I Finally Got A New Phone…

For the last 5 years I have been relying on the iPhone to be my mobile office. There were only a handful of times when it didn’t hold up in this application so I can’t say that, overall, there is anything wrong with the iPhone as a whole. However, lately there have been a few issues that have become more prominent as the battery life has become shorter and shorter and the speed of the phone has been anything but fast at times. Having become eligible for an upgrade, I had an important decision to make as to whether I should stay with Apple or to cut the cord and move on to another company and operating system. That was the basis of my question last weekend.

So, what did I decide to do?

After considering what I really needed the phone to do during the day I made the decision to go a different direction and pick up the Nokia Lumia 635. That’s right, this past week I hopped off the iPhone bandwagon and joined my wife in using a Windows based smartphone. While I am not a fan of Windows 8 on a laptop, it makes a lot of sense on a mobile device.

Having been using it for a few days, I am pretty impressed with the functionality of this phone especially considering that the MSRP is about a quarter of that of the iPhone 5s which I was also considering ($140 vs $550). Especially convenient is the fact that the battery, with fairly regular use while I have been trying to figure out the functionality, lasts for about a day and a half. And while it may not have the same apps that are available from Apple, I can’t say that I am missing anything. In fact, some of the comparable on the Windows are actually better than the iPhone.

It has been interesting so far in that more people have asked me about this phone in just a few days than had asked me about my iPhone in the last 5 years. I guess people are just curious when someone doesn’t buy an Apple or Android based product. Of course, this is my initial experience with the phone.

There may be some things that I don’t like that will come up and there are certain operations that will exceed my expectations once I create a Microsoft account and gain full access to the entire suite of operations. With that said, having played a bit with my wife’s phone already, I am looking forward to the benefits and not expecting many shortcomings beyond simply learning a new operating system. Only time and use will really tell and I will be sure to write about the experience at a later date.

Dialing Decisions

It is that time again… my iPhone is beginning to slow and the battery life is not what it used to be. Normally I would simply go to AT&T and get whatever the $0.99 upgrade is at the time but due to some of the changes to their policies that doesn’t seem like the most viable option. So, with that said, I am expanding my search for a replacement.

The iPhone has served me well over the past few years. Both the 3 and the 4 have held up well and I have year to break one (I don’t know how people do it). The apps, when not a complete waste of time, are actually quite useful and some of them have even been beneficial at times. However, the compatibility issues with my laptop and the limited battery life are getting on my nerves. Additionally, I am getting tired of the idea of having a phone which require proprietary cords, apps, and doodads rather than a simple platform which communicates with my other non-Apple devices.

So, I have taken a few minutes of the day and looked at my phone trying to pinpoint what I really use it for, how I could use it, and how I should use it. By stepping back I realized that all of the things that do nothing but waste my time are things that I can really do without and I don’t care if they are not available on other phones. At the same time, some of the other apps that I use regularly are not just in app form and so a mobile website can easily take their place (i.e. Ancestry, Facebook, Blogger, etc.). Everything else can be found on other smart phones just in a different configuration and/or under a different name.

With that said, I am used to the platform. I know where everything is and I know exactly how it works. Changing things over isn’t really a challenge but it can simply be time consuming getting used to and figuring out a new way. Time is something that I have very little of at the moment. When I think about that though, given the frequency with which I have to stop using my phone just so it can charge, it might not be that much of a time difference if any.

What I would like to be able to accomplish is to have a phone that doesn’t cost $500+ just in case I need to replace it. Something that I can easily sync with my computer and other devices. Much more efficient use of power… I miss the days when I only had to plug in my phone every other day even with constant use. And, maybe something that I can work on just in case my computer craps out… it has happened before and an iPhone is not a pleasant working tool in that regard.

So, that is my dilemma. What phone should I switch to? Should I stay with Apple (a 6 is NOT an option people)? What is on your mobility wish list? Let me know what you think. I will be sure to write about the phone I chose (probably later this week or next).

Random Phone Notes

I was going through my phone in an attempt to free up some space and generally delete a bunch of things that were just taking up the screen. You know, the apps that you come across every once in a while and say “why the heck do I have this on my phone?” Well, as I dug a little deeper into many of the forgotten files more and more space became available in my memory.

One of the areas that I keep overlooking is the random notes and ideas that I type into the yellow screen in the hope to not forget the thoughts. Unfortunately, I frequently forget that I recorded the ideas. It is only when I go into the application to make another note when I remember the other content that is just sitting there. Thankfully, the practice of recording my notes in my phone isn’t incredibly common.

On Friday, I had a thought and opened my notes. After recording the random clicker of quasi creative thought, I scrolled through the other notes that were sitting there. Some of the sentences were interesting and could, possibly, be fleshed out to be a somewhat interesting piece. Others, not so much (that collection of completely inconsequential randomness was quickly trashed). But, I will let you be the judge so here is what I found when I read through the forgotten lines…

11/21/11 – The road laced the nightmares of parents in the small Philadelphia suburb when their children turned 16. Every year, a new cross, a new mound of flowers, a new collage of mournful notes lay exposed to the elements. The curve itself wasn't sharp - there was nothing treacherous about its degree. It was the suddenness of the bend that robbed one of control. It was to the relief of everyone in the town when the township decided to close the road. No more nightmares. No more haunting images and nights filled with pacing. No more worrying that they wouldn't see their children graduate. No more ghosts. Years passed and the old road slowly slipped back into the winding creek beside it. However, the curve remained seemingly untouched by time. Last summer, enough time had passed and the stigma had faded to the point that a developer purchased the land at what he thought was a steal. He was looking forward to the profits the thought were sure to follow.

7/4/13 – I hear the sounds of fireworks in the distance without a splash of color to be seen. Instead I watch the fireflies pulse in the darkness to the staccato of liberty.

7/8/13 – Motors whining, suspensions creaking, gears popping, and tired what seem to be tearing and ripping at the road. Where are they going at 2am?

11/12/13 – Along the back left wall the lamp lit the desk with a light that seemed to syphon the warmth and energy from the other three corners of the room.

2/28/14 – Bobby expected things to happen for him. He believe that luck was on his side he just needed that one moment to turn things around. It was this sense of entitled hope and opportunity that kept him searching for a genie in the bottom of a bottle.

So, now that you have read through the random thoughts that have passed through my fingers over the past 2+ years, what would you like to read more about? What would you like me to attempt to develop into some sort of creative draft? Let me know what you would like to read and I will make an attempt to expand the thought into something that resembles a story, poem, article, etc. I have no idea what will come out of the exercise but I will give it a shot.