Jan 06 2010
Advance warning…this is a bit of a rant (but an accurate, informative one!)
In typical Microsoft fashion, their CES 2010 Keynote Address was sleepy, boring and just plain uninspiring. These were the comments coming out of the industry not long after it was over. In a new year where we are all looking for a new beginning, Microsoft has the stage and chooses to put us to sleep. Continue Reading »
Jan 05 2010
So on every news station and every tech blog and web site, the airwaves and the web pages are buzzing with speculation about Google’s Nexus Smartphone. The video I keep seeing shows a touchscreen smartphone with a 3D spinning galaxy in the background. Woooooooo how nifty!
Ummm…can you explain something to me? How does that spinning 3D galaxy help me make a better phone call or organize my contacts more efficiently? Continue Reading »
Aug 03 2009
Yes, it’s actually true. No, jailbreaking, no violation of an AT&T contract. I actually have one, for a grand total of $30…Here’s how I did it…
Well, a few weeks ago I was around my 1 year mark on the 2 year contract I had signed with AT&T when I got my iPhone 3G. So, I logged in to my online account, and, as I suspected, I didn’t have many upgrade options to get the newly released iPhone 3GS for a reasonable amount. Resigning myself to wait out the term of the contract and frustrated, I wrote the article about Apple, AT&T and iPhone’s with contracts being expensive.
Then, this past week, out of sheer morbid curiosity I signed in to my ebay account (of which I haven’t used in ages due to exorbitant fees and the PayPal monopoly they created) then proceeded to see what, if anything at all, a black, 16GB, iPhone 3G was going for. After all, if I could get enough for it, maybe it would be worth putting out another couple hundred to get the new phone and I was frustrated, the new toy was out and I wanted it…NOW.
It turns out, what my ebay searching showed, that a “contract” must be worth a couple hundred dollars because an OUT OF CONTRACT, Black, 16GB iPhone 3G (yes, previous generation) is going for around $275, USED! Because WITH a contract AT&T and Apple are still selling this model new for $99. So the contract is worth a couple hundred to someone. Buying an out of contract phone also allows you to jailbreak & unlock this phone and activate it freely with another carrier, e.g. T-Mobile.
Wow, I thought, if I could just get out of this contract… So I signed back in to my AT&T wireless account, clicked on “upgrade options” and voila! To my amazement and wonder, AT&T was offering the iPhone 3GS at the NEW CUSTOMER pricing of $199 and $299 for the 16GB and 32GB models respectively. Even for me, with still a year left on my previous contract. I think somebody wants me to upgrade…so of course I proceeded to do so as the planets were aligning in my favor.
So, I went to sell my 3G on ebay for $250 “Buy It Now” and it sold within hours. After seller fees and the free ground shipping I offered (that everyone seems to be offering nowadays), I took in roughly $220 for my year old, gently used, iPhone 3G.
I then went to the AT&T store who had just restocked 15 units of the Black, 16GB iPhone 3GS, paid my $199 + tax + $18 upgrade fee, totaling $250, and activated my shiny new iPhone 3GS.
It is very possible I could have gotten more for my iPhone 3G on ebay compared to the others I saw, but for $30 total a little ebay craziness and an extra year with AT&T I’m a happy camper. The phone is great and worth every penny. If anyone else has a similar story please post it here, I’d love to know about it.
Jul 23 2009
It was reported today that AT&T added 2.4 MILLION IPHONE CONTRACTS IN Q2. 800,000 of them are NEW AT&T customers.
AT&T is gaining over a quarter million new mobile customers every month from Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile because of their iPhone exclusivity.
Meanwhile Verizon is begging Apple to allow them to sell SOMETHING! Have you read about that? Verizon’s not even ashamed to say they want to sell “a mobile Apple product” whatever that means.
Exclusivity contracts are ILLEGAL in Australia. That’s why my friend there got her brand new iPhone 3G, *FREE* with a 2 year contract, instead of $299. The $299 was a negotiation to get the customer.
AT&T Doesn’t have to negotiate since you can’t go to another carrier to get an iPhone.
Unfortunately, it only pays to limit a consumer’s choices.
Where are our anti-competitive laws? This is America!
Jul 16 2009
For some number of years now one PC maker or another has made an attempt, if not many attempts, at developing what they believed was the ‘ideal’ tablet PC. Usually smaller than a notebook computer, a little slimmer and lighter, most incorporating some type of touch sensitive display and utilizing a stylus or pen for input.
More creative tablet PC’s were simply sub-notebooks with a flip-around screen that would fold over the keyboard and lay flat. Still they were bulky, lacked in power and features and the displays and battery life left much to be desired. Ultimately these were impractical, over-priced gadgets at best.
Recently, at Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference, there was much speculation that Apple has been working on, and would possibly announce a new tablet computing product. Since then, the conference and the much hyped keynote address have come and gone. We saw a new iPhone 3GS announced, the release of the new iPhone OS 3.0 and more details on the upcoming Snow Leopard Mac OS release. Unfortunately, still no tablet from Apple.
Why bother with engineering ‘yet another tablet PC?’
Because most of the reasons tablet PCs were impractical in the past, most of the technical challenges that were unaddressable before can now be overcome… Continue Reading »
Apr 22 2009
When will the analysts get it? How many straight quarters does Apple (AAPL) have to outperform the market? How many years of consistency will it take before analysts give Apple a fair shake? After not only surviving this recession Apple has again in it’s Q2 Earnings Report released today shown it has what it takes to be a strong, short-term as well as long-term investment. Or is it something else? Is there some other reason analysts are reactive and not proactively confident about Continue Reading »
Mar 17 2009
Today Apple unveiled iPhone OS 3.0. What seems to be a major update. With over 13 million users worldwide, the iPhone now has a real, unstoppable following and with iPhone OS 3.0 seems to have a real platform to support those users. And if you include the iPod Touch (which also runs iPhone OS) the total number of users is an overwhelming 30 million devices. Apple has finally addressed some major concerns for users and developers and added some amazing new innovations improving the experience for developers and users alike.
Starting with the “it’s about time” features Continue Reading »
Mar 11 2009
Today, Apple unveiled a new iPod Shuffle. What was their smallest model in their line of iPods has gotten even smaller. And yes, the packaging does offer a warning, for those of you who would rather taste your tunes, DO NOT EAT. Who is this warning for anyway? It can’t be for very small children since a child young enough to want to put this in their mouth probably can’t read. So is it for the parents who might otherwise feed this to their children? Anyway, Apple had this warning on the previous generation shuffle as well. Wonder what frivolous lawsuit caused this ridiculous, unnecessary modification to the packaging.
On to new features Continue Reading »
Feb 06 2009
Things aren’t all bad during a recession and if you’re still here in 2009, you’re doing better than some! You should use this time to prepare for a recovering economy. And here are two reasons why there’s no better time to do it.
Jan 15 2009
Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, raised further concerns about his health after releasing a statement yesterday that seemed to back-peddle over his previous statement that portrayed his health problems as maybe being not so bad. After this new announcement, with what seems like a contradiction shareholders want an explanation, some alleging serious legal infringement. Do they want Apple’s CEO to pronounce his own death sentence before even his doctors are able to?
Continue Reading »
