Those phones have too many bells and whistles for the likes of me..
I had a Droid and because of the calluses on my fingers, I couldn't get the
little slide to open arrow to work most times..Gave it back and got a plain
old flip phone again. Life is so much easier now...Don't have to text
either...

Daryl of AA Transaxle
425-788-4070
"On the cutting edge of Old technology"
86 Syncro Westy with a Zetec in the trunk

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Old Volks Home
Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 2:41 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: CB

I'm with AT&T Wireless (have been for 14 years - first as AT&T, then
swallowed up by Cingular, then SBC and then re-branded AT&T again).  I've
been a bit of a minimalist when it comes to cell phones - just a phone and
phone book for me - no texting, no twitter, no internet, etc., please.  Then
I got curious about the iPhone and its potential capabilities vis-a-vis
internet, wi-fi and "apps" capabilities. Like Don, I was a bit skeptical
that I might incur more charges than what I could possibly afford, given my
meager salary these days. My brother has one and uses it extensively for
internet & family texting to his wife and 5 kids.  I mentioned I was
thinking about it and he said if I was to get one, get it NOW because as of
June 6th, AT&T was dropping the unlimited data plan to a tiered plan that in
the long run was going to be more expensive.  So I took the plunge and got
the bottom-of the-line 3G8 iPhone and its been so much more versatile than
my laptop, which can be cumbersome to use and try to find a wi-fi signal to
access the internet.  Since my current plan offered me jillions of minutes
(regular + rollover minutes), especially after 7pm for pittance (I've had
that plan for years), the additional $30 for unlimited data and $5 for 200
text messages per month was still pretty affordable for me.  I don't text
that often and usually just to my brother, his wife or one of his 5 kids
which are scattered over half the USA these days.
Many of the apps I've downloaded from iTunes are free and I've stuck my neck
out for a few that only run 99 cents and all updates are free.

When I did this, the iPhone 4 was not yet available and considering the
problems reported since then I'm glad I have what I got.  I've also seen
reports that AT&T coverage isn't as great as say Verizon, but in 14 years
I've yet to be in a spot (even remote) when traveling coast to coast where
the AT&T signal wasn't good and rarely would I have a drop-out.  Now the
company issued Sprint Nextel isn't worth spit on a gnat a** when out of a
metro area like on I-40 past Barstow or I-10 past Palm Springs.  Plenty of
AT&T signal and no Sprint Nextel signal.
--
Jim Thompson
84 GL 1.9 "Gloria"
84 Westfalia 2.1 "Ole Putt"
72 411 Station Wagon "Pug"
75 914 1.8 "Nancy"
Full Timing Since March 1999
oldvolkshome@gmail.com
http://www.oldvolkshome.com
***********************************
On Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 9:53 PM, Don Hanson <dhanson928@gmail.com> wrote:

>  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
>