It is hard being a fan of Apple. Just when you secure bragging rights for the newest gear, they release a newer and better version. Such is the case with the new iphone due out in July.
The real new is the built in GPS. Not so impressive in its currant form, but just wait till 3rd party apps start dreaming up new ideas to use GPS tracking. Imagine walking down the street and having playlists by location? Walking into Best Buy and having the sunday circular come up as you enter. State park audio tours... I can't wait to see what emerges.
There is also 3g internet speed. Not sure this will make much of a difference to me out in the woods of Central Mass. I can't get a normal edge signal in my house- don't get me started on that....
So what to do with your year old latest, but no longer greatest? Part of me thinks that my old one still makes me love it on a daily basis- But.....Ebay has offered a real good solution....
The 2.0 phones can't be hacked yet. Apple has beefed up the tie to ATT's network. To activate the new version, you need to sign up with at&t at the purchase point. That means, using it on a network other than at&t has just become impossible- or at least very expensive. Not so with the first gen. Run a simple program, and unlock your iphone to use any sim card, on any network. Right now, prices on ebay are around $400. They are expected to move further up as the grey market dries up. So, buy an new $199 phone, unlock your old one and unload it on Ebay for a nice bit of $$. I have always had great luck selling Apple hardware on Ebay over the years. It has allowed me to upgrade my laptop every 12 months. I can sell the old one for about the cost of the newer model- Education Discount+loaded with software= new computer.
So, not sure if I plan to sit this one out. AT&T will add another year on my contract (it will reset to 2 years) But while AT&T holds exclusive connection, I will continue to pay for the Apple-crack.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Jott
As I move further away from 30 and much closer to 40, it is harder and harder to stay up to date on the newest emerging things. I remember getting my first walkman at 12 and trying to explain to my Grandfather how cool it was Christmas morning. I can still see that perplexed look on his face: He did not get it, and had not gotten it for awhile.
Lucky for me, I have some former students in their 20's who force me to stay up to date. The newest- Jott. Jott is pretty cool. It allows you to use voice mail to send emails. I have seen this before, but this works very well, and wait for it....is free to use. Set up took me 5 minutes. It allowed me to import my gmail address book, and select those whom I wished to include. You can also use it to send yourself email reminders- much better than the scraps of paper that I am always filling my empty pockets with.
Right now, it can work with any phone- including land lines. They offer a native app for blackberries- and I am sure an iphone version is awaiting the big July app store unveiling.
Give Jott a try. And thanks Nick Allain and Broken Wall films.com for keeping me hip to this web 2.0 thing.
Lucky for me, I have some former students in their 20's who force me to stay up to date. The newest- Jott. Jott is pretty cool. It allows you to use voice mail to send emails. I have seen this before, but this works very well, and wait for it....is free to use. Set up took me 5 minutes. It allowed me to import my gmail address book, and select those whom I wished to include. You can also use it to send yourself email reminders- much better than the scraps of paper that I am always filling my empty pockets with.
Right now, it can work with any phone- including land lines. They offer a native app for blackberries- and I am sure an iphone version is awaiting the big July app store unveiling.
Give Jott a try. And thanks Nick Allain and Broken Wall films.com for keeping me hip to this web 2.0 thing.
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