Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:53:19 -0700
Reply-To: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: CB
In-Reply-To: <037301cb2e06$904a21d0$b0de6570$@com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Just curious for you smart phone type device users... How much does all
the bandwidth work out to use these devices? Do they charge you like a cell
phone for air time and minutes? How much does it cost to program or load
all the apps into them? Are they expensive to own and operate? Not dissin
anybody or any thing...just that it's a bit difficult to cost out what
people are paying to have these units in operation doing all the cool stuff
they do. Nobody I ask can actually give me a real answer...I guess it is
like driving a Hummer...if you have to ask how much fuel mileage it gets,
you can't afford one?
I know my TV cable was about $40 a month at one time and now I pay over
$100 with 'substantial early termination fees' to have my dish network and
DVR working...and the shows (now hundereds of bad ones) still mostly are
repeats and mostly suck...and they still have commercials in addition to my
'subscription fee'...Is that like..."Buy this cool mobile device and get all
this cool functionality...after you pay for the air time, too and the
programs(Apps?), one by one, and each song you hear, book you read, etc etc?
Have anything to do with Vanagons? Well I see people driving down the
road with mobile devices in use in vanagons and I see lots of messages here
on gerry@vanagon with the tagline..."Posted from my dingleberry device" or
somesuch..I would like to be able to access the internet without
Wi-Fi...like while driving in reception areas and camped within a 3G-4G
whatever serviced geographic location...but not if I can't afford the gas to
get there because I spent my meager income on Apps and Airtime..
Don Hanson
On Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 8:39 PM, Robert Fisher <garciasghostvw@gmail.com>wrote:
> On something of a side note, this discussion prompted me to look for a
> scanner app for my Droid (had it about two weeks) and lo there was one
> (well
> reviewed, and free). Interesting given the wildfires around here now.
> As for the CB, someone is developing an app with that kind of
> functionality,
> although I don't really see them tying into actual CBs (but who knows).
>
> We talk a lot about these different devices in our vans, and I wonder that
> these phones/devices won't eventually replace most or all of them. We had
> the phone hooked up to the stereo for the music, and it faded it down, the
> GPS app gave some directions and then faded the music back up, all while my
> wife was refilling her prescription online. Then she looked up the
> elevation
> of Mt. Fuji 'cause my daughter was curious about it since I climbed it once
> (but had forgotten the number).
>
> I realize that the lack of coverage in the backcountry is an issue,
> particularly for a lot of this crowd (for whom "backcountry" has a
> different
> meaning), but that will presumably change as time goes on. These things are
> game changers in many areas in the same way that Tivos/DVRs are game
> changers in the way one uses television. I've hardly used my computer
> lately; I have to remind myself to sync it up every day.
>
> I can see somebody developing a bluetooth ECU scanner so your phone can
> monitor your engine. Why not?
>
> Cya,
> Robert
>
| 
