iPhone 3G $99

New lines/service can get a refurb iPhone 3G 8GB for $99 plus $36 activation (plus $30 per month for data under a 2 yr agreement, which is the usual setup).

If you're reluctant to jump into a contract, check out this Windows Mobile phone for $50. It's GSM, so you can use it on AT&T and T-Mobile....

It's official

I am officially a Dad. Today my outfit consisted of a short sleeve polo in green, adidas shorts in black, tall white socks straight from 1998 (is it too soon to bring tall socks back?) and white Asics. And I am fine with it....

Negotiating

There are a ton of materials you could find on the web that deal with negotiating tactics -I even took a two-day class on negotiations at work. Here is a short-list on "how-to-negotiate" that combines all my recent learnings....

When you've been wronged....
1) Be clear in what is wrong, and back it up with solid, objective evidence - talk radio is full of callers who complain about XYZ but have ZERO proof of negligence or harm. You have to have something concrete - how exactly is the item damaged, what was specifically wrong about the service. And if we are dealing with warranties, always use the same language as written in the warranty.
2) Understand what they have to loose, then squeeze - you'll give them a bad review online, tell your friends not to go there or use their services, or even that you are prepared to file a charge-back from your credit card (effectively canceling the transaction).
3) Be clear in want you want as retribution - money, services, apology, whatever - tell them what it is you want otherwise you're stuck waiting for them to make a suggestion that will likely be insufficient

When you're looking for a good deal
1) Everything is negotiable - always ask "is this the final price?" or "can we get a discount on this?" - there are a number of things that can happen, even at big-box chains like Best Buy or Target. I've had the following happen to me:

• Cashier running the item through the mark-down system and applying a clearance sticker for 50% off
• Cashier opening up the register and scanning a 20% off coupon she had stashed away
• Cashier giving me a free extended-warranty

2) Bring evidence of a lower price elsewhere, and threaten to walk - works best with cars (back when cars were actually being sold), but even with places like Conn's, Guitar Center, and Discount Tire. Print out an online price and ask them to match or beat it. And never be afraid of walking out - that is the best part.

3) Use DealNews to estimate market value - if you are preparing to buy a big ticket item (iPod, camcorder, computer, fridge, etc) check Dealnews for recent deals. This will help you get a feel of the current market price on the item you want. That way you don't get ripped off elsewhere.

What not to buy

This guy is reading my mind - check out this article on the No/Maybe/Yes tech purchases for 2008

Blagojevichawhatchamacallit?

My dad sent me this political cartoon - always best to sell on eBay...


Credit - Ed Stein, Rocky Mountain Post

Anamorphababywhat?

The ever-present anamorphism associated with accessories and entertainment for babies/kids has been well documented - from Mickey Mouse across the pond to Milo & Otis. But, it was William's hooded towel which caught my eye today. Check this out...
This is actually an incredible towel - very absorbant, covers William completely, but I lost them on the curve with the Octopus. There are two options here - either Mom is the Octopus and is receiving love from the child through whom the towel is destined, or the baby is the Octopus with tentacles reaching out in a guesture of love towards an unpictured cephalopod mother. You be the judge.

Free TV Online

If you are still paying for TV, it is time to cut the cord. Seriously. You've already heard me talk about free HDTV over the air, and using Tivo service to capture it for $9.99 a month. Now, here is more info on another option:

As you know, TV is no longer on just the TV. A vast majority of shows are now on the Big Network websites, and are even in HD, all for free. Plus there is Hulu and YouTube out there. How do you get these in your living room? Buy a $100 computer, $10 wireless USB stick, and $30 wireless keyboard. Done and done. For less than $150 you're watching free online videos in your living room, and you can cut your cable bill. You really don't need The Hills, and its ok to purchase episodes of Talk Soup from iTunes. I approve.

The computer listed above is a small form factor unit that can stand behind your flatscreen, sit in the old cable box's slot, or rest in the DVD drawer. With wireless ethernet and keyboard/mouse, it just needs to be in the range of your network. ALso check your TV for the proper video/audio connections. You'll need DVI or VGA, and mini-jack audio in (or an equivalent RCA adapter)

If you want to set this up and you have questions, just drop me an email and I'd be glad to help. Will send pics when I setup mine - I've got to eat my own cooking....

BlogWriterLite App

The App Store has a nifty free app that let's you post unformated text to your blogger account, so I may treat this like Twiiter and just post away. Quantity over quality - that's always been my motto.

Get Arrested cheap

Amazon has all three seasons of Arrested Development for $29. Do yourself a favor and watch this show....

Http://www.amazon.com/

Amazon Albums from $5

Amazon has 50 albums for $5 each, plus a bunch of other great deals. The songs download right into your iTunes folder, just sync your iPod and you're good to go. Here's three I picked up today, all are their new releases:

Coldplay - $5
Jason Mraz - $5
Dashboard - $8

Livin with the 3G

Update - I am now increasingly happy with the performance of the 3G phone, especially since you can now get it for $99 as a refurb. The GPS apps and 3G speed take this new phone to the next level. Highly recommended, just charge it every night...

Sold my first gen iPhone on eBay, and now I am starting to wish I had it back. Don't get me wrong, the new iPhone 3G feels lighter and is easier to handle, and has GPS. But what I thought was going to be an end all solution has turned out to cause a couple issues:

1) Under my typical use, the 3G antenna kills the battery in under 12 hours. I have to keep switching it on/off to keep the iPhone from dying. One thing is better - it must have a more efficient Wifi antenna, because Wifi is no longer a huge drain. Either way, I need some toggle buttons on the home screen to switch the Wifi/3G antennas off - as it is, I'm stuck diving into menus each time I want to change their operation

2) The iPhone 3G doesn't charge using my truck's Alpine iPod system. A couple of my home chargers are now also out of work. Moral of this story - if you have some fancy iPod connection in your car, test it out before you get the iPhone.

3) I miss the aluminum finish. I am a huge fan of the aluminum designs of Apple's latest products, and they took a step back to plastic with the iPhone This was probably to save weight and make it more impact resistant, so I will let it slide.

Overall, I would only recommend upgrading to the iPhone 3G under the following conditions:
1) You are intensly frustrated with the Edge network of the original iPhone
2) You tend to get really lost and need GPS rather than just the triangulation of the original iPhone
3) You must be the coolest person in your office and have the latest device in order to retain a nick-name referecing your techincal prowess - something like "tech-guy" or "electro-man" or something like that....don't have any other examples....promise

Old School Books

One thing I never do anymore - read books. What free time I have is spent trolling RSS feeds or reading magazines that come in the mail from cashing in airline miles. I used to wrap myself up in a good book, and get lost in a world of...not really. Here's a few books that I've kept on my bookshelf...

Ender's Game - the focus of this book is a child prodigy who ends up saving the world because he understands the paradigms of outer space - yes, I know, you're thinking "that is awesome" and it is.

Design of Everyday Things - this was required reading in a design class in college, but it really opens your eyes to how some things are made very badly, and others intuitively. Will really influence how you view design, from how you open doors to how to create a proper PowerPoint presentation.

The Hobbit - The prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it still holds up because you don't have the movie rolling in the back of your head as you try and read it.

Mere Christianity - this book is full of so much logic it will blow your mind. I recommend reading one chapter at a time, and then re-reading that same chapter before moving to the next.

Perfect Purchasing Storm

Don't you love all the advertising nowadays? Almost every commercial starts out with "Now more than ever" or "In times like these" and it always ends up being a product that no one needs. "In times like these, you need to be able to rent-to-own your own waterbed". My favorite is the GM commercial that starts with "We can all agree it's time to get back to business" I can almost see a asterisk next to that statement, much like the car ad in the paper, with super-fine text at the bottom that reads "agreement to get back to business is not a offer of employment;" I will agree that now is a very good time to buy most anything - you have a lack of demand and low purchasing power combined with overstocked products from a boom in manufacturing. A perfect storm. Not to say prices on consumer items will not go lower next year, but manufacturing is easing up to match demand and there may not be the same pressure to sell in 2009.

Billy Mays has gone too far...

I tolerated your shouting, your fake real-life scenarios where OxyClean takes a stain out of some rare and delicate antiquity like the Declaration Independence, and even thought about ordering one of the products you shill for, but today Billy Mays, you've gone too far. To prove the power of MightyMendIt, Billy cut a hole in a dude's parachute, patches it with his $19.95 product, and sends him to his possible death. Showing how red wine can be taken out of white carpet just wasn't enough for you, eh Billy? Your new high is sending a man to his death to prove that your new product is up to the task. Well I for one....wait, what's that? The guy landed safely? Let me get my credit card info....

Check out unnecessary product use at the 1:00 minute mark.....



Another great TV selling moment. Check Mike Rowe (yes that Mike Rowe) on QVC. Incredible....

Time to celebrate

It's been 1 year since I started the blog, and to celebrate I've redone the right hand menu! Wow! Amazing....

Be sure and check out some of the older posts, that way I can slack off and you don't get board.

End of an era

The 4Gb is for sale....