Tag: iPhone

There’s an app for that

There’s an app for that

The iPhone is the best phone that I have ever owned. It has a few things that I hate though.

First, I hate the AT&T network. I have used T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon in the past (as well as a pre-cursor to Verizon – Cellular One and a pre-cursor to AT&T – Ameritech). I have owned a cell phone (used to call it a car phone) since 1990. I have never had so many dropped phone calls when I am sitting in one location and the person I am talking to is in one location. AT&T has to have the worst network in the USA.

Another problem I have found with the iPhone is that they can be slippery when you’re not used to them! I’m constantly worried about dropping the phone and smashing the screen. Of course, it’s now easier than ever to find a mobile iphone repair specialist who can help you fix it, and it’s not like I’ve actually done this yet, but the worry is still there.

My final big complaint about the iPhone is the hysteria around it. Yes, I have a good number of apps that I use to do my job or get through my day. However, I don’t love the apps. To me, a phone should have this stuff just because it can. I am a bit tired of the “coolest app” conversation that inevitably happens when I talk to another iPhone user (esp. one that doesn’t use it for work related reasons).

So, when I saw this fake commercial, I knew that I had to share it.  I especially like the one with the “Phones that work locator” app. Enjoy!

The iPhone Ad You’ll Never See

Articles that I have read that are interesting – July 28, 2009

Articles that I have read that are interesting – July 28, 2009

Articles that I have read that are interesting – July 26, 2009

Articles that I have read that are interesting – July 26, 2009

RANT! No more faith in Microsoft

RANT! No more faith in Microsoft

After being on an iPhone for a year, I don’t think I could ever go back to a Windows Mobile phone.  I used the Windows Mobile platform for probably 11 years (including the original Windows CE non-phone devices) and it always seemed like the NEXT generation would solve all my problems. The next generation never did come and by the time I gave up, I was in the habit of restarting the phone every morning.

I recently tried to install the desktop search tool from Microsoft.  After several tries and lots of reading online, I couldn’t get the add-on installed that would allow this tool to search my Outlook 2003 files (let alone my Thunderbird personal email).  I gave up and installed Google desktop and was completely indexed on everything in one overnight session.

I have no faith in Microsoft anymore.  I have had to go back to Windows on my laptop rather than Ubuntu but that is just because my 2G RAM laptop was struggling with Ubuntu and a virtual machine with Windows so that I could use Outlook and Office.  If I didn’t have to be completely compatible with the rest of my company then I would likely not have a single Microsoft product on my computer or in my life.

I could survive without MS Office.  OpenOffice does everything that I ever need it to do.  I don’t need the extra functionality that overloads the MS Office product line.

The only product that Microsoft makes that I really like is Windows Live Writer (which I use for blog posts).  But when I was on Ubuntu, I found that Scribe on Firefox was perfectly adequate for my needs.

If I could get Evolution to really work well with our company Exchange server, I would be off of Windows.  I always struggle with the Calendar syncing, calendar invites, and the Global Address Book.  If someone could create a smooth interface to Exchange then it would be goodbye to Microsoft for me!

RANT! WHY CAN’T A DEVELOPER MAKE EVOLUTION WORK OFF OF EXCHANGE SO THAT I CAN DROP MICROSOFT!

I am done with this topic for now but I reserve the right to rant more on it someday.

AT&T is whining about the iPhone

AT&T is whining about the iPhone

There is an article in the Wall Street Journal that has AT&T whining about the cost of supporting the data plans for the iPhone.  Seems that with all of the really cool apps that the iPhone has, they tend to load up on the data! I suppose AT&T’s complaints are so that they can keep offering affordable phone data packages on sites like Raise as Cricket Wireless, one of their phone package brands, is selling like hot cakes for data hungry customers.

But AT&T will just have to deal with it as the iPhone is by far the coolest product in the mobile world. It has also set the standard for all other phone developers and networks to aspire to.  No surprise, the quality of the apps is excellent (check out this site that reviews iPhone apps). Because of this, there is no way that we are going to roll back time and start to use a less flexible and featured product.

AT&T may not like it but Apple and it’s iPhone have given them first mover advantage in mobile computers.  Everyone else is trying to play catch up.  If AT&T screws it up, the competition will be all over them.

Here are portions of their article “Demands on Network Are an iPhone Hang-Up”

Users of iPhone download games, video and other Web data at two to four times the rate of other smartphone users, according to comScore. Yet AT&T charges iPhone subscribers the same fee of $30 a month for data that it levies on other smartphone customers. And aside from restricting certain activities, like file sharing, AT&T doesn’t limit how much data can be downloaded.

But Web applications popular with iPhone customers are bandwidth hogs. A recent analysis by Alcatel-Lucent of North American wireless network use during the midday hour on one day found Web browsing was consuming 32% of data-related airtime but 69% of bandwidth, while email used 30% of data airtime but only 4% of bandwidth. Email taxes network resources but in a different way.

As the proportion of customers with iPhones grows — 5.9 million 3G iPhones were activated in the last three quarters, 7.5% of AT&T’s total subscribers — the resulting growth in downloading and Web browsing will strain AT&T’s network. AT&T will need to add cell towers and spend more on the back-haul lines that connect the towers to the rest of the network.

……….

The falling cost of voice minutes and additions of lower-end customer has offset growth of text messaging and other data services. Voice and texting use little bandwidth and are lucrative.

Now, new customers are harder to come by. The question is whether new data revenues the industry is banking on — from Web-browsing and entertainment services — will be as profitable, at least as measured by return on invested capital. That looks doubtful. To ensure networks have the capacity to offer these services, particularly bandwidth-heavy offerings like video streaming, carriers will have to make heavy capital investment. Both AT&T and Verizon are building the next-generation 4G network, each spending more than $9 billion last year on new wireless spectrum, as well as $6 billion annually on overall capacity.

……….

In the short term, carriers should abandon unlimited data pricing plans. Both AT&T and Verizon Wireless already charge extra for heavy users with wirelessly connected laptops. They will have to contemplate similar strategies for smartphone users.

Setting the right price won’t be easy. With competition, the temptation to discount will be hard to avoid. And there’s no guarantee that customers will pay as much for entertainment as for voice-calling and email.

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