Jason Bradford

Goodbye AT&T. Goodbye iPhone.

// August 9th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // life, Technology

Yes.  I’ve given up my iPhone.  Don’t get me wrong.  I liked my iPhone.  A lot.  However, from a personal and business position I had to evaluate more factors than “is it an iphone?”.

I have many friends who have no problems with their iphones or AT&T.  I’m glad they don’t and I’m not here to bash the iphone or AT&T.  I do want to share some factors that brought me to this decision.

First reason, OPTIONS.  For a while, there were no real options for me.  I was in a contract with AT&T and I dug my iphone.  It was light years beyond other ‘smart’ phones.  Times have changed.  There are many options now including the Google Android platform… which is really cool.

Second, COVERAGE.  Yes, AT&T claims to have the best coverage.  And they may-  however that includes their Edge network which is not data coverage for me-  meaning, it’s not fast enough to be traveling and use.  I travel a lot.  I want 3G coverage everywhere.  Our new service has lined the interstates (where I travel most) with 3G coverage.  I now have fast data and phone service in the majority of places I travel.

Third, the $$$AVINGS.  With our new service, we will be saving over $50 a month AND we have more features, all that I will use.  This is where I can break it down and say this was a common sense move for me.

Our base plan on AT&T was the Family 1400 which was $80-
The second phone was $9.99
Data plans for both of these phones is $60
Text Messaging for each phone (basic 200) was $10
Data tethering for the iPhone  $20

That total plan is $179.99 –  That does not include tax and services.  We hit $200 pretty easy.

The new plan with Sprint and the HTC Evo 4G is base @ $139.00  (that is for two phones.  Unlimited data, unlimited texting, mobile 2 mobile calling on any network)

I added the Hotspot option for $30.  This lets me turn my phone into a wireless router so that up to 8 devices can get on the internet at any time.  No need to ‘tether’ one device anymore.

This brings our new phone plan to $169.00.  We are saving $10!  Wait, actually because of my business we were offered a corporate discount of 23%.  We just saved another $40…  In the end we save $50 a month AND have increased our data usage and eliminated our overages on texting… which happened a lot!

One other bonus is the 4G network that is rolling out this year.  The download speeds for data will be close to cable modem speeds.  Pretty fast for mobile computing!

For us, it was easy to make the decision.  I’ll keep my old iPhone-  it’s now an iPhone touch.  :)  I’m still a lover of Apple products.  Always have been and always will be.  My iPad will keep me happy no doubt.

Top 9 iPhone Apps

// October 7th, 2008 // No Comments » // Music & Entertainment, Technology

So I’m really digging the iPhone..  granted, the battery consumption is frustrating because it only allows you to use “all” the tools it came with for a few hours- but I’ve adapted for now.  As a business tool and a personal tool this phone has become my 11th finger, my third hand, my second head, my… well, you get the picture.  I’ve found ways to incorporate the iphone into every aspect of my 9-5 life and my independent music night life…

I thought I’d share a few of the tools that I have found to be invaluable.  Please share you favorite apps with me and others who read this!

1. Evernote-  This app is a great note/to do piece.  I have found myself humming melody lines that were trapped in my head into the voice recorder, making quick notes of stuff to pick up at the grocery store and snapping pictures to remember later (like the name of a wine I had- it also does image recognition)
2. Fring- This could be an all around app of the future. This social tool incorporates a ton of media sites and communications including Skype.  Yes, Skype.  When we recently made Tone Box completely digital we switched all phones to Skype so now I have it with me every where. Look me up on Skype:  toneboxdigital
3. Airsharing- This app turns my iphone into a wireless hard drive.  I can take my documents with me everywhere I go.  Works with tons of document formats-  MS Word, Excel, PDF, jpgs, html, rtf, audio files and so many more.
4. Facebook-  This is a killer app.  Recently updated, the feel of this app is very close to the real Facebook.  I can keep up friends, messages, status, comments and requests.  If we can get flash for the iPhone I can play Mob Wars and we’ll all be in trouble.
5. Myspace- The reason I like this app is because I hate Myspace but continue to have a presence on there.  I never actually go to myspace anymore.  I can see friend requests and messages from the iphone and not get bogged down into that clunky myspace.
6. BeatMaker-  This was one of my favorite apps for the plane.  I was able to create loops, edit loops and then dump to my macbook in a usable format.  I haven’t used it in a while because it got removed and the last sync didn’t bring it back!  I’m working on getting it back and will be using it as soon as I do!
7. Sportacular- I know, this isn’t a business app but it rocks.  Updates often during games and allows me to create a fantasy player list so I can see how my fantasy players are doing from one page!  Saves me time, so it’s beneficial to my business.
8. Twitterific-  Yes, if you know me, then you know I live on Twitter.  Most of my facebook friends have no idea that Twitter drives my facebook status and I’m not really on Facebook all day!
9. Oblique Strategies- not new to me but new to the iphone.  Great app with one liners or sayings that can generate thought in almost any situation.

Doesn’t it suck when you are reading a list and it ends at like 9?  or 13?  Who said all lists had to be 3, 5, 10, 20, 50?     Those are my nine.  What is my 10th favorite?  You tell me!!!  What are your favorite apps?

Apple's Sept 9th Event

// September 6th, 2008 // No Comments » // life

Since my visitor numbers have spiked significantly over the past week or two I decided to dig deep to find what everyone was looking for. After some drilling and keyword analytics I’ve put together that you guys are looking for information on the planned Apple Sept 9th event. Here are a couple of the “suspicions” that are floating around the internet:

• New iPod Nanos -  long overdue revamp.  This one seems like the “guarantee” for the show.
• New iTunes store- Another almost “guarantee” for this show…  supposedly a whole new interface.
• Apple and Beatles – Finally?  Maybe?  Just a rumor
• NFL Partnership & Application-  You can follow specific players with fantasy scoring and replays. This seems to good to be true, however there are a few applications already making it possible to track specific players.
• Macbook Touch- This has been rumored for a few months now– would be awesome-  imagine a huge iphone!  Not sure about this one, Intel chips are delayed which could delay this release for a bit.
• Iphone update- Not sure this would be a big deal since they update as needed and when needed.

Any other rumors you guys are hearing?  Will be anxious to see what will be presented on Sept. 9th.