Hey Michael! I almost felt as those I was reading the words of my doppelgänger here. I’m right there with you as a proud non-owner of a macbook air, but do write these words here and now on a macbook pro.

Re: the new iPhone. Wow! That’s pretty much all I can say….wow. My poor and starving musician status does not allow me to join the iphone club…until now. At $199 how could one go wrong (let’s just shelf that 2 year at&t contract for a moment, shall we)?

Considering the massive amount of developers out there scrambling to develop apps for the iphone, everything from you mentioned GPS tracking to some pretty slick time tracking software it’s hard to make an argument AGAINST the iphone.

Please keep us up to date on your firmware update!

Interesting article about iPhone 3G. I hope Apple makes some of the apps they made and showed off at the special March 6th event where they announced the iPhone/iPod Touch SDK also available on their App Store for third parties. I would love to play their Touch Fighter game on an iPod Touch and/or iPhone.

Next I would like to address this MobileMe service. I’m still not going to sign for it whatever they call it because I can find free variants of all these services. Why use MobileMe email when there is already GMail? Why use iDisk when I can use Yahoo! Briefcase? etc.

I’d also like to clear up something from an earlier blog post you made about Mac OS X being an open operating system. Some of Mac OS X’s components are based on open source technologies even though the underlying operating system is proprietary. It is said to be based on open source UNIX. I know not all UNIX distributions are open source and not all Linux distributions are free.

One of Mac OS X’s open source technologies is Darwin. Which you can read up on by Googling it for more information. Apple also encourages open source developers to port their applications from Linux to run on Mac OS X. Unlike Microsoft Apple does not feel threatened by Linux in much the same way or make statements against Linux trying to discredit it and its supporters. Most of Apple’s money comes from the sale of new hardware and with Mac hardware in particular if a customer buys a Mac and then chooses to run Linux on it Apple won’t really mind. They would rather profit on the hardware and if they can do so with software also that’s great later on but its the hardware that really matters to them.

Also Apple’s Safari web browser that now runs on Windows too is based on open source code from WebKit.

Of course Safari is on every Mac running Mac OS X, it comes with iPhone and iPod Touch (as Apple has made a mobile version of Safari for those handheld devices) and is also available to Windows users.

Speaking of iPhone I would buy the new iPhone 3G today itself at its cheap price of $199 but don’t want to get locked into an AT&Tn contract. Before it was easy to still buy an iPhone and unlock it because activation was through iTunes Store which meant taking it home and activating. Now the iPhone 3G is subsidized and activated in store at time of purchase; I’ve also heard they don’t let you buy it online and have it shipped to you anymore.

I would rather get the iPod Touch and keep my desired (existing phone service of my choice) than be forced to switch to an awful AT&T service. I had them before and worst customer service I’ve ever encountered (not counting Sprint which has also been bad) and this is the same AT&T which was the Ma Bell Telephone Monopoly in the 1980s that was broken up forcibly for breaking the law.

Since then they have just entered the wireless phone market, and have even re-merged in recent years with other companies in the phone space to re-establish their monopoly position of the 1980s even if they are different times.

Thanks, Nachtj… curious, though… you can’t afford an iPhone but you CAN afford a Macbook Pro?

Maneesh, I stand corrected on the Open Source nature of OSX. I thought Apple locked it down. But don’t mistake things like Safari for part of the OS. However, you are correct… apparently Darwin, the basis of OSX, is Open Source, or at least has its roots in Open Source.

As for Mobile.Me, don’t be so fast to shrug it off. This is syncing over the cloud! That’s good stuff! Unless these other syncing services you mention are over the internet, then they’re not as useful. Although, I agree, each person should make up their own mind.

For instance, I won’t use a .Mac email account. I am perfectly happy with Gmail. And Gmail will sync over the internet using IMAP.

I can only hope and wish that Google or some other developer will create syncing apps for the iPhone that will sync Google Calendar, Google Contacts, etc. I would be perfectly happy with that.

One thing Apple should do is allow wi-fi syncing with iTunes. They have it for AppleTV, so why not the iPhone (and iPod Touch)? Heck, the Zune will sync over wi-fi (although I’ve read it doesn’t work very well).

You are correct… I have not been very happy with AT&T’s cellular service. When I was commuting to Weehawken, NJ, I couldn’t get a decent signal at all, and it would phase in and out. But less than a mile away across the Hudson, I would consistently get a solid 4 or 5 bars in Manhattan. As well, my girlfriend’s house seems to be an AT&T signal nexus, where a decent signal can be had in her living room, but her kitchen and bedroom afford a terrible connection. She can hear me, but everything she says is garbled, until she walks into her living room.

But still, I am going to see what happens with the App Store before I make any decision on going 3G. If there aren’t any apps, that I simply have to have, that pretty much require 3G, then I doubt I will upgrade.

On the other hand, if I suddenly find myself filling up so much of my 8GB with apps that I can’t live without, then I may get the 16GB iPhone 3G simply for the extra storage.

I’ll just have to see what comes out next month. Although, I have already seen a few games that I want to have. But my killer app would be the one that syncs my phone with Google (calendar, contacts, etc.).

Oh, one other thing I would like to see… I would like to see the iPhone download podcasts on its own. For me, this would require wi-fi or 3G speeds as I watch a lot of video podcasts, but it still would be nice to not be tethered to a Mac. When I was traveling all the time, I had to save up podcasts to watch during the week, and then reload the iPhone over the weekend when I was back home with my Mac Mini.

Well… we can dream, can’t we?

-Mike

Mike,

That was an interesting reply. I liked reading a great deal of the post. Yes I understand despite Safari’s open source core thanks to WebKit technologies that Safari is not part of the underlying Mac operating system (it is indeed bundled with the OS but not tied to it like Internet Explorer is to Windows and that is actually a good thing — most of the time when Windows is unresponsive or has a virus etc its probably because of IE that has been less secure as virus writers take advantage of security vulnerabilities in IE by writing their own ActiveX scripts for IE that are dangerous.) however, as noted Darwin which is the basis of OS X and open source has its roots in open source (as you just mentioned in your reply to my post about Mac OS X’s open source nature.

A great deal of the OS is still proprietary but it is based on UNIX and some open source technologies. Apple uses open source technologies in some of their programs like Safari as mentioned above and in my previous post.

As for MobileMe perhaps I’m not giving it enough credit but anyways I’m on a limited income and the idea of paying Apple $100 a year doesn’t seem appealing to me. One thing I’ve found interesting about this Mobile Me announcement is that up till now all its forms when it was the free iTools and even as the paid dot mac this service was for Mac OS X only. That is you can only create a dot mac account from an Apple computer running Mac OS X. Existing dot mac subscribers can/could access certain services from Windows but to register for an account you would need Mac OS X. Now Apple has completely expanded the service with MobileMe to work with Windows in its entirety.

Only concerns I have are what is to become of iWeb Publishing to Apple’s HomePage service in dot mac when MobileMe launches? Will this feature remain. I certainly hope so even if I’m not a subscriber. If I was a subscriber I would want every feature dot mac had even in MobileMe. MobileMe also works with some handheld devices like iPhone and iPod Touch. I heard a rumor that it might also support Windows Mobile but am not sure when and/or if this will actually happen.

The iPhone downloading podcasts on its own is a good idea. I’d reccommend sending this feedback to Apple. http://www.apple.com/feedback takes you to a page with links to submit feedback on all Apple products whether they are hardware or software. As of yet I don’t think there is a feedback page for submitting feedback on Safari but iPhone, iPod Touch, iPod Classic, iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle, Apple TV, iMac, Mac Mini, Mac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac OS X, iTunes (Request Music); for iTunes Store, iTunes, iMovie, iDVD, iPhoto etc all have feedback pages. Just select the product you want to submit feedback for and do so. They don’t always reply to every email that is impossible of course for them to do with the amount they must get but they read them and if they think the idea is good enough they’ll implement it.

As for the App Store I too am eager for its launch but am not getting an iPhone I would rather use the iPod Touch and select a cell phone that works with the carrier of my choice. I’m currently using Sprint and I’ve found it just as bad as AT&T was. These past 2 years I’ve had a Sprint contract I would have canceled sooner but didn’t want to pay the early termination fee. Before Sprint I had AT&T and when that contract ended I quit because I didn’t like it anymore. I’m now switching to Verizon, I’ve heard some good and bad things about them. Their service is good but they dictate what services and features work with certain cellphones.

When Apple first came out with the 1st generation iPhone it would have worked with Verizon but Verizon refused to Apple’s demands or requests that iPhone be activated via iTunes Store, ringtones be sold for iPhone through iTunes etc, (take the App Store example also) the issue for Verizon was another company that is not a carrier gets to decide these things. In the past carriers have always dictated what works and what doesn’t. Verizon was not willing to allow iPhone to work on their network the way Apple wanted/wants. Instead iPhone on Verizon would have been activated by Verizon, ringtones offered mainly by Verizon, applications only from Verizon etc. Apple would not have been allowed the type of control it has on iPhone with Verizon contract at the time they signed with AT&T. AT&T agreed to give iPhone a chance even accepting Apple’s terms thinking they were willing to take that risk. It was good for AT&T and even better for Apple. The unlocking was bad for AT&T but the people who didn’t unlock the iPhone after buying benefited AT&T’s profits.

Verizon Wireless I’ve heard though has great customer service (AT&T’s sucked!), great call quality (AT&T’s you just mentioned you’ve found to be annoying recently) and to be more popular as a result. I quit AT&T four years ago and never looked back. I will never go back. You know in AT&T’s commercials where they say “switch to the network with the fewest dropped calls” and they talk about superior service they are just using propaganda and they’re lying about their service. I’d call that false advertising but with so much deregulation in the markets they can do whatever they want.

I know I will never go back to AT&T even though its required in U.S. to work with iPhone.

Excellent point! I hadn’t even considered the ramifications that Mobile.Me will also work for Windows users. That’s pretty huge, if you think about it.

However, I doubt they’ll allow Mobile.Me to work for Windows Mobile users. I’m pretty sure you’ll have to have either a Mac or an iPhone.

Cellular companies are, overall, horrible. In my experience, I have found T-Mobile to be the best carrier for just regular cellphone stuff (their customer service seems to be a lot better than the competition’s as well). But if you want the higher technology (data, 3G, etc.) then they’re a ways behind the others. However, I have heard that they are rolling out a higher-speed data system in the near future.

I lump AT&T and Verizon in the same heap. If it weren’t for AT&T’s stranglehold on the iPhone crowd, I wouldn’t be with them. And Verizon is lowest on my list because they cripple the bluetooth in their phones. But I guess I shouldn’t complain… Apple did the same thing with the iPhone.

Sprint has always been a leader in data access, but I never found their hardware or their voice services to be very useful. They seem to be the company that tries the hardest but fails the most at it.

True story: a friend of mine used to be with Sprint (before he got his iPhone). Another friend of mine that was with Verizon would get a call from the first friend, and for some reason, it would turn his phone off. Very odd.

Your comment about iWeb is very apt. I think that all of the .Mac functionality will be there, if I understood the WWDC keynote correctly. But iWeb is a joke, overall. If you’re that worried about it, check out Google Pages. It’s a great free alternative. I’m sure Yahoo! has something similar too.

I can appreciate your comment about getting an iPod Touch instead of an iPhone. But I, for one, really like carrying only one device.

-Mike

Good points — the one about carrying only 1 device also makes sense if that’s what you really want iPhone is for you — I would get iPhone but want it on Verizon not AT&T. Until they make it for Verizon Wireless which I am switching to from Sprint July 1st or 2nd I will avoid iPhone and settle for iPod Touch. I don’t like how Verizon cripples the bluetooth in their phones (you know the features and applications that go into phones should be controlled by the phone maker not carrier and some inroads have been made in this field as some carriers have begun to lose some control over this but not yet complete control; there was a time when if you wanted to get music ringtones for your phone you had to subscribe to them via the carrier now some phone makers have their own services that do this: for Nokia phones there is Nokia Music Store although it is not yet available in U.S.; also Apple’s iTunes WIFI Music Store is there for iPhone and iPod Touch and ringtones can be bought via iTunes for iPhone, also there are independent non carrier nor phone maker owned services like ThumbPlay to offer subscription ringtones — they are all gaining some market share at the carrier’s expense — the only unfortunate side effect is the carriers are going to charge higher Internet access fees on mobile devices to compensate or make up for the loss in music revenue and other content sales they would otherwise get if they had an exclusive lock still on what content can be downloaded to phones) I wonder what will happen to iWeb though — will Apple discontinue the application as it will become useless in a way — or modify it to work better with any other web hosting service — as it currently is it works best with dot mac — they make it hard to publish iWeb sites to anything but dot mac. It does not work well with anything else although a workaround can be found and used to make it work with other services this is more difficult. The only good thing about Verizon Wireless is their customer service and high call quality I’ve heard Verizon is good for those things. Verizon is also becoming more popular as many people are on it. My sister actually says she wants to get on Verizon asap because more of her friends are switching to it. She used to talk good things about Sprint before we signed up now says Verizon is better and from what I have heard myself it really is.

Also I’d just like to say I just saw THE INCREDIBLE HULK! It is bigger and better than the first movie. You may remember the first HULK movie in 2003 starring Erica Bana as Bruce Banner the title character who becomes the HULK. The first movie was an origin story of how he became the HULK. The second movie (in which the lead actor has changed to Edward Norton) has Bruce Banner (aka Edward Norton) return in all new sequel — set after the first movie. This time Fugitive Dr. Bruce Banner must utilize the genetic accident that transforms him into a giant, rampaging hulk to stop a former soldier that purposely becomes an even more dangerous version.

I met someone once who used TMobile and had the following problem: Whenever trying to make a phone call to someone in Yuma AZ TMobile would have some odd problem and connect this person to a phone operator from Mexico. Nationwide related calls (within U.S. from TMobile cellular network to Yuma AZ would end up being treated as phone calls to Mexico) isn’t that odd? Yuma AZ is not after all part of Mexico. It is still part of the U.S. I think there have been too many mega mergers in the telecommunications industry in the last few years particularly involving cellular phone companies as they don’t want to compete amongst each other — instead they partner or buy each other out to limit competition and consumer choice and just maximize their own profit but in a restrictive manner — they can still have a chance to make a profit in a more level and fair playing field but they want zero risk and zero consumer choice. They want to force the consumer eventually to have only 1 or 2 cellular carriers. This is bad! Also they set early termination fees which are used to prevent customers from switching from lousy services and keep them locked into contracts until they end — this prevents them from finding and getting a better service sooner and these terms are restrictive and unfair.

In no other market do these things happen. Also when you change carriers you can’t keep your phone you have to change it. Even if you keep your number which is allowed even when changing carriers you cannot keep the same phone on a new network. My television set I own. If I switch from DishNetwork to DirecTV or to digital cable I don’t have to buy a new TV for that particular service I can use my existing TV if it has not become defective or anything — it can work fine with any service. My computer will work with any ISP available in my area to connect me to the Internet. My land line based phone can work with any phone service local and/or long distance — it doesn’t matter.

Yeah most of the cellular phone companies — their wireless phone networks suck! Instead of trying to improve it and letting customers choose the better one they all force the customer into an unfair position with lousy service and no way to switch to a better service until the contract ends. They also require you to extend your contract when signing. I’d someday like one of those phones that comes without a contract and you can still get phone service. Like those advertised Go Phones etc. “I’m getting a GoPhone today!”

I will never switch to Verizon. The fact that they cripple their phones’ functionality means that you’re paying for stuff you can’t use. That sort of thinking keeps the wireless industry from moving forward. They want to lock you into THEIR phones with THEIR plans and THEIR ways of using your hardware. If you want to do more than just make calls and send SMS messages, then Verizon is the worst carrier to go with.

Fewer carriers might not be so bad. As it is, there are tons of redundancies anyway. Think about it. In an urban area, every square mile has to be covered by all of the different carriers. Some of them lease badnwidth from each other, but I’d wager they pull some hokey stuff to make their own calls better than those with carriers that are leasing time on their towers. I think overall call quality would increase if there were fewer cellular carriers.

But as for increases in other functionality, competition is better. I can’t believe that anyone with any tech savvy would go with Verizon. They’re horrible.

That Arizona thing with T-Mobile is certainly odd… hopefully they’ve identified and fixed that glitch. T-Mobile is still my favorite… they’re just a few years behind the others with their data offerings.

Your analogy about TVs or land-lines to cellular carriers is a bit feeble. If you switch from DirecTV to Dish Network, you’ll need all new receivers, new dish, etc. So you will need new hardware.

But some phones can be moved to other carriers. You just need to swap out the SIM card.

As for land lines, well, there’s really only one phone system. It’s just the administration of it that’s broken up among smaller entities (which are all becoming AT&T again, it seems).

iWeb will ONLY work with .Mac because it uses Apple technology that’s only available on the .Mac servers. This is why iWeb is silly and anyone who uses it is foolish. It’s easy enough to build a website. Even easier when you use iWeb or Google Pages. But those aren’t portable. If you want a website that is truly yours, do it yourself and host it at home or on your ISP or with GoDaddy. Most ISPs will allow a certain amount of space to create a website. They probably won’t allow CGI or ASP or other dynamic technologies, but at least if you leave AOL for Comcast, you don’t have to abandon your website.

As for easy websites, Google’s is free. Why pay $99 per year to Apple for a website you can’t move anywhere else?

I would wager that either Apple has seen the futility in iWeb and is deprecating it, or else it will still be a part of MobileMe; they’re just not making too big of a deal about it because probably few people really use it.

-Mike

My point about DirecTV and Dish Network was that when switching television providers whether one from satellite company to another or cable to satellite and vice versa (in the satellite realm yes you will need new receivers and a new dish) otherwise you can still use the same television (the same standard definition set top TV or high definition display with any provider.

Whether you are using digital cable or satellite television you do not have to buy a new TV to use with the service. If using cable you don’t have to buy any new equipment to work with the TV at all. With satellite you need additional equipment like a dish antenna if you want local channels with DirecTV and/or Dish Network, dish receivers, etc but I can use the same TV I had a few years ago with Adelphia Digital Cable (before Time Warner bought Adelphia) with my Dish Network service — I will need some additional hardware that was not required by cable to make satellite work however, I won’t need to change the TV.

The actual TV can transition from satellite to cable just fine. I don’t need to buy a new TV when I switch from cable to satellite and/or vice versa. When using satellite yes I do need a receiver, and possibly an antenna along with a few more components.

Cable does not require any additional hardware purchases — just have a TV already plugged in and the service will work, for satellite you have to install additional components. Nevertheless, you don’t change televisions when changing service providers. Changing from AT&T to Sprint and/or vice versa or AT&T to Verizon etc or Sprint Verizon whatever carrier you use you will have to change phones to use with the new carrier.

I cannot take my existing cellular phone on the Sprint network easily to Verizon. I have to get a new phone from Verizon. My family has decided to get Verizon and we don’t use web browsing on a phone etc — main use of a phone in my family is making calls and/or occasionally sending and receiving text messages. Music, video, data sharing, downloads etc aren’t that necessary. I have some friends already on Verizon who say yeah its too bad Verizon cripples features on their phones but they don’t really care they don’t use the features Verizon cripples anyways.

The problem with T Mobile I mentioned hearing about was indeed very odd. I don’t know if they fixed it or not. I myself have never used T Mobile although I know people who have used it — and that’s how I’ve heard stories like the one I mentioned of actual problems that occurred with their service.

I will need new receivers and a new dish etc when switching between satellite television providers as mentioned above and/or including a dish antenna for local channels but as far as hardware goes the actual TV can remain the same. I don’t need a new TV to use with DirecTV the same TV that worked with Dish Network will work just fine. Same goes with cable use the same TV. Satellite just requires extra hardware. Cable only requires the TV. However, neither cable nor satellite require a new TV purchase with a new service provider.

I can use the same TV I already have with Dish Network on DirecTV and/or Time Warner Cable, or if living in an area where Cox Digital Cable is offered I could even use my existing TV with Cox Digital Cable. The point is you don’t have to switch TVs with new television service providers be they cable or satellite companies. One thing I find interesting is the switch next year to digital television mandated by the Federal Communications Commission (the FCC) which says in 2009 all television signals must be switched from analog to digital. Anyone without a television capable of handling digital signals will need to get a converter box. Older televisions that had rotary knobs are the analog TVs I’m talking about and the newer digital TVs include some of the standard definition TVs of today.

Most people will find the switch to digital not that difficult at home they can get a new TV or a converter box to use with their existing TV when the change happens. However, people with portable televisions who go camping outdoors and on other activities may find their older mobile TV devices that were designed as analog devices harder to operate when the switch to digital happens. The problem is analog portable TVs cannot be plugged into a converter box — they are portable and could be in the wilderness there are no plug points. However, I’ve heard some news that its possible some new portable TVs might come out that employ digital signals and still let you watch live television outdoors. I don’t own any portable TV analog or digital and don’t see much point to it although I have a video iPod which I carry around and sometimes watch video on (however, it is less enjoyable than watching on a bigger screen) I much rather enjoy watching TV at home than on the go with a bigger screen available to me with my computer monitor and/or the actual TV screen.

I totally understand that you wouldn’t need to switch TVs. My point was that you frequently need to switch equipment when switching television providers, and so your analogy isn’t perfect.

The truth of the matter is that there are still multiple standards for cellphone communication, not the least of which is the differences in data connectivity. So, yeah, sometimes you’ll have to switch phones. Heck, if you were with AT&T and had EDGE and wanted to go to 3G, you might need to switch phones without even switching carriers!

In the end, I tend to agree with you. There is increasingly less reason to have to change hardware when changing carriers. But the phones are more intimately tied to the networks than video signals are to TVs, so switching cell carriers is still almost assured to force a change in hardware.

BTW, cable doesn’t always work 100% when hooked straight into a TV. Digital cable frequently requires a receiver. And other features, such as Pay-per-View, require a receiver. This isn’t universal, of course.

I wish the providers would stop shuffling their feet on cable cards… that is a technology that could make most of these issue vanish.

-Mike

Well, as of 6:26am CDT this morning, the new version of iTunes is out… 7.7 I think it is. I perused the App Store for about a minute before I had to head in to the office.

However, iPhone 2.0 was not out. It still said that 1.1.4 is the current. Hopefully they’re not delaying the iPhone 2.0 rollout to existing (read: loyal) iPhone users.

-Mike

Mike,

Your point about having to switch equipment when changing television providers (having additional equipment than the TV even though the actual TV is not being changed does have merit) however of course the additional equipment is only required when using satellite television. No digital cable provider or broadcast cable provider in the past I have known of ever requires additional equipment and they don’t need to do so to get their services working. With cable all you need is a cable to plug in the back of your TV (one end goes in the wall the other the TV) sign up for service and instant TV connection. You can add a DVR if you like even with digital cable but with neither satellite nor cable is it a requirement.

I don’t mind changing phones all the time when changing carriers. I was happy to dump my old Sprint phone when switching to Verizon. My new phone a MOTOROLA RAZR is much better. As technology in phones improve dumping your old phone from last year that worked with a previous carrier you were signed up with and getting a new phone with your new carrier does seem like a god value proposition. However, if your phone from last year was good enough in your opinion and don’t want to change phones (what if you had an iPhone and you switch to Verizon and want to continue using it — if your able to unlock the iPhone and lets say they do send you a Verizon phone and your able to unlock the SIM in that and put the SIM card in the iPhone then you don’t need to use the new phone. If I had iPhone and I get MOTOROLA RAZR from Verizon which I have right now (I have never had iPhone though) and I want to keep Verizon but also keep my iPhone I should be able to do so. All you do is change the SIM card — on an unlocked phone this is very easy to do. A locked phone must first be unlocked for someone who doesn’t know how to unlock a phone the process will be more challenging to do so yourself.

I’ve already browed the App Store. For me games on App Store are of high interest. I have a Nintendo DS Lite but am finding myself playing more games on my click wheel video iPod and with iPod Touch and iPhone gaming emerging with even better features I agree with some of the content of articles comparing Nintendo DS to iPhone and iPod Touch that say Apple could kill Nintendo DS. Then again those who disagree with this view also have a good point that Nintendo DS is purely a game handheld system — iPhone and iPod Touch do other things also. So to compare iPhone to Nintendo DS or iPod Touch to Nintendo DS would seem silly.

I’ve been browsing through the App Store on my Mac Mini though directly via iTunes and some of the aops are really amazing. They have a Crash Bandicoot game, they have Super Monkey Ball by SEGA (as SEGA promised they would release it at WWDC 2008), they have re-made versions of EA’s TETRIS, Scrabble and a couple other games for click wheel iPods now on iPhone and iPod Touch via App Store. They look really amazing. I have downloaded the free Remote app from Apple that is on App Store. Some of the games though are overpriced — they are doing some price gouging. EA’s TETRIS for click wheel IPods which sold at $4.99 on iTunes is now selling for iPhone and iPod Touch for $14.99. What a rip off! However, some games are cheaper and that’s good. Most of the apps I am getting are free. I can’t wait to get an iPod Touch to use these apps with.

In order to get the FULL offerings of digital cable, you need a receiver. You can’t get things like VoD and Pay-per-View without one. As well, you have to have a digital-ready TV to simply plug the cable in. Otherwise you won’t be getting all of the channels.

But the point is that in some ways, I can agree that you should be able to take your phone from carrier to carrier. And to some extent, that is happening. I believe it was AT&T that said they are now going to offer to unlock your phone at the end of your contract.

But here’s the business of it. Carriers are subsidizing cellphones so that they are affordable to more people. Otherwise, phones would cost hundreds more than they do, which becomes cost-prohibitive for some. But the carriers need to protect their investment, so they do what they can to make sure you remain with your contract as long as you originally agreed to. Otherwise, they would be losing money on the phones, which they would have to recoop by raising their prices. I have no problem with this practice. It makes sense and it keeps costs down across the board and it also makes cellphones more affordable to everyone.

As well, different services require different hardware. If you had an 802.11a wireless card, would you think that you shouldn’t have to change that hardware to be able to get on an 802.11n network? So, if you have a 2.5G phone and you want to go 3G, guess what. You have to upgrade your hardware. Period. For years, Sprint’s PCS network worked on a different principle than other carriers’ networks did. So they had to have special handsets, which absolutely would not work on other cell networks.

I am trying to get across the idea that sometimes you NEED to change hardware if the media or basis of the functionality changes. Should CDs work in cassette decks? Should DVDs play in VHS VCRs? Of course not. New media requires new hardware.

Your saying that you don’t need a new TV (even though you might need new recievers) if you switch television providers is to me like saying you don’t need new ears (even though you need a new handset) if you switch cell providers. The analogy just doesn’t work for me.

What I don’t like, however, is this predatory practice of locking an entire phone model (e.g. iPhone) to a carrier. Carriers are making deals to have certain phone models (the RAZR was one such model) to one and only one carrier for a certain period. If the phone will work with another carrier, then consumers should be able to do so. AT&T, for instance, is not a phone manufacturer. They only provide the cellular service. When companies like Nokia or Apple or Motorola cut backroom deals with carriers, the consumer loses. And all it really is is a way to trick the consumer into switching carriers. Hell, I fell for it. I left T-Mobile, which I’d been with for years and loved them, never had a problem, just so that I could get an iPhone.

Verizon takes it even a step further. They handcuff all of their phones so that you can’t even usurp their services, that you’re paying for, for other means. No tethering, for instance. T-Mobile never did that. Heck, I was able to use every T-Mobile phone I had to connect my PCs (as well as PocketPCs) to the internet. I even did it in the days of analog (yes, basically a dial-up connection). Of course, the phone had to be capable of being a dial-up modem, but it still worked flawlessly (if not sloooooowly).

I think it’s very fair to compare the iPhone/iPod Touch to the Nintendo DS and other handheld gaming platforms. After all, they will both be competing for the same audience, overall. And the real problem for the non-Apple folks is that the iPhone and iPod Touch do so much more than just games, that it suddenly makes a LOT more sense to get an Apple product and NOT get one of the others. Any time that a product can be placed in a position to prevent the sale of another product, you can certainly compare those products.

I still haven’t had a chance to browse the App store. I haven’t upgraded my iPhone yet either because I heard the servers were overworked and some people are accidentally bricking their phones trying to upgrade them to 2.0. But I have read some articles on what apps are out there. All in all, it’s a mixed bag. Some of them look awesome. But then some of them are plain silly. It makes one wonder what Apple is thinking… they actually turned away developers and apps, but kept 3 (yes three!) different “flashlight” apps. And 2 of those aren’t even free. Imagine paying money for an app that whites your iPhone’s screen just so it can be used as a flashlight! It boggles the mind.

We’ll see. I have to work over the weekend, but maybe I can get home to upgrade everything and purchase a few apps. I’ll let you know.

-Mike

Mike,

Interesting points about the phone carrier link(s) and the pros and cons of the lock-ins. Also the comment about digital TV equipment I found interesting. On the App Store discussion: I have actually purchased a few apps on iPhone App Store below I’ll list all the apps I got whether free or paid. Most of the ones I’ve gotten are games. I don’t own an iPod Touch or iPhone but still got the apps because I intend to get an iPod Touch later on and then have apps for it already to copy to the device.

Here are my apps for iPhone/iPod Touch (I’ll also list games for my click wheel iPod in another list below the Apps list) I’ll mark apps that I got for free with FREE next to the app’s name.

My Apps List

1) AIM (AOL Instant Messenger for iPhone & IPod Touch) FREE

2) AOL Radio FREE

3) Bejeweled 2

4) Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D

5) Disney’s All Stars Cards

6) Google Mobile App FREE

7) Moto Racer

NYTimes FREE

9) Pandora Radio FREE

10) Remote FREE

11) Super Monkey Ball

12) Tap Tap Revenge FREE

13) TETRIS

14) Texas Hold Em

That’s all MY APPS!

iPod Games List (5th generation, iPod Classic, iPod Nano with video)

1) Bejeweled

2) Block Breaker Deluxe

3) Bomberman

4) Chess & Backgammon

5) Mahjong

6) Mini Golf

7) Monopoly

Ms. Pac Man

9) Naval Battle

10) Pac-Man

11) Peggle

12) Phase

13) Pirates of the Caribbean Aegir’s Fire

14) Pole Position Remix

15) Scrabble

16) The Sims Bowling

17) The Sims DJ

18) The Sims Pool

19) SONG SUMMONER The Unsung Heroes

20) Sonic The Hedgehog

21) Sudoku

22) Tetris

23) Texas Hold’em

24) Yahtzee

25) Zuma

iPod Games (5th generation only list)

1) iQuiz (bundled with newer models)

2) Musika

3) Royal Solitaire

4) Vortex (bundled with newer models)

That’s the list of all iPod Games and apps I have.

Kinda gutsy buying apps before you even have an iPhone or iPod Touch to put them on.

In any case, here are the apps I’ve gotten so far. Not all of them are free. I’ll give a “stars” rating by each one as to how much I like them.

Zenbe **** (online lists)

Earth3D ** (cool looking, but useless. But it was free)

Google ** (basically useless… wish it would search more than just contacts on the iPhone… how about email? Shortcuts? Apps?)

Movies.app ***

Where ***

PhoneSaber ** (what the heck, it’s free)

Hangman ***

Midomi **** (very cool, but few real uses)

Bubbles ** (silly, mindless, but free)

Last.fm ***

AquaForest **** (very cool and free)

iPint *** (mindless, but free)

MoPhoTo **

Remote ***** (a better remote than even using AppleTV or iTunes directly. Even a better interface than the iPod’s own interface)

Shazam *** (not very useful, but fun technology)

PayPal ** (needs more features)

Dizzy Bee *** (sorta fun use of the accelerometer)

Save Benjis ***

Voice Dialer ** (not very accurate, always calls my girlfriend’s parents instead of my girlfriend)

WordPress **** (Why isn’t there something like this for full-sized computers?)

Showtimes *** (decent, but slow)

Enigmo ***** (awesome free fun, but difficult)

RotaryDialer ** (silly, but free)

Urbanspoon ** (probably more useful in bigger cities)

VisuaRadio **** (gotta’ get my Rush Radio!)

Pandora ***** (now I really don’t need XM in the car!)

SplashMoney * (not free, doesn’t connect to all the banks, even if listed on the website, but does download transactions. But then it rounds the dollar amounts. Somewhat useful, but not a complete app)

Moonlight Mahjong **** (awesome use of 3D and multitouch)

Pownce ** (decent app, but I’m still trying to figure out what Pownce is for)

LocalPicks **

BoxOffice ***

Limbo * (still trying to figure out how to do things with it… you also have to get all of your friends to join as well)

Labyrinth LE *** (nice use of the accelerometer)

SportsTap **** (a great little sports score app, tracks lots of sports)

Brain Tuner ** (kinda lame, but free)

GalCon **** ($10 and mindless, but totally addictive)

Chronometer *** ($5, but some cool looking watch simulators)

Jamd ** (interesting use of multitouch, but the stories are lame)

NetShare ** (would be better if I could get it to work… and $10)

Vegas Pool *** (not bad, but tough to set up english and such)

Pool *** (not bad, but would be better if 3D)

Cube Runner *** (nice use of accelerometer)

SudokuFree **** (great because it’s free)

Evernote **** (would probably be better on 3G instead of EDGE)

-Mike

I heard a rumor that next month (September 2008) Apple will announce new iPods including new iPod Touches, and possibly new MacBooks too — with a price drop in iPod Touches and a storage increase. Assuming the new iPod Touches come with the 2.0 software update pre-installed like iPhone 3Gs as soon as its convenient for me I’ll get an iPod Touch with the update already installed so I won’t have to pay to download and install that
software update.

The apps you listed are also interesting. I heard Box Office though was removed by Apple from App Store — without them providing any reason for doing so. Dunno if they re-posted it since then.

Well, you can’t believe every rumor you hear. I think new Macbooks is likely. And the possiblity of new iPods isn’t out of the question either. But then, every Apple rumor contains the “new iPods” guess.

-Mike