well it’s that time in our lives we need to get new phones. it’s not a simple choice these days, so much to consider. it use to be go down to the independent verizon store to see what they have. well verizon replaced all those stores, staffing them with their own salespeople. i learned that last time as i ventured downtown to my favorite phone store, yes i am a loyal customer, to see everyone replaced. those salespeople talked us into taking an LG phone which is crap. i wouldn’t buy another product from that company which use to be called goldstar.

the reason i continued shopping at this phone store they would throw in a free car charger on my purchases. the verizon store never gave anything away. i once had an opportunity to pick up a T Mobile franchise that paid $265 commission on each phone connection and that location was doing 20 or so phones a day. but it meant i had to be there and i wanted to be other places.

now with verizon staffing their own stores i guess the lucrative commissions are gone. oh well so did the service.

always choices…………..

so here i sit gathering information. being a photographer do i go with an iphone?  dan burkholder has done a lot of work creating artistic images with this phone and has written the book  IPhone Artistry and i’ve seen the print from his i phone and apps he won the soho photo gallery alternative image contest with. very nice.

but apple seems to be a moral problem with me. now i am a long time apple user starting with a Mac C ll computer. my first computer was a commodore 64 but i did use the macintoshs at a desktop publishing store during that time writing my resume the constant job search.

one of my problems is will apple produce another work station along the lines of my mac pro? or will they phase these out replacing them with imacs, which can’t be color calibrated. personally i don’t believe this will happen but it wouldn’t be the first time a company changed directions as seems to be a rumor. after all isn’t this what kept apple in business through all those lean years?

then there is apple’s manufacturing and related products. see the lengthy New York Times article  ‘how the U.S. lost out on iphone work’ or the human cost of producing ipad or iphones again another  NY Times article  and other foxconn articles. i wonder where the wall street journal is in all of this, oh probably in england testifying before parliament .

when did apple change? i knew apple computers were made in good old usa but hadn’t given it too much thought after that.  i just kept buying their products. making savior  steve jobs a rich man, after all wasn’t bill gates and the dreaded ‘death star of microsoft’ the real enemy, making us use internet explorer, ugh?

but something change at ‘death star’  bill and his wife melinda did go on to start the bill and melinda gates foundation but what have they done for us lately? oh changed parts of the world and helped people, how could the proponent of evil and master of  ‘death star’, who couldn’t see the future of computing and never came up with these cool things we carry around with us call I what-evers.

but steve had apple’s billions stashed in the bank and a vision as to how we should live using his products,  see latest sec report to see everything steve had, now apple is the ‘new death star’ another black hole and dark spot in the earth. people line up around the block to be the among the first to get their hands on I whatever.

who has the last laugh now steve, oh tim clark with his reported $376 million salary a meer pittance compared to apples worth at $500 billion, see ebersole’s blog on all you could do with that stash. but i guess my readers could compile their own list. what would you do with $500/376 billion dollars?

do i really need to add to apples coffers and make the plunge to iphone or ever a smart phone with data. heck i’ve just started using my phones calendar to record appointments and alarms, it does help keep me focused and on time. will i give up my bulky dslr and join the multitudes who how up phones at events. at rock concerts they’ve become the new matches held aloft at the end.

this post is about my quandary about buying a phone, any phone, not about steve over bill and melinda or even tim, who, could spend all their money anyway? it’s not about a government bail out of the auto industry, these people all have money. oh verizon wants $199 for an iphone plus a two year contract plus plan. can i afford this? hey now that i have all this time on my hands because i’ve retired i could get another job that’s if there are any around to pay for the PLAN.

our two grand children both have their own iphones, well if we make that choice then they can show us how to use them. i am sure the apple store has classes on their use for a buck or two. but we’ve also seen thee new 4G samsung stratosphere  which looks good and doesn’t cost us anything except a plan.

then there is motorola and american company producing phones here in america, droid 4 by  motorola. all these choices give me a headache as i’ve just started using my calendar on the phone i’ve got now. odd all the dates i set before daylight savings go off an hour late. oh well better late than never.

i talked to a young salesperson who related he had hacked into his phone to improve it, now when would i ever want to do that? at my age life is to short to bother with that. i just want a phone that is reliable doesn’t notify me ten seconds before turning it self off because of dead battery which my stupid LG phones does.

oh decisions decisions i think it’s time for a nap, wonder what ever happened to my teddy bear?

jene