i like this description of the iphone: 'the hummer of cellphones'

i swore i would NEVER get one and i sort of didn't. i have another kind of smartphone but i DID get an itouch. it doesn't have a camera, doesn't do text messages and isn't a phone. it does do everything else. i'm addicted to some of the apps. here are a couple of them-i have a few knitting ones and i've d/l some craft podcasts. i have a few games (mostly spelling). i have some news links, nytimes, rachel maddow, npr addict, msnbc, i have pandora radio and a kindle app and ereader apps, wired and google earth, tweet deck and this kick ass vegan (WHICH WAS FREE I MIGHT ADD) app called vegan yum yum which has a ton of recipes.

you do not have to have at&t. you DO need a wireless connection if you're going to use any of the apps that need a connection (not all do but MOST do). i do happen to have at&t though. while i was in i didn't realize they were such data oinkers. i should have realized it but i didn't. with an itouchvermont this past weekend NO COVERAGE. i'm talking NONE. we stayed at the grand summit at mt snow. not sure which town that's in but one would think such a popular place (well it IS in the winter) WOULD CERTAINLY have coverage. but i digress.......



Customers Angered as iPhones Overload AT&T
By JENNA WORTHAM
Slim and sleek as it is, the iPhone is really the Hummer of cellphones.

It’s a data guzzler. Owners use them like minicomputers, which they are, and use them a lot. Not only do iPhone owners download applications, stream music and videos and browse the Web at higher rates than the average smartphone user, but the average iPhone owner can also use 10 times the network capacity used by the average smartphone user.

“They don’t even realize how much data they’re using,” said Gene Munster, a senior securities analyst with Piper Jaffray.

The result is dropped calls, spotty service, delayed text and voice messages and glacial download speeds as AT&T’s cellular network strains to meet the demand. Another result is outraged customers......

i recently bought two things i thought i would NEVER buy

there was never a maybe in the equation. it was always a HELL NO, i'd NEVER buy one of THOSE things.

one is a kindle and the other is an itouch (yeah, i got that from amazon too. it was a few bucks cheaper. don't know why, but it was)

both items have been in the news of late, and NOT in a good way

(to paraphrase alice, the farther we get the behinder we are)

Amazon zaps purchased copies of Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm from Kindles
Posted by Mark Frauenfelder
People who bought Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm for their Kindle were surprised to discover that it had disappeared from their devices overnight. It turns out the publisher changed its mind about offering an electronic version, and Amazon caved into their demand to sneak into people's electronic libraries and take back the book at the publisher's request. ........


they DID apologize though (from july 23rd) :
Bezos apologizes for Kindle 1984 memory hole blunder
Posted by Mark Frauenfelder
Posted today on the Kindle Community page at Amazon.com:

This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our "solution" to the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is wholly self-inflicted, and we deserve the criticism we've received. We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that match our mission.

With deep apology to our customers,

Jeff Bezos
Founder & CEO
Amazon.com

Why The FCC Wants To Smash Open the IPhone

Erick Schonfeld

TechCrunch.com

Right about now, Apple probably wishes it had never rejected Google Voice and related apps from the iPhone. Or maybe it was AT&T who rejected the apps. Nobody really knows. But the FCC launched an investigation last night to find out, sending letters to all three companies (Apple, AT&T, and Google) asking them to explain exactly what happened.

On its face, it might seem odd to some people that the FCC is investigating the rejection of a single iPhone app. After all, iPhone apps are rejected every day. But the Google Voice rejection caused an unusual amount of uproar, and there is nothing like a high-profile case to make an example out of in pursuit of pushing a bigger policy agenda. The FCC investigation is not just about the arbitrary rejection of a single app. It is the FCC's way of putting a stake in the ground for making the wireless networks controlled by cell phone carriers as open as the Internet.........