Friday rolls around again and the end of the week is in touching distance. Phewwww....
...and todays subject, the iPhone 4 and how to get one. I've been an iPhone user from the very early days back in 2007, and in all honesty once you've had an iPhone, there is no going back. I'm not going to get into the Android/iPhone debate here suffice to say it seems very similar to a re-run of the old mac/pc debate. Do you want something that works, or do you want something you can fiddle about with until it doesn't work ? Enough already.
So, as I've mentioned elsewhere, the iPhone 4 was announced earlier in the week and will be available to all from the 24th June. One of the key features thats been getting a lot of press is the new display, which Mr Jobs has been referring to as the "Retina Display" based on a claim that the human eye can't resolve the density of pixels on the new iPhone at a distance of around 12inches. That's wound a few people up and the well respected Wired magazine came out with a headline that read iPhone 4’s ‘Retina’ Display Claims Are False Marketing. Well now there's been a proper mathematical response to this which makes for some Q.I. reading and will help you understand correctly the term, resolution. You can read it here: Resolving the iPhone resolution. Knock yourself out.
This brings me to the important subject of upgrades and the will I, won't I question. Having seen a few hands-on reviews at places like slashgear, Engadget and Wired the answer is a most definite yes, but being part way through an existing contract the real question is how!?
It appears the lovely folks at O2 have come to my rescue (sort of) with a nice little deal to make it all a bit less painful. As you can see from their how to upgrade page, they're offering an option to buy out your existing contract at £20 per month rather that the £30 it costs me now. Right now, that's about 260 quid for me! gulp! (though if it were 30 that would be more like £390. But hang on - if I also recycle my phone with them, they'll give me cash for it. £235 in fact. So I can upgrade to an iPhone 4 for 25 quid. I'll have some of that thank you very much.
So where's the catch? Well, yes there is a catch. Three in fact, but they're not too painful. First of all, you waive your right to return the phone within 14 days... hmmmm... This bothered me a bit to start with, but then enough people who know about these devices claim it to be a serious improvement over the current model, so why would I want to give it back?
Secondly they've change the data plan and are now capping data downloads at 1Gb per month. £5 for every 500Mb over that. A quick check though and over the life of my phone I've managed to download 2.7Gb over 3G (most of the time I'm on a WiFi connection somewhere) so no issue there.
Thirdly, I'll have to sign up to another 24month contract. This is the most annoying problem. 2 Years is a long time in technology terms and it means I pay £720 over that period for the phone, calls and everything else. But then that's what I was paying before. I'm persuaded. My apple-ness doesn't help me maintain a 100% level headed balance (and believe me I do try), but I think I'm at least 90% even handed. Good enough.
However, there is one very very important reason for moving to an iPhone 4 and that is Mrs G. She has a Samsung somethingorother. Last time she changed phone i suggested she get an iPhone and was met with a very simple "No". She's not a complete technophobe, but she doesn't like to be told (especially by me) what is good or bad tech. It seems she'd much rather find out the hard way, by battling with something like a Samsung whatchamacallit until she can take it no longer and caves in. This situation has just been made worse by the fact that both Son & Daughter took my advice and are iPhone addicted (This may well be a bad thing in the long term, but if you must experiment, then kids are good test bed - pliable). This all means that NOW is the moment that I can talk her into an upgrade and finally never have to repeat this conversation:
Mrs G (sending a text on the dodgy touch screen): Grrrrrr I HATE this phone, it's useless.
Me: Well, I'd hate to say I told you so
Mrs G: Grrrrr - I know!!!
Enough.... to work.... Happy Friday.
...and todays subject, the iPhone 4 and how to get one. I've been an iPhone user from the very early days back in 2007, and in all honesty once you've had an iPhone, there is no going back. I'm not going to get into the Android/iPhone debate here suffice to say it seems very similar to a re-run of the old mac/pc debate. Do you want something that works, or do you want something you can fiddle about with until it doesn't work ? Enough already.
So, as I've mentioned elsewhere, the iPhone 4 was announced earlier in the week and will be available to all from the 24th June. One of the key features thats been getting a lot of press is the new display, which Mr Jobs has been referring to as the "Retina Display" based on a claim that the human eye can't resolve the density of pixels on the new iPhone at a distance of around 12inches. That's wound a few people up and the well respected Wired magazine came out with a headline that read iPhone 4’s ‘Retina’ Display Claims Are False Marketing. Well now there's been a proper mathematical response to this which makes for some Q.I. reading and will help you understand correctly the term, resolution. You can read it here: Resolving the iPhone resolution. Knock yourself out.
This brings me to the important subject of upgrades and the will I, won't I question. Having seen a few hands-on reviews at places like slashgear, Engadget and Wired the answer is a most definite yes, but being part way through an existing contract the real question is how!?
It appears the lovely folks at O2 have come to my rescue (sort of) with a nice little deal to make it all a bit less painful. As you can see from their how to upgrade page, they're offering an option to buy out your existing contract at £20 per month rather that the £30 it costs me now. Right now, that's about 260 quid for me! gulp! (though if it were 30 that would be more like £390. But hang on - if I also recycle my phone with them, they'll give me cash for it. £235 in fact. So I can upgrade to an iPhone 4 for 25 quid. I'll have some of that thank you very much.
So where's the catch? Well, yes there is a catch. Three in fact, but they're not too painful. First of all, you waive your right to return the phone within 14 days... hmmmm... This bothered me a bit to start with, but then enough people who know about these devices claim it to be a serious improvement over the current model, so why would I want to give it back?
Secondly they've change the data plan and are now capping data downloads at 1Gb per month. £5 for every 500Mb over that. A quick check though and over the life of my phone I've managed to download 2.7Gb over 3G (most of the time I'm on a WiFi connection somewhere) so no issue there.
Thirdly, I'll have to sign up to another 24month contract. This is the most annoying problem. 2 Years is a long time in technology terms and it means I pay £720 over that period for the phone, calls and everything else. But then that's what I was paying before. I'm persuaded. My apple-ness doesn't help me maintain a 100% level headed balance (and believe me I do try), but I think I'm at least 90% even handed. Good enough.
However, there is one very very important reason for moving to an iPhone 4 and that is Mrs G. She has a Samsung somethingorother. Last time she changed phone i suggested she get an iPhone and was met with a very simple "No". She's not a complete technophobe, but she doesn't like to be told (especially by me) what is good or bad tech. It seems she'd much rather find out the hard way, by battling with something like a Samsung whatchamacallit until she can take it no longer and caves in. This situation has just been made worse by the fact that both Son & Daughter took my advice and are iPhone addicted (This may well be a bad thing in the long term, but if you must experiment, then kids are good test bed - pliable). This all means that NOW is the moment that I can talk her into an upgrade and finally never have to repeat this conversation:
Mrs G (sending a text on the dodgy touch screen): Grrrrrr I HATE this phone, it's useless.
Me: Well, I'd hate to say I told you so
Mrs G: Grrrrr - I know!!!
Enough.... to work.... Happy Friday.
I know someone who is selling an iPAD - I think they said £400. It is an US import - any good, are YOU interested?
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