Monday, November 12th, 2007
by Jeff
Ok I haven’t really ruined Christmas, but that’s what my wife kind of thinks. Before she leaves a comment explaining her side of things, I’ll give you my side since this is after all thejeffparsonsproject.com.
For the past twenty plus years the act of giving me a gift for Christmas has lost the element of surprise. When you’re a kid you ask for all kinds of things for Christmas. For me as a child it was one of everything in the Sears Christmas Wish Catalog. Everything that is except for the stuff in the girls section. My parents were always good to me at Christmas too. I was very lucky.
By 1986 and the age of 15, I had changed up what I wanted for Christmas. Star Wars figures were out, and big ticket items were in, like a computer. It’s all I wanted in ‘86, and I got it. A Tandy 1000EX with a whopping 256K of RAM and dual 5 1/4 inch floppy drives. It was fantastic and back then cost more then computers cost today. It was also not much of a surprise. That part of Christmas, not having any idea what was in that package you were about to open, was gone forever for me.
Now in 2007, I want just one thing for Christmas. I want an iPhone. If everyone in my family has to pool their gift giving together that’s what I want. So no surprise, I’m getting one. My wife is wonderful for getting me one. Technically it’s from my one year old son, but we all know better. She wants a car starter and some pendant from the jewelry store. Fair trade.
So here’s how I’ve ruined Christmas. The iPhone will arrive this week, and I don’t want to wait until December 25th to use it. I mean seriously. I know I’m getting it, I know it will be here, so why let it sit in a closet for a month just to be wrapped up for me to open on the 25th already knowing what it is! Seems like a waste of time if you ask me. Let’s save the hassel and just give it to me when it arrives so I don’t have to deal with knowing it’s just out of my reach until Santa shows up.
I’m perfectly willing to let my wife have her gifts early too. She can use the car starter now. I can’t really wrap that up anyway. The pendant won’t be a surprise to her either. So let’s just do it. This year and for many many to follow, Christmas will be all about my son anyway. The joy will come when he is surprised by what he gets after he asks for everything he searched for on amazon.com. (Times have changed)
My wife doesn’t like this idea. For some silly reason she thinks we have to wrap this thing up and go through the motions. Women. It’s in their blood I guess.
Personally I think my son wants me to have the iPhone for Thanksgiving.
Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
by Jeff
Google at the gas pumps. For a company that’s trading at over $700 a share, maybe they can do something about the price of gas too.
Google gas pumps: the savior of lost men – Engadget
Sunday, October 14th, 2007
by Jeff
I want an iPhone. Badly. However there are many reasons why I don’t have one, and shouldn’t get one. Let’s ignore that for now though, and concentrate on why I want one so badly.
I’ve never used a Mac. The closest I’ve come is eating a Big Mac. The only Apple products I’ve ever used are QuickTime and an Apple IIe back in high school. No I don’t use iTunes. I just don’t like that they only let stuff you buy from them work on an iPod and not my cheap $50 Insignia mp3 player. DRM sucks. I’ve never bought an iPod either. Too much money for someone who doesn’t listen to that much music. When you play music all day for a living, you don’t really feel the need to walk around listening to it when you’re not working. It’s not that I never listen to music, just not enough to spend over $100 for one.
Enter the iPhone. Now Apple has my attention! Finally this is the device I’ve wanted for years! A handheld device that will play music, podcasts and audiobooks. It will let me check email, browse websites in a real web browser, keep a calendar with a to do list, watch video, and even make and receive phone calls! I couldn’t ask for any more!
Now here’s why I don’t have one. First and foremost, the price. Even after the $200 price drop, this thing ain’t cheap. Not only will it run you $399, but you have to enter into a two year contract with AT&T. This is all something my wife doesn’t like very much. Right now my cell phone and service is provided to me by AT&T as part of their advertising campaign on the radio station. They give me the phone and the service, and then I talk on the air about how great AT&T is. I can’t complain about that. I took a shot and asked AT&T if the account they provide me with could be transferred to an iPhone account. Nope. So if I wanted an iPhone it would now cost me $60 a month that I’m not paying right now.
Another reason is the speed. The iPhone works on AT&T’s EDGE network which isn’t nearly as fast as their 3G network. As a matter of fact, I don’t even think we have 3G in Maine anyway. I only see the EDGE symbol appear on my Razr phone, with 3G only showing up when I cross into Massachusetts. Sure there’s Wi-Fi, but if we don’t have 3G in Maine, you can only imagine how many Wi-Fi spots there are.
Then there’s the problem with Apple locking down this phone tighter then Fort Knox. I don’t care so much about being able to use another provider as much as I care about being able to install third party apps on it. Sure it’s been hacked several times over, letting you use any provider and install third party apps, but it’s not without risk. Some hacked phones are being bricked by Apple, although it appears unintentional. Nothing would piss me off more to have a $400 paperweight. I don’t want to take that chance.
If all this weren’t enough for me to not buy it, there’s the rumors of a new version of the iPhone coming out down the line that would enable 3G among other improvements.
I might get lucky and get one for Christmas. Until then though, I’ll carry my cell phone in one pocket, my mp3 player in the other, and be frustrated as I try to do anything on the web with my Razr v3.
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