ModifiedLogic

Before the original iPhone, I have owned four cell phones in my life. Starting when I was 17 years old, I had a Motorola (circa 1997), a Sprint NCP-1000, various versions of the Sanyo 4900, and a Sanyo Katana. It’s safe to say that is the OLD way.

For the original iPhone, 3g, and 3gS, I have shelled out $500, $300, and $300 in the last three years, respectively. Not only that, but I also originally switched from Sprint who I had 7 continuous years of service with. The iPhone has changed how we look at cell phones on many different levels. It’s the shear number of people who feel the same way I do that make this a sea change for mobile devices. When I want to “compute” after work, at home as in Twittering, web browsing, gaming, music, blogging, etc, my fist option is always my iPhone. I can lay in bed or on the couch and get things done or be entertained. Since it’s always in my pocket, it’s easily the first thing I reach for over my home computer, laptop, or even Xbox.

But let’s look at the business potential. Apple sold one million 3gS models in its first weekend. This is the third iteration of the phone in three years. Many existing 3g owners, such as myself, were up in arms the day after WWDC 09 when 3g owners were offered prices ranging from $499 to $699 (for the 32gb model of course). Users like me took it to the “tweets” and signed Twititions, and really vocalized our discontent in this matter. We didn’t care about subsidies or anything else. We just wanted the newest iPhone at a reasonable price. Opposing voices shouted “That’s how it is with all other cell phones and carriers, you cry babies”. Very true. But this isn’t every other cell phone and AT&T realized, albeit a little late, that it was better to give in and figured out a way to please some of these screaming iPhone fans.

I hope this begins a change for how everyone looks at mobile hardware. If Apple updates the iPhone every year I’m going to want it because I know Apple will make it worthwhile based on their track record thus far. So will millions of other people it seems. If AT&T wants to keep me/us as happy, paying customers, they should figure a way to change how cell phones are priced and valued so that people like me, (early adopters), can update whenever Apple comes out with new hardware. We are the ones who rave about the phone. We are the ones who show our last few friends that don’t have them how cool the iPhone is. We are the ones who, by word of mouth, convince those friends to get one. It was surprising to me that AT&T was so caught off guard by this, especially with their famous souring of WWDC 09 due to no MMS or tethering at launch of the 3gS. Did you hear how many times the crowd scoffed and laughed when it was mentioned or hinted that AT&T was dropping the ball?

AT&T benefits from this right now in a huge way because they are the sole carrier of the device in the United States. So even though AT&T could be a better carrier, (and that’s being nice), it generates business and potentially forces them to step up their game. In the press release, they say:

“We are incredibly proud to be the U.S. carrier for the new iPhone 3GS, the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet.”

While offering lower pricing for 3g owners from July, August, and September was a good move, it still does not fully live up to that statement. AT&T has a long way to go before their actions can speak as loud as their words.

AT&T mobile plans, at least for the iPhone are generally overpriced. $20 extra for unlimited texting really should be rolled into the unlimited data. There are rumors that tethering can range anywhere from $30 to $60 in addition to whatever you pay. This would be the wrong move. People already created workarounds to tether now. Somewhere along the line, with the exception of the iPhone, data plans have a cap of 5gb. This just isn’t going to work. It’s not just me who thinks so. Take into consideration the Broadband Fairness Act. It’s really hard to justify caps on monthly data, especially with how expensive it is. As stands, there is no true unlimited data option that includes tethering or wireless data cards for laptops.

So here are some suggestions that, don’t even WOW me, but seem very reasonable.

1. Figure out a way to allow loyal customers to upgrade hardware without the hassles and restrictions of old. These are new times.

2. Reconfigure pricing to be reasonable once ALL features are available. If I fork over $150 a month to AT&T (currently, I fork over $120), I should be getting unlimited EVERYTHING.

3. AT&T should stop playing gatekeeper with banning applications and capping video and audio bitrates in iPhone programs.

4. If AT&T doesn’t step up their game, Apple should open the iPhone to more U.S. carriers. This would force everyone’s hand to lower pricing, offer a better overall experience, and generally be more competitive.

UPDATE:

There has been speculation and process of elimination that the absence of Howard may be because of contractual or monetary reasons. Howard spoke about it on his show yesterday. Here is the summary from MarksFriggin.com

“Howard took a call from a guy who said he got the new iPhone app for SIRIUS. The caller said that they can get every channel except for Howard. Howard said it’s a contractual rights thing. Howard said it’s not too dirty like some reporters say. Howard said that it’s a whole thing but some day they may be on there. Howard said it’s not all about money. He said it might have to do with money though.

Howard said that the app is really great though. Howard said SIRIUS is great even without them. He said he really does think that.

Howard said that he hopes that one day they will be on there. Artie said that he loves the service and he can listen to the same station for 8 hours driving around.”

The biggest draw for me with Sirius radio is Howard Stern. I just downloaded the brand new official iPhone app that has been in the making for a very long time. This app was also supposedly the reason Jason Millard and NiceMac’s StarPlayr was rejected from the App Store.

StarPlayr, (formerly Millard’s uSirius project), was a fantastic App. I use about 100 iPhone apps and have tried even more. StarPlayr was the best app I have EVER used. Clean, polished, feature-rich, and professional. It is SAD that StarPlayr will never make it to iPhone users. I had always predicted that the official Sirius/XM app would pale in comparison to StarPlayr and I could not have been more right.

This sorry excuse for an app, which was released this morning is LAUGHABLE. And the best part? No Howard Stern?! Sirius/XM should scrounge up some cash and hire Jason Millard and NiceMac to do this app. Siriously. They make whoever worked on this official app look like amateurs.

Until then, I will stick with PocketTunes and so should anyone who wants to listen to Howard over 3g and Wireless on their iPhone. It’s been available since December, 2008 in the app store for $9.99. I gladly paid that price. It has worked beautifully and I have enjoyed Howard while riding my bike and while grocery shopping. There’s nothing like it.

Maybe if Sirius/XM put forth a real effort for an iPhone app, I’d pay them $20.00 for the app! Lord knows they could use the money!

This is a major announcement! Maybe we can partially thank the Twitition?

This past Sunday, I attended a free concert on the New Haven green as a part of the kickoff to the Arts & Ideas Festival. This was my first time attending a concert on the green and the festival itself even though I have lived and worked in the city since 2005. The weather was perfect. There were TONS of people there. It was just a great time.

These are the 5 iPhone Apps I’d most like to see show up in the PinchMedia Recently Added App List. They would all end up on my home screen.

5. Sirius App – Word on the street is Sirius will be releasing their own app. If they were smart, they would talk to Jason Millard and Nicemac and acquire Starplayr, which has been shot down by Apple and has forced them to halt the development of the app. The app is phenomenal and best of all it’s FINISHED and POLISHED. Features include: Direct link to buy the song that is playing, full PDT support, rapid resume which tunes the player to your last channel played and more. I doubt Sirius could top it. But whatever. I just want a method to play Sirius.

4. Official gReader App – The web version is cool, but Safari sucks sometimes. I’ve tried Byline, but it doesn’t even let me view the way I want. I’m sure Google could really knock it out of the park with a fully featured clone of the real thing.

3. Qik – The App is done. Streaming video from your iPhone is a reality. It works ridiculously well. You just have to jailbreak to use it. Apple needs to approve this and rethink their policies.

2. LaLa – This is my new favorite music website. You can match up your entire music library and access all of your music right from their site. It could almost be perfect. Want to buy an album? .80 cents will get you an album. Granted you can only listen to it from the site, but that’s where a LaLa app would be genius. It scrobbles all of my plays and has Facebook integration.

1. Official Digg App – I haven’t liked any of the unofficial Digg apps. The Reddit app is so good that I use that instead of an unofficial Digg app. Let’s hook it up. And whether it be Digg or Reddit, feature to be able to hold to save an image in the built-in browser will be key so I can switch to the Facebook app and share the funny stuff with my friends.

Honorable mention: Google Voice

I have not updated this blog in a long ass time. I figure today would be a good day to do so.

A lot of things have changed for me in the last few months. It’s interesting how life changing events alter your hobbies and what you do in your free time. There was so much going on for me when Wrath of the Lich King came out that I didn’t open it until some time in December. I didn’t start playing it until after Christmas.

I still have not purchased copies of the game for my other two accounts. I have only been focusing on playing my main Warrior. As of right now, I am level 78. Taking it super slow allowed me to enjoy the content more for sure. I have to say, in a lot of ways, I like WoTLK better than BC. The zones are better, the quests are better, and the fact that I was able to wear my s2 and s3 gear all the way to 78 and beyond makes me feel like spending all that time in arenas was worth it to some degree.

As I have been leveling, I frequently stopped into Wintergrasp battles so that I have some honor points and WG marks to spend once I hit 80. Still, I have a lot going on, but it’s been fun playing when I actually have the time.

***UPDATE 2***

Monday morning October 20th, 2008. 6 Days later and I have just received my mounts in an in-game email. Better late than never I guess.

***UPDATE***

I still DO NOT have my mounts, but did receive a Blizzard survey. Here is what I put in the comments field in addition to all ZERO scores.

“It is SUNDAY. Five days after i first reported this issue and my issue has NOT been fixed. I have three missing mounts that have NOT been returned yet. I have had NO direct contact with a GM except pasted in game emails. I have had to open a second ticket which is still pending. It is very easy to see that I have 7 mounts based on the achievement which says i have 7 mounts. Physically, I only have 4. I have been playing this game since beta and have 3 paying accounts. This kind of customer service is ridiculous. Please fix this.”

On the eve of possibly the largest MMO patch ever, clocking in at 1.2GB, Blizzard seemingly could not keep it together. This resulted in long server downtime and me losing stuff.

I sent this in to WoW Insider to hopefully bring more attention to the issue.

Dear WoW Insider,

Last night my server, Bleeding Hollow, was one of the last servers to come online. It was up and down until 12am EST. I had gotten on around 10pm and the first thing I did was turn my mounts into abilities by clicking on them. This included my epic flyer, Netherdrake, epic horse, and epic war raptor. Almost immediately and during this time, the server was up and down. Now, it was stupid me for continually to try to login, but what can I say? i was excited. The server wasn’t fully up and playable until after 12am. And even then, the portals in Shatt were unusable and transaction issues persisted. When I opened my bags and checked my mount/pet tab, all I had was my drake. My other 3 mounts were missing. Others were complaining of this as well. I have an open ticket, so I hope it all gets sorted out, but as of today at 11am EST, I am still missing mounts. This issue should be brought to the forefront so many players like myself do not get screwed out of hard earned items like my mounts

Warhammer is probably the first MMO since WoW that is actually a solid game to some degree. All of my friends decided they were going to play it so of course, I am playing it. I got all crazy with the collector’s edition like I always do and I have to say, I was a bit disappointed in the offering. The graphic novel and art book were very well done, but I’m not into miniatures. I know miniatures are big in the Warhammer community, but I prefer cloth maps, mouse pads, posters, and things like that. The box is beautiful. It’s probably the nicest thing EA has ever had the chance to put out.

The in-game items you get though are awesome. You get a special face (which doesn’t work right now), a tome that has 3 charges that allows +15% xp for 2 hours, a special ring that really helps your stats in the beginning, some exclusive quests (free XP), and an endless drink that has a great buff for leveling. Mythic spared no good idea or quantity for the in game inclusion benefits for us “CE” people.

Warhammer is not without its problems. Last night, which was launch night, was riddled with plenty of issues. Scenarios were down completely. My CE face “fell off”. I feel through the entire world in one zone then hovered above it in another. Our server (Azazel) has a constant queue during prime time. So if you want to log off to fix issues, you are in for a 30-40 treat in the form of a wait. I have gripes with many common sense issues. I have to agree to TOS twice every time I load the game. I have to sit through 4 (loud) splash screens every time I load the game. My UI settings are not memorized after each logoff. There is lag during battles with more than 5 people on a screen. I have only 5 people on my friends list, but when I try to add more, it says my list is full.

This game, at its core, is casual. That’s one good thing it has going for it. But it’s issues like the ones I’ve listed that really could turn off a casual player. Many feel like Mythic rushed this game out to get ahead of Wrath of the Lich King. They recently took out a chunk of content in favor of a faster launch. Some of these issues are issues that you would expect to find in beta. But every MMO gets to use the excuse that it’s launch, more capacity than we expected, etc right?

WoW is my game. Warhammer is my casual backup. I will play Warhammer until November 13th as my main game. Then, I might visit it on weekends and such. In the end though, while Warhammer currently doesn’t have the chops to be THE #1 MMO right now, it does offer one of the best alternatives for the traditional fantasy MMO genre. Many people WILL play this game as their main and it will most likely thrive. It’s casual and very PvP driven. I do question the end game. Will a few scenarios and RvR really carry it for those who will play it day in and day out once they are rank 40? Or is there (will there be) more than that. It’s a game you can just hop in and out of without much guilt, unless you’re friends are already rank 20 and you are still only rank 13 like me.

This browser is pretty damn slick. It just feels light. I really am going to try to use it as my main broswer for as long as I can. My main browser of choice on the Mac and PC is Firefox. Hopefully there will be a Mac version in the future. I love having addons like the del.icio.us setup. I like Lifehacker’s greasemonkey scripts Better gmail and Better greader. But, I think I can give up the UI tweaks for a smaller memory hog. 

For now, I can obviously use the del.icio.us bookmarlet still on my bookmark bar in Chrome. I just have to completely leave the “betters” behind. 

Here’s to something new.

Last weekend I was fifth in line at one of my local Apple stores for a 16gb black iPhone. I was knocked out of line because I had a discount on my AT&T account and Apple basically said, if you have a discount on your account, their system throws up an error, so it’s a no go. I was told the change would take a minimum of 24 hours to even take effect, so I just watched my friend get his shiny new toy hoping that this was a sign to hold on to my silver iPhone.

Later that day, I called AT&T to remove my discount in anticipation of getting a new phone in the near future. I called a different local Apple store and asked them if they had 16gb black phones in stock and they did. When I got there, the lady at the store told me they only had white ones left so I just went for it.

After a few days of usage, I was very disappointed with the battery performance. I couldn’t believe that it was THAT bad or as bad as some on the internets were saying it was. It got so bad I started to do tests. One thing that was truly wrong was, when plugging in the phone at 10% charge in red, the phone would charge to 100% within an hour. But I was getting mixed comments from Twitterers and friends. Some say 2 hours of usage between charges was normal. Other friends were getting between 4 and 6 hours of usage with 40-50% battery left. The most I was getting was 2 hours of usage with 10% left. I knew that couldn’t be right.

Mix this with the fact that the white ones were starting to crack, I really thought it was time to get a replacement. I was able to do a retail swap for a black 16gb iPhone and the results were staggering. My usage went way up to about 6 hours of usage with 50% battery left. With this in mind it’s easy to say that the white one I was using had something wrong with it. And to the people who told me that they thought 2 hours of usage was normal should really take a look at their phone as well. When a product like this comes out to less than stellar battery reviews, it can be hard to tell if your battery is actually performing properly. I wonder how many people, like me, actually have a defective battery and think it’s normal.

I’ve had the worst luck with iPhones in general. Last generation, I had gone through two different replacements because my iPhone had the washed out black issue. I’ve actually had bad luck with Apple hardware altogether. My first Macbook Pro had a defective ambient light sensor. My current Macbook Pro had a whacked out keyboard which I just got replaced. Now, I am reading that all of the nvidia graphics cards in Penryns (mine) are defective. It never ends with me and this “luck”.

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