and walk-in credit card processing, or regular U.S. Mail to pay your bill. Of course our drop boxes in the front of our office building will still be available; however, we ask that you do not put cash payments in them.

4 4 Board of Directors Nominations The 2011 Annual Meeting of Members is scheduled for Monday, June 20 th. Members of the Board of Directors will be elected from the following three districts: District 1 The Tidewater and Yachats Exchanges together with that portion of the Waldport Exchange located south of the center of the Alsea River and bay. District 4 The South Beach Exchange together with that portion of the Waldport Exchange located north of the center of the Alsea River and bay (including the Seal Rock, Bayview, and Beaver Creek [coastal] areas). District 6 The Bellfountain Exchange and shall include the Dawson, Alpine, and Glenbrook areas. For more information regarding the nomination process and the descriptions of the districts, contact one of our business offices and request a copy of the Bylaws. Game Day Sponsor We hope to see you all at the Oregon State Beavers baseball game on April 21st as the Beavs take on the Washington State Cougars. Pioneer is the game day sponsor, so join us in rooting on the home team! The Beavers are off to another great start this year after their Civil War victory in Corvallis over the Oregon Ducks. Can there be another National Championship in the making? See you there! Hurry College Scholarships Due Soon Pioneer Telephone Cooperative is once again proud to contribute to and encourage individuals throughout our communities by funding a scholarship program. In order to qualify, the applicant must be a Pioneer member, or a spouse, son or daughter of a member and live in Pioneer s serving area. Hurry, DEADLINE is March 31, For qualifications, applications and more information, visit our website at or call Applications must be returned to Pioneer by March 31, 2011.

5 5 Good To Know Corner Welcome to the Good-to-Know fact corner! Here you will find information about your Pioneer connection from your voice application to safety. Our intent is to help you maximize your use of Pioneer services and help make your communication life easier. A great fact to know is how your Pioneer connection helps your home security system work. To be effective, security systems need to alert someone that there is a possible emergency. This can be done by activating an audible alarm, or in many cases, the alarm system dialing out for help. This typically requires the alarm system to place a call to the alarm company control center so they can contact the proper authorities to send help to you. If your emergency happens during a power outage, and you have a VOIP phone system, the alarm system could not make that call. Since your Pioneer connection receives its power from Pioneer, the security system can do its job and alert your alarm company of a possible emergency this is why your Pioneer connection is the preferred choice. cont. Living On A Cloud user interfaces that not only allow a user to play games, but play games with people from around the world. They can also use these Internet connected game controllers to watch movies and to video conference with friends and families. Other devices will soon be connected to the Internet, if they aren t already. How about a refrigerator that scans your groceries and then orders new groceries for you from the store of your choice when supplies run low? It s in the works. Another new consideration that has brought about the cloud buzz, is how we use the Internet has changed. For many, they ve gone from using the Internet for research only to using the Internet for their sole source of video entertainment. Can anyone say Netflix? Netflix, a single entity, now accounts for 20% of the United States Internet traffic. While there is nothing wrong with creating the term cloud as a marketing tool, it does tend to lure users into a false sense of security that everything we need will somehow exist in the cloud, which is not true. Because these cloud services are promoted to be resident in the cloud, people tend to believe that there really should be no real cost in delivering and maintaining these services either. This too, is a false expectation as it takes considerable resources to maintain and grow the networks, which make up the Internet. As a wise man once said, there is no free lunch and there is not one here either.to think like that, well, we would have our heads in the clouds.

6 1304 Main St. P.O. Box 631 Philomath, OR What s Inside Living On A Cloud Eckman Lake Safety Day Board of Directors Nominations College Scholarship Deadline Drop Box Being Discontinued Good To Know Corner Information PHILOMATH OFFICE 1304 Main Street PO Box 631 Philomath, OR (541) (888) WALDPORT OFFICE 575 West Willow Street PO Box 504 Waldport, OR (541) (888) REPAIR (866) WEBSITE