Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2010 01:10:55 -0700
Reply-To: BenT Syncro <syncro@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: BenT Syncro <syncro@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Smartphones for Vanagoneers; was RE: CB
In-Reply-To: <000b01cb2e1b$5fb6eed0$1f24cc70$@com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Jumpin' Syncrozophatz! I had no idea you had a wife.
I used my fruitphones for many things Vanagon related such as directions and mod duties.
BenT
Sent from my adroppleberry
On Jul 27, 2010, at 11:08 PM, Robert Fisher <garciasghostvw@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> Well, briefly: We had cable internet that was costing us around $60/month.
> The "unlimited" data plans for the phones are $30/month each (most providers
> will be going to/offering cheaper capped plans as an alternative). I got my
> phone for "free" for extending my contract (I planned to continue to use the
> service anyway); we paid $20 for my wife's phone (same one, the Droid). The
> minutes and texts are separate from the data plan and the costs remained the
> same. Basically we have the same connectivity at the same cost with the only
> practical exception being that we can't stream Netflix at the moment.
> Netflix is making an app for that; I think Blockbuster already has one.
>
>
>
> I haven't paid for any apps at this point and I don't plan to. Many of the
> free ones are "ad supported" which means there's a tiny little ad at the
> bottom you can safely ignore and barely see anyway.
>
>
>
> I had hundreds of ebooks and thousands of songs already that I can use on my
> device. I can tether the laptop to it for internet when we travel (not
> exactly kosher, but not specifically forbidden either). They have tethering
> plans for additional costs, but an OS update is about to make every one of
> these particular phones a potential WiFi hotspot as well as making the
> phones flash (video) capable, so the carriers are going to have to deal with
> that somehow. Apparently a court ruling handed down today or yesterday make
> it "legal" to jailbreak (modify) your phone.
>
>
>
> Getting back to Vanagons more or less; we've really struggled with
> connectivity while traveling over the last couple of years. We got Boingo a
> couple of times, drove to distant McDonald's and that sort of crap. This
> approach took care of that and added a whole bunch of usefulness all in one
> shot, plus we don't have to buy a separate GPS device and so on.
>
>
>
> My wife said today "what did I do without this thing...?". Basically every
> time she thought of or remembered something she had to return to her
> computer. Now she just pulls it out of her pocket and deals with it on the
> fly. You might think it would tend to make you waste more time but for us it
> has condensed most of our computer time because we can just deal with things
> as they come up.
>
>
>
> I guess I lied about "briefly" so before this goes any farther afield you
> can pmail me or bring it up on Friday, tho I think how one uses the thing
> while traveling and so on would be a legitimate subject.
>
>
>
> My Bentley is falling apart so I plan to scan it into a .pdf file and I'm
> trying to work out how to get my Vanagon list archives onto the phone as
> well (and the rescue list, and... and... and...). Can you imagine just
> pulling all of that info out of your pocket if you're stuck someplace? Yeah
> I'll have it on the laptop as well, but picture this: I'm on the ground
> under the van on the side of the road at night, reading the archives on the
> screen and using the "flashlight" app to fire the LED on the back of the
> phone to illuminate the problem. I almost want to break down just to try it.
> Almost. : )
>
>
>
> Cya,
>
> Robert
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> From: Don Hanson [mailto:dhanson928@gmail.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 2010 9:53 PM
> To: Robert Fisher
> Cc: vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com
> Subject: Re: CB
>
>
>
> 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
