[Moot]

So does my scheme have merit? For me the number one reason to go with the iPhone is that I get phone service and internet all for $60 a month. Plus the ability to access the internet with my laptop via the hacked iPhone.

In descending order would be the 8 gig iPod, and then the limited mapping capabilities.

[dieseldiva]

Originally Posted by Moot

So does my scheme have merit? For me the number one reason to go with the iPhone is that I get phone service and internet all for $60 a month. Plus the ability to access the internet with my laptop via the hacked iPhone.

In descending order would be the 8 gig iPod, and then the limited mapping capabilities.

Your logic is understood but.......traveling all over the country like we do, I personally would not give up excellent phone coverage, sign on for 2 years elsewhere and take the chance of being very disappointed. JMHO

[greg334]

So I got to ask, who has their iphone unlocked and using it on another carrier?

Come on... anyone?

You know you can get them unlocked and you know that you can use them on other carriers.

I really feel that we should be able to follow the EU's style of phone service - free incoming calls and freedom to choose which carrier to use regardless what phone we have.

Anyone have any iphone clones?

[dieseldiva]

Well Greg, here comes the stoopid question. How do you take an "unlocked" phone and attach it to your carrier of choice??

I've often seen that unlocked term used on ebay and such and honestly, I never knew what it meant until now!! Yes, I AM living in the same century as you, just electronically challenged!

[RLENT]

Originally Posted by Turtle

Well, when I said "unless you have a data plan to use with the phone..." it covers the EDGE cellular network, since that's a data plan.

True - I wanted to ensure that it was clear that the 802.x connection was only really being used to provide a connection between the laptop and the iPhone - and that the iPhone was providing access to internet via EDGE.

Not being intimate with the iPhone or AT&T's plans, I wasn't aware that the iPhone's plans included the data plan.

Fair enough - I just wanted to make it clear that even the base plan included unlimited data usage - which is a great deal, IMNSHO. I haven't used the EDGE network myself for email or browsing the web so I have no idea whether I'd find it tolerable. We have 6Mb DSL here at the house so I'm a bit spoiled by that. On otherhand I survived 128Kb ISDN for years before the DSL was available .... so I'm probably fairly tolerant of slower speeds.

The appeal of the iPhone (besides the fact that it's a wicked kewl device) is the relatively cheap cost of the plan which includes cell phone service and unlimited data usage - and a much broader data coverage area than the parking lot of the J or one of their affiliates. Getting decent WiFi access at the J is often a crapshoot - sometimes it's where you're parked - other times it seems no matter where I go on the lot the signal isn't worth dog dookie.

The iPhone becomes the Aircard. Right?

That's functionally correct, yes.

Yeah, for some people T-Mobile is the best carrier. Of course, those people never leave the city.

LOL !!! Well, I do leave the city - and don't really have much of a problem (and it's basically the same network) - yeah, I have dropped calls - but generally speaking it only happens while I'm rolling - and the problem is of short duration. So if a call gets interrupted I have to call back in a minute or so when I'm closer to the next tower. Usually when I am stopped and not moving I have signal and have no problems making or receiving calls - at least at the places I end up at.

hehe very true. A lot of it is phone specific, too. One phone doesn't drop calls, another one will.

I have no doubt that that is true - and probably for all carriers.

I keep up with the results of JD Power and Associates and a couple of industry watch dogs and their tracking of dropped calls and coverage areas, and Verizon does have the best coverage and fewest dropped calls,

Right - could very well be true. Like I said we had numerous problems with dropped calls with Verizon which caused us to switch. It was likely due to the fact that we were spending alot of time in one of their problem areas (northern VA) - we switched and fairly shortly after that we were no longer spending as much time in that area ... and so it goes.

Another motivation for switching was that we had our local phone service thru SBC - when they all combined (SBC, ATT, Cingular) we were able to bundle all our services (local phone, long distance, internet, and cell service) thru one entity and get some decent savings as a result - so I can't say that we were solely motivated by the dropped calls issue with Verizon.

We still have dropped calls (as you well know )

but, man they do have a few really problematic spots.

As does Cingular (and probably all the others) - there's a spot on OH-21, just south of Minor Road, out around Copley, where the call will drop every time - and since the wife drives that one daily to and from work (we often talk when she's on the way home) it's PITA.

But, I also know that they are more problematic with my phone than with other phones. I had to force my phone off the EVDO network and to CDMA-only to get the Georgetown problem fixed. (Yeah, it's working fine now. It rang when you called earlier, and didn't want to wake up hehe)

Heheheh - sorry about that.

[Turtle]

While it ticks me off sometimes, I really can't get too mad when I have a dropped call while moving. Considering the number of times the signal gets handed off between cell tower to cell tower while moving, the number of dropped calls is very small.

"The appeal of the iPhone (besides the fact that it's a wicked kewl device) is the relatively cheap cost of the plan which includes cell phone service and unlimited data usage - and a much broader data coverage area than the parking lot of the J or one of their affiliates."

So there's your answer Moot. Yeah, the scheme has merit.

But like DieselDiva said, you might want to talk to as many expediter AT&T customers as you can, cause you're gonna take a coverage and call quality hit compared to Verizon. Compare coverage maps very closely.

[RLENT]

Originally Posted by Moot

So does my scheme have merit?

I would say yes it does - at least in theory. Since I'm not doing specifically what you ask about I can't give it an unconditional endorsement.

For me the number one reason to go with the iPhone is that I get phone service and internet all for $60 a month. Plus the ability to access the internet with my laptop via the hacked iPhone.

Yup - that's a hard one to pass up. I haven't read the ATT usage agreement but I have seen some mention that doing what you are contemplating (serving up an internet connection to another computer from the iPhone) might be in violation of the ATT user agreement - I suppose they would really prefer to sell ya an Aircard and another data plan - with metered usage ) ...... but such a restriction would be kinda odd since they used to allow you to use a cellphone with a data plan connected to a laptop via Bluetooth or a USB cable as a modem .....) But I doubt that they would ever be able to know that you are doing it - but something to consider nonetheless .....

In descending order would be the 8 gig iPod, and then the limited mapping capabilities.

The idea has alot of appeal - being a MacHead myself and having some appreciation of the elegance of Apple's technologies it's very tempting (particularly considering that the internet is my primary distraction while I'm out on the road)

Thus far I've been cheap - I'm still using my old Sony Erricsson T616 which has gotta be about 5 years old. I don't own an iPod - never got into wearing a device to listen to music ..... usually in the past if I'm in a position to need a portable music device, I'm doing something that doesn't lend itself to wearing such a thing .... at this point since I'm driving for a living that has changed somewhat. Being able to take my entire music library around on something that doubles as a cellphone, and a mobile internet connection server, and isn't much bigger than a pack of cigs has some appeal.

One thing to consider is coverage - at one point ATT's EDGE, while somewhat slower, had a broader coverage area than Verizon's EV-DO, which is faster - not sure what the current state of affairs is tho' .....

And ATT is rolling out HSDPA as the next step up from EDGE - although the iPhone doesn't yet support it yet (apparently Steve-O did say recently that there will be a 3G capable iPhone) - something to keep in mind when buying a fairly expensive device ....

Are ya gonna be a happy camper if for example Apple releases iPhone 3.0 (or whatever) in a year and the data speeds are double (or more) of what they are now (for maybe less than you paid for your "old" one) ..... things to ponder.

I'd be sorely tempted myself .... but I just bought a new MacBook laptop and momma ain't gonna allow no stinkin' iPhone at this point .... at least not for a little awhile ....

[Moot]

Originally Posted by RLENT

Are ya gonna be a happy camper if for example Apple releases iPhone 3.0 (or whatever) in a year and the data speeds are double (or more) of what they are now (for maybe less than you paid for your "old" one) ..... things to ponder.

That is the problem with computer technology. As soon as you buy the latest and greatest an upgrade is coming down the pike. Rumor has Apple making a change to the iPhone early this summer. Maybe I'll hold off. I could be coming to the end of the line anyway.

[Turtle]

Uh, oh. Now you've done it.

[RLENT]

Moot,

I just got word from one of my geekazoid friends (the one I mentioned to you previously) .... supposedly there is to be some kind of iPhone announcement within the next few days .... I haven't been able to locate the rumor site where he got that data yet .... but there has been alot of iPhone "buzz" over the last couple of days apparently - some of it having to do with a 3G iPhone due to be released in Q2 2008 (April - June)

There apparently just was a conference call for Wall Street recently where a number of things were mentioned related to the iPhone (although no word of any future products - which is not unusual as they are never officially discussed until they are actually released) Here's a snippet from one of todays articles from the MacRumors site:

"Analyst predictions of a 3G iPhone are nothing new, but a new report points to specific sources knowledgeable about this anticipated update. After meeting with Taiwanese electronics companies Citigroup’s Richard Gardner claims that his sources have confirmed that the 3G iPhone will be released in 2nd Quarter calendar year. If correct, this would pinpoint the release between April-June 2008.

3G is the next generation wireless data that promises much faster speeds over the EDGE technology in existing iPhones. Apple's Steve Jobs has said that existing 3G chipsets drew too much power for them to be used in the original iPhone. Recent advances in wireless chipset technology have reportedly addressed these power consumption issues. Coincidentally, AT&T recently announced that they are expanding their 3G network to nearly 350 U.S. markets by the end of 2008.

Plans for a 3G iPhone have been well publicized, with comments by Steve Jobs and AT&T's CEO suggesting the 3G iPhone is coming in 2008"

[gojack]

A $200 Mogul phone, on Sprints REV A 3G network
On a $30/month (500 Min) unlimited data Sprint Sero plan

This gives me:

Phone
Speaker phone
Real and screen keyboard
Voice speed dial
Bluetooth (Blueparrot headset recommended for drivers)
Internet
Real GPS via Google maps (which also has satellite images)
email
texting
tethered laptop - at high speeds w/PDaNET
There is a hack to make it a mobile wireless hot spot as well
(I like it wired to the laptop, so its charging)
Camera
video camera
tape recorder (IFTA State line odometer readings)
Wi-Fi if you are in a hotspot
Microsoft Word
Calender
Calculator

If it only had that Braun self cleaning razor in it


Friend of mine has a Aircard for AT&T’s network
I sat my old laptop down next to his new one to show him some internet load boards...
His connection was so slow it was painful.

[Moot]

First generation iPhones are near impossible to find, fueling speculation that a new 3G iPhone is near. The Apple Worldwide Developer Conference opens June 9th in San Francisco.

[ATeam]

The bewildering array of communication and navigation choices available today leaves me, well, bewildered. At the moment, I am content to wait until the iPhone breaks free of ATT to see what has settled by then. Thoughts bouncing in my mind now include:

1. We do not want to change cell phone providers. Signal strength nationwide and customer service is outstanding. We have been down the ATT and Sprint road before. I would not take either one if they offered their services for free.

2. CoPilot Truck is still a tool we occasionally rely on for truck routes and HAZMAT routing. It has a GPS feature. It runs on a laptop. It is not as safe or convenient to use as a Garmin device might be. Is there a way to blend the truck routes into Garmin? Of the dozens of devices Garmin offers, which is best for truck dashboard use?

3. With Bluetooth, we can seemingly hook most anything to anything, phone to Garmin to laptop to iPod to Blackberry to sattelite radio, to the sound system in the truck; and this to that, and that the other, and the other to more. Throw in Wi-Fi to connect our two laptops to each other or download data via Wi-Fi instead of the air card. My head spins when trying to figure out the optimal way to put it all together.

4. I am reluctant to move toward the all-in-one approach. If you lose or break the device, or if it fails, you have lost a lot all at once.

5. Even trying to make technology decisions based on need is hard. We need to each have a cell phone, we need HAZMAT routing, we need e-mail, we need to sometimes use two computers at once, we need to talk on the phone and use the computer and access the internet at the same time, we need live GPS, we need a music player, we need map displays that can be dimmed for safe nighttime viewing, we need a book reader, we need a voice recorder that can be hooked up to a cell phone and computer, we need voice recognition capability to put into text the words I speak, etc. The problem is functionality overlap across devices. And the functions constantly change. A PDA is now a cell phone is now a navigation device is now an air card, is now a music player, etc. etc. etc. But when functions are combined into one device, the performance does not always follow.

6. Then there is the text messaging thing and keyboarding I have not yet learned. There was a time when I felt darn proud because I could explain why eight-track tapes were called eight-track. While I am not without computer skills, today's chaotic device market is frustrating to say the least.

7. One thing I know for sure is buying technology for the sake of having the latest and greatest is fruitless. Whatever you buy today will be obsolete or vastly improved tomorrow. As long as what you have now works, it is just fine to sit out a generation or two of the next big thing. Whatever people say the next big thing is, it probably isn't.

[ATeam]

Another component in our technology decisions is something I call the Katrina test.

Our work sometimes takes us to remote areas for routine deliveries and disaster areas for important disaster relief deliveries and/or support. We could easily find ourselves in an area for several days where the cell phone towers have been knocked down or the power to run them has failed.

With a generator-equipped truck, we are our own power source and will be fine as long as we have fuel. But how will our communications and navigation technology work if companies do not have the electrical power or towers to support it?

The Katrina test steers us away from cell phones for navigation. In extreme situations, Qualcomm will keep you in touch with your carrier. Amateur radio, powered by the truck, may be your only way communicate with family and friends if towers and electric are down, or if you are stranded in a truly remote area.

[Moot]

Where did you practice your reaction drill for the Katrina test? Did I ever tell you about the time my old friend Jack and I practiced a .......