Ipod Touch / Iphone

[grawk]

I don't. I stream to it using home sharing (and soon the iCloud). I only really keep apps on it directly.

[justin]

that would work on wifi but unfortunately i wont be grandfathered in to any unlimited wireless plans.

the 2GB (or less) wireless data plans really kills the idea of iCloud IMO, and i wonder what apple plans to do about this.

but iCloud isnt exactly a streaming service, is it? i thought it's just a syncing service -- so you could easily fill the iphone's capacity.

Edited October 7, 2011 by justin

[Pars]

I would guess that LTE may blow up many peoples data plans/caps...

[grawk]

lte being irrelevant for the current phones

I stream from pandora and turntable on my iphone a fair bit, and I've never come close to 2gb. But I do most of my listening in wifi range.

[morphsci]

well, i think it's time to join the smartphone wagon. goodbye motorola RAZR 2006 model. i'd like to wait for an LTE capable phone, but in bumfuck small town virginia its probably going to be a few years until we get LTE anyway.

so now the question is

16, 32, or 64gb? let's say i upgraded in 2 years, so don't want to pay for excess capacity

Off Topic: Check your PMs

[Grahame]

Justin,

given you understand TCO and your use cases have you considered

http://lifehacker.co...-is-good-enough

http://blog.perkstre...into-an-iphone/

http://jdgodchaux.co...and-save-money/

http://www.infobarre...e#axzz1a6s482D7

It even comes in white now.

EDIT: Of course you have the advantage of writing this off as a legitimate business expense, right?

Edited October 7, 2011 by Grahame

[grawk]

Of course, if you're going to have a mobile phone anyway, the iphone 4s has a better processor, more memory, and you don't have to play games to get it connected to the internet when you're not near a wifi router.

[Grahame]

A MiFi solves the lack of Wifi (and you can tether up to 5 devices e.g. )

As to the faster processor, what activities on your smart phone are processor rate limited? The latency in human interaction dominates most tasks. Justin already has a phone, and he seems to survive

Edited October 7, 2011 by Grahame

[grawk]

So for the higher initial and similar monthly cost as an iphone 4s, you can carry 3 devices and generally have worse performance and less long term usability as software demands increase. I guess whatever floats your boat.

[Grahame]

The assumption on your cost model is that you have 100% continuous usage - i.e. you need it every month. This may not be the case. e.g. if you have wifi @ home and @ work and a limited commute the only real need might be vacations, say. I tend to prefer to concentrate on the activities and people at hand, rather than being on an electronic leash. There tend to be more capable devices for given tasks that being limited the to form factor of a smart phone. There are other reasons not to get an iPhone. But to each their own. Different people have different use cases and requirements. Choice is good.

[justin]

Jim - will look into it today

iphone - texting on a RAZR is really slow. when i first went mobile, i had to increase my # of mobile minutes because i kept going over the limit. so currently on a 1300 minute plan. then, Verizon took over my carrier, giving me Verizon mobile-mobile minutes, and my # of minutes used plumetted to around 500. then with the increased use of texting, i'm probably down to 300-400 minutes right now. which wipes out just about all the value I have in paying $50/mo for 1300 minutes (2003 rate plan). when what I really need is texts and data.

also, the camera is good.

[Grahame]

You could always use Google Voice and send your texts for free ( and forward them to email, or originate them from you google voice number : )

Edited October 7, 2011 by Grahame

[Voltron]

Ordered 2 new iPhone 4Ss through AT&T without any hassle or delay. Delivery next Friday. These are for you, Steve!

[digger945]

^ I tried online but it tried to delete my unlimeted data on the last step so I just got out of the AT&T store (amazed that there was no waiting) with a preorder. I'm with Dan on the 16GB being good for me as I stream and use everything online.

Justin, I think you will be pleasantly pleased with the iPhone. No way I could work without it now.

[HeadphoneAddict]

For a product that's such a "disappointment", an awful lot of people seem to be desperately trying to pre-order one. Or two.

Why is it a disappointment? 2x faster CPU and 7x faster graphics, longer battery life with better antennae and faster 3G speed, better camera and video, 64Gb to handle the bigger 1080p video, form factor is familiar and comfortable.

[MexicanDragon]

@Justin... why not just wait for the Droid RAZR?

WRT dual core 4s vs single core 4, or iPod Touch, or whatever you kids were talking about... it's going to be snappier now, sure, but you won't notice a HUGE difference between them now. When you'll notice is in a year, when more and more apps take advantage of coding for dual cores. In 18 months, it'll be the difference between a 3 year old phone and a year and a half old phone. When it was just slight updates of RAZRs, that wasn't a huge deal... if your phone worked, it worked. Maybe you could get a few more contacts, or hold a couple more txts, but with smartphones, you'll probably be annoyed with a 3 year old phone (design).

Justin, do you have an iPad yet? I'd probably look into getting a 32 or 64 gig iPad2 (wifi, unless you find a good deal on a used 3G, or just want 130 extra on the tax write off), and you could use that with the camera dock + your DAC as a demo for people.

Like Dan said, 32 is the happy medium, but I think you'd be fine with the 16. Unless you want movies on it, I doubt there's much of a point for what I expect you to use it for.

**BRENT**

[Voltron]

Why is it a disappointment? 2x faster CPU and 7x faster graphics, longer battery life with better antennae and faster 3G speed, better camera and video, 64Gb to handle the bigger 1080p video, form factor is familiar and comfortable.

So, are you saying you haven't caught any whiff of the massive, worldwide disappointment -- regardless of specs -- that the new model is merely a new iPhone 4 and not the much-anticipated iPhone 5?

[grawk]

I ordered 1 through AT&T too.

[Sherwood]

Preordered 2 4S' last night, both on (shudder) Verizon. I am loath to leave AT&T, who has treated me very well, but my experience with AT&T in D.C. has been poor.

The 4S is basically the phone of my dreams. Which is to say it's a better iphone 4, which was already the phone of my dreams.

[grawk]

And hopefully verizon will unlock it for you for GSM use when you go overseas.

[Sherwood]

I can see how that conversation would go already...

[HeadphoneAddict]

It's too bad they arrive on 10/14 which is the first day of RMAF. I leave for Denver at 11 AM, so it's not likely that I'll get to set up and use my new phone until the Monday after.

[luvdunhill]

Tried to order, but couldn't get my same current pricing from AT&T. I get a 38% discount and have plans no longer offered. So, calling tomorrow I guess to see what I can do.

Edited October 8, 2011 by luvdunhill

[postjack]

set alarm and woke up just before 2am central to preorder. of course everything was a mess, went back to bed about 20 minutes after on sale. the next morning both apple and at&t were giving me grief about shipping to work instead of my billing address. i changed my address on apple.com and changed my billing address on my card, but apple still wanted to ship to the old address. weird. did the same with at&t and had no issues. so i should have my 4S black 16gb from at&t next friday! i am excited.

[justin]

i wonder what's going to happen in the future with Unlimited Data vs. Not Unlimited Data. could it become the divide between the haves and the have nots?

in a few years, 2GB/$30 will be nothing. maybe 10GB will be a new lower limit, but it will cost $50/mo. in a few decades we'll be paying $500/mo for data while all the early adopters still have unlimited data for $20-30/mo. or will they find a way to kick out those that were grandfathered in?