July 20, 2012

iPhone, Android contract costs on Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile…and the people who choose to pay

I need to rant just bit on the obscene costs to own and operate a smartphone and before I start I’d like to say I’m not endorsing any specific company or product. This is simply one consumer who happens to think the cost of smartphones is ridiculous, whether it be an iPhone, Android or Windows Phone (should I even mention Blackberry?). If you want the latest and greatest smartphone typically you must pay at least $100 upfront, but sometimes $200 or higher for the phone and then lock yourself into a 2-year contract that will wind up costing you near $2000. Who does this? Apparently a lot of people. So far I refuse to take part in this ripoff. Yes, smartphones are great devices. They allow us to keep up with friends, find out the latest news, and search for anything – anywhere, but how is it that collectively as a society we’ve accepted the ever-increasing cost? Do most people believe that spending $70-$80-$90 (on the low side) a month for a smartphone is a good deal?

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July 19, 2012

Should the venerable ‘Save button’ in Microsoft Word take a hike?

Farhad Manjoo writes on Slate, “Delete the Save Button. Computers are smart enough to preserve everything I type without me hitting a stupid disk icon.” In the article Manjoo makes a case for why he thinks the ‘Save button’ on applications like Microsoft Word should no longer exist. He believes computers have gotten fast enough and sophisticated enough to do away with a “feature” that we’ve all lived with for a very long time, and I agree.

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March 15, 2012

July 1, 2012: The Day ISPs Start Spying On Customers

Correction: This story originally cited July 12, 2012 as the date ISPs start spying on customers as this was the date widely reported at the time of publishing. There are still conflicting reports but it appears the correct date is July 1, 2012. Regardless of which date is correct, if you use BitTorrent, my suggestion is to play it safe and assume they are starting July 1.

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