Archives for 2013

How long do you keep a Smartphone?

November 20, 2013 By Chris Mundy 6 Comments

How long do you keep a Smartphone? My first Smartphone was an iPhone 3. My wife inherited it as the 3Gs came out on the market. Earlier this year my iPhone 3Gs died. I bought it in 2009 in the last quarter. It has been a wonderful piece of technology.

Here are some of the things I’ve been able to do with my iPhone 3Gs:

Make Phone Calls (obviously)
Messaging
Email
Photography
Movie filming, e.g. mounted on the Motorcycle
USB type storage
Integration to cloud services
Music media
Journal/Note Taking
Travel and trip updates
Health tracking
Weather Tracking

The interesting thing about a lot of this is that I’ve done a number of these activities, Photos, Filming and Music when the Smart Phone was mounted on the handlebar on my Motorcycle. This is an environment with a lot of vibration.

So when my iPhone 3Gs died while being used on my Motorcycle trip to Tasmania earlier this year, I wasn’t surprised. I can’t say the timing was great, however, it happened, that’s life.

Growing up in a generation that questioned consumerism and working for a company in the 70s and 80s that reduced its product warranty from 10 years to 5 years to 1 year for one of its core products, I’ve always attempted to try to get the most out of any technology with effective asset management, in other words make it last as long as possible, that’s my approach.

How long do you keep a Smartphone for?

Let’s look at it from this perspective, when do people most probably replace their smart phone?

People usually:

Replace the Smartphone when its been damaged

Did a cup of cold water tip on the desk where your phone was sitting and it penetrated the phone or you mishandled the phone and it fell out of your pocket, or did you drop it on the road as it fell out of your pocket while riding your motorcycle? Yes it happens. I saw this in Tasmania following another rider; we picked up the phone and it still worked, cracked gorilla glass, however still workable.

Tech Republic has an infographic and article on how smart phone incidents occur.

One point about regularly damaging and breaking your phone is it can be very expensive, especially if you are a repeat offender. Insurance can only cover so much damage, and if you do it often the insurance people will start questioning your motives.

Replace the Smartphone when it has a fault or it fails

Warranties and extra care plans can be handy. Usually the manufacturers will replace the phone within the warranty period. They are keen to make sure you have a pleasant customer experience with the device to ensure future purchases. We’ve had to do that a couple of times and its been a question of “no problems”, however, we have to wait a week or two for a replacement.

If its out of warranty, sometimes you can get someone to repair it, however, the inevitable will occur and the phone will most likely fail in the future. If it doesn’t then that’s a bonus.

If you’ve gotten more than two years out of your smart phone then you are on a roll. If you’re looking at 3-4 years, then you’ve done well.

Replace the Smartphone when the contract ends

Most smart phones are on a contract, if you work in an environment that uses the phone often, then it’s probably wise to change it around the time of contract. Replacing at the end of a contract also ensures you have the latest and greatest technology.

What to do with your old Smartphone

Apple have a tendency to want you to keep up with their wave of technology so expect to get 4 years max out of your iPhone. I guess that Android and Windows SmartPhones would be following something similar.

Give it away

You can give the phone away to someone you know or give it to an organisation who will pass it on to someone else. In Australia, Mobile for Charity is one such organisation.

Repurpose it

Reuse it for some other purpose, e.g. in the case or an old smart phone, you could use it as an MP3 digital music player, an iPhone for instance can become an iPod.

Sell it

The best bang for buck is to try to sell it.

Sometimes that’s harder than expected. You can try eBay or the local selling site.

In the United States Galleze.com purchases old Smartphones and Tablet devices. In Australia “Cash a Phone” does something similar and in the UK there’s Sell My Mobile Phone.

Recycle it

There are lots of programs that recycle old smart phones, for instance, its my understanding Apple has a global recycling program.

In Australia, Apple collects old iPhones at their stores or you can print a label from their website, pack it and take it to Australia Post.

Purchasing the replacement Smartphone

Did you know the typical Smartphone has 16,000 times more processing memory than Apollo 11 had when it landed on the moon in 1969. You’re not purchasing a phone but you’re purchasing a mini computer!

Am I buying into an eco-system?

For me its the eco-system, the Apple eco-system for me provides continuity between my devices; I go from my iMac personal computer to my iPad to my iPhone and can look and use the same documents, contacts and calendars seamlessly.

Google likewise take the same approach between their Android platform and their smart phones and Google Accounts and applications.

All these manufacturers are wanting your commitment and buy-in for the long-term.

So something to consider is, what eco-system am I buying into?

What will I use it for?

This is an important question as it determines how much memory you will need.

My usage works out to be this:

Email
Calendar
Podcasts
Audiobooks
Music
Photos
Videos

The best bang for buck for me is to have 32 gigabytes of memory, that seems to work well. As I work in the Apple realm, the next step up is 64 gigabytes of memory that means more cost in the purchase and contract.

For me, less memory means more management of music and audiobooks, more memory means less management, I don’t have to manage how much music, photos or audiobooks are on my device.

By determining your usage patterns will help you discover how much memory you will need and of course decide how much you will need to spend.

Will I buy it on contract or will I buy it outright?

Cash flow seems to be the determining factor to this. Most people prefer to buy a smart phone on a contract from 1 to 2 years. One thing to consider when you buy on a contract is insurance. In the first 12 months, warranty will cover phone failure, however, if you are on a two-year contact and the phone fails in the second half of the contract, be prepared to pay for repairs, that can be a bit of a “gotcha”. Alternatively you can buy an extended warranty to cover your bases in the second half of the contract.

My current iPhone 5, I purchased outright. I also purchased the Apple Care that extends the service and support coverage to two years from the date I purchased the iPhone. This also meant I only needed a 12 month contract with the telco for usage.

My phone has gone missing!

Back in the 90s I found high-end Nokia Phone in an English Taxi Cab in London. I imagine the pain the owner went through looking for the phone, hopefully the cab driver was able to hand it in after his shift.

Consider the value of insuring the phone. Before you purchase the telco’s insurance, you may find that your home insurance may have provision for loss of mobile devices, you could save yourself some money.

So in closing, how long do you keep a Smartphone for?

There is no definitive answer or approach to this question as it is different for everyone and how they use the Smartphone. The main point is to decide what best suits your usage requirements and from there how long you need to keep the phone.

What I can say from my experience is, look after your phone and it will look after you.

My iPhone 3Gs still looks good considering it has ridden many a mile on the motorcycle handlebar, the only issue is the pin inside has collapsed, rendering the phone unusable.

I hope these tips help you before buying a new Smartphone.

Chris Mundy

Segway personal transport and tourism

June 10, 2013 By Chris Mundy Leave a Comment

Hey, we’re heading out later this year to Europe and I found out you could hire a Segway for personal transport and tourism in some European cities.

: Looking East towards Kings Ave Bridge, Canberra

: Out with Karen and Keith on Segways

: Following the Segway Leader

: Our Segway training team

: Looking West towards, Civic

: Annette and Chris on Segways

The idea came while going through Trip Advisor, a great source for trip planning. It occurred to me that we could use a Segway, a cool technology, to get around and see a lot more.

After thinking “this is a cool idea” I checked out the local Segway Tours in Canberra, rang them and made a booking.

Here’s a little video I put together from my Segway Cam!

[youtube width=”600″ height=”400″]http://youtu.be/bSMGSaTk06Q[/youtube]

First Impressions: We had a small tutorial and after five minutes you get an idea of how they work:

You step up on the Segway, gently lean forward and it moves forward.
Lean back and it slows down or comes to a stop.
Turn the handle left or right, and it turns in that direction; and that’s it.

The instructors at Seg Glide ride at Canberra said they can go a couple of hours on a charge.

When you’re riding along you certainly get a few looks. A Segway certainly has a certain Wow factor to onlookers.

After the ride, I found the soles of my feet sore, obviously they need more exercise :-).

Afterwards, a cup of coffee at Questacon and a debrief with our friends.

Think about the personal transport possibilities if you live in near to your work?

Here’s a couple of ads to show you what they cost.

Based on the prices above, consider the travel time, the cost of ownership, the parking.

I reckon its got a lot of possibilities in the future. What do you think? Would love to hear your comments.

Now I’m looking forward to using one on our European trip.

Google Reader will shut down however I found Feedly

April 18, 2013 By Chris Mundy Leave a Comment

March 13 2013 saw the announcement that Google Reader will be shutting down, however I found an alternative, Feedly.

When I heard the news I took a deep breath and realised I needed to start looking for an alternative. My primary tool for bringing all my RSS Feeds together using Google Reader as the aggregator was a tool called Reeder, a great Mac app.

For those who don’t know what Google Reader is it’s a Web-based aggregator, capable of reading Atom and RSS feeds online or offline. When a website publishes a new article, it uses an RSS Feed to tell Google, “hey there’s something new on this site”. The search engine can read the feed and use it to index the content. If you add a web site to Google Reader or a tool like Reeder using the RSS Feeds from the site, means you get an instant notification that the website has been updated. Nice. Web blogging platforms like WordPress use this technology.

Why the deep breath when Google said it was turning off Reader? It has been my source tool for collecting key technology information across the web. I could get an update on where the local National Broadcasting Network (NBN) roll-out was up to, when new Motorcycle products were out on the market and when the latest technology is being released. Google Reader via Reeder keeps me on top of my game, however, the real reason for me being annoyed was I had the RSS thing all sorted out and now I have to change.

I forgot one thing, technology is like surfing, there is always a better wave coming through, you just have to catch lots of waves to get the best rides. I was lulled into a false sense of security of this technology platform being stable, true, tried and tested and not going away; I got too comfortable. I had sat on my surfboard just paddling but not catching waves. After I had figured why I had reacted the way I did, it was time to go surfing again. The first wave I caught was Feedly, and boy, I’m glad I did.

Feedly is a RSS news aggregator application for a number of Web browsers and mobile devices running iOS and Android. So how different is it than Google Reader? Currently it uses your Google Reader RSS feeds, however to survive post the closure of Google Reader, it will need a place to manage feeds. To do this they have a project Normandy. This will be the tool to replace Google Reader. Presumably there will be some monetization as the Feedly Service along with Apps is currently free, however, they will probably monetize by selling the app or selling premium space on their service. Whatever way, they will be winners as people will seek alternatives to Google Reader.

Why Feedly impressed me?

The first reality check for me was it allowed me to import all my Google Reader RSS Feeds easily. That was the first tick of approval. The second thing was it was more web-based than my Mac App, Reeder. Reeder was only limited to being used on my iMac, Macbook Pro, iPad and iPhone. That’s OK, however when I was away from my Mac environment, I had to use Google Reader in its native format on platforms such as Windows 7; very vanilla but not as powerful as Reeder on the Mac.

So I set up Feedly on the Browser, imported my RSS Feeds from my Google reader account, download the iPhone and iPad apps from the App Store, installed it on my devices and off I went. It took a couple of uses to get the hang of it.

After a month of using Feedly, I really like it. The features that stand out for me are the different views to check your feeds; you can have lists, magazine views and other choices. It allowed me to quickly acknowledge the article as “read” and move on to the next article.

When reading an article in detail, it can take you to the source article in a Browser window. This makes it easier for me to trigger Hootsuite, my social sharing tool.

Lastly, its a great looking program. I like the User experience and how it works. See the image below.

So for me, it’s Feedly. If something else comes along that’s better, I will give it consideration, if it has some value added functionality that Feedly doesn’t.

Click the image below to go the Feedly website.

To view Feedly for the iPhone and iPad in the iTunes Store, click here.

Why I jumped ship and changed to an Apple Mac

January 28, 2013 By Chris Mundy Leave a Comment

“Never ask what sort of computer a guy drives. If he’s a Mac user, he’ll tell you. If not, why embarrass him? – Tom Clancy” : Guy Kawasaki

– “What the Plus”–

This article fits in with Tom Clancy’s quote.

My history with Apple Computers

I jumped ship a couple of years ago from Windows to Apple Computers. Most people who know my work in IT in our city of Canberra were surprised.

In late 80’s and 90’s I had a small amount of experience with Apple Computers at a couple of government agencies.

Prior to full time employment in Enterprise IT, I worked in the Facilities Maintenance Management environment. At the time I didn’t recall any Apple based software programs for managing Asset Maintenance Management, Condition Monitoring and Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning control systems. Windows PCs and Unix platforms were it.

When I moved into Enterprise IT in 1999, the desktops were Microsoft Windows based. The backend systems were mainframes IBM zOS and mid-range Unix systems.

So anything with a Apple was not a good fit. Apple seemed to work well in the Communications and Marketing departments, anywhere else, no one wanted to go there.

On a personal level outside of work, several years later, I found myself making short movies which required lots of video editing. At the time we used Sony Vegas for video editing, we attended Douglas Spotted Eagle’s training @eyewingsuit, and cut our teeth on Sony Vegas as our video editing platform.

Sony Vegas is still is an excellent tool. The challenge wasn’t Sony Vegas, it seemed like we were upgrading our PC’s to get the best results for Vegas to work; more memory and more CPU and more dollars. It never ended. It was time to re-evaluate my approach.

Am I a geek or a user?

When you’re in the thick of it, you have to sometimes step out and take the “General’s view”of the battle and re-assess your options.

The first question I asked was what kind of a user am I? Am I a geek or am I super user? At the time I saw myself as a super user not a geek.

The next question was what kind of user did I want to be? Did I want to spend my time tweaking hardware or did I want to be more of consumer creator of content?

My goal was that I wanted to become a creator of content.

So, why did I jump ship and buy a Mac?

Back around 2006, Microsoft started moving to Vista. At the same time I started using the Web heavily for research and personal development. The network at home required upgrades, Microsoft updates were coming down the wire at a regular pace and I couldn’t keep up. Microsoft was getting a bad wrap for Vista and more security vulnerabilities were being exposed. XP’s life as an operating system was being extended.

I had six Personal Computers at home I had to maintain, I decided not to get a Windows server as that would require further learning and administration just to administer the six PCs, so something had to be done as my productivity was going out the window. The concept of being a creator of content was becoming a distant thought, rather than reality.

Enter the thought of buying an Apple. The more I read about iMacs, the more I was warming to the idea that this platform could improve my productivity.

So the idea was floated and soon I took delivery of a 24′ iMac, specced with large CPU; that was in 2008.

Putting my foot in the water with my iMac

When I purchased the iMac and powered it up, the first thing I noticed was that it easily found my network and immediately gave me access to the Internet, that was impressive.

Being a partial believer, (having a camp in Windows and one in Apple) I also purchased VMWare Fusion to run Windows on the Mac to manage my Outlook mail accounts.

After a while I found that the majority of work I was doing was on the iMac, except for email where I would flip across to Microsoft Windows.

When it came to the virtual machine running Windows, I struggled with managing the memory effectively with VMFusion and realised the best way to deal with this was to eliminate the virtual machine altogether. That meant losing Outlook as my mail client and moving to Mac mail.

My Mac D Day

My Mac D Day was the Saturday I shutdown my Microsoft Outlook email client and started using Mac mail. As soon I transferred my email it was a sense of liberation. There was no more dependence on the Windows PC.

From that day I have removed all the Window’s PCs. My family quickly converted to MacBooks and Macbook Pros. It has been IT bliss in terms of usage and management.

Here’s what I’ve personally discovered since I purchased an iMac nearly five years ago

The purchase price of a Windows PC, plus the software, plus the service costs, plus my time fixing and configuring all the systems raised this question, “was a low price computer really a low price computer”?

No, there was always some more memory then there was adding another driver, then there was always another update.

What people won’t tell you is that it’s your time you’re cutting into when you go to fix your PC , so ask yourself the question, how much is your time worth?

If I calculate the value of my time as an IT Professional and the time I spent on fixing the issues, it didn’t take long to realise it was a false economy. As an example, a $250 video card upgrade now became around a $600 card by the time I had installed it, configured it and tested it.

Now the above example wouldn’t directly apply to the everyday consumer, unless of course they are a “tinkerer” but if they wanted to upgrade their PC they would have to pay someone to do that.

With the iMac everything was out of the box and didn’t require any additional hardware, it just worked.

The User Interface was consistent, this made it easier to use when flipping in and out of different applications.

Another wonderful feature was that it soon integrated with all my devices.

Within the 12 months I purchased an iPhone and a MobileMe account and all “my stuff” was synced. The same telephone book, notes, bookmarks and documents were in the same across all devices.

Within another 12 months I purchased a Macbook Pro and everything syncing across all three devices.

Now that iCloud has overtaken MobileMe, I am now leveraging the iCloud to improve my interoperability between devices, that means the same applications, the same contacts, calendars, bookmarks, the same documents. It helps when going from one device to another.

The gated community vs the open community

The gated community is probably more recognisable in the form of residential community where you have a perimeter wall and a one-way in and one way out, usually past a security guard.

A number of Tech Journalists have labeled Apple’s approach of joining everything together as a “gated community”. Others have also called it the “Apple Eco-System” eg. purchase an Apple device > connect to iCloud and use its service> purchase apps through the App Store and iTunes Store.

Undoubtably this model helped bring the iTunes store into being and the pitch the record companies bought into when music was made available on the iTunes Store.

If you just want to be a consumer and stick to the “Apple Eco-System” then you will find the concept of gated community straightforward.

The same experience, the same apps and music across all devices.

The other great thing the gated community model brings is that applications have to meet their strict requirements before being released into the community. On the Apple desktop computers, the OSX 10.8. Mountain Lion operating system has provided a greater level of security improvements on applications with the introduction of sandboxing.

People say why not try an Android Phone and a have a Mac?

Well, for me, I like the gated community approach where the gatekeeper (Mac) is going the extra mile to secure my working environment.

Unfortunately the Android community is open to abuse and security concerns with Applications in its market place. As this article dates there should be improvements, you would hope.

There are other instances of gated communities in the tech world, Google are certainly working towards that.

So summing up, the reasons I like the Apple experience are:

The integrated experience of the same applications and services across all my devices
The consistency of the User experience for all applications
The consistent workflow in doing things
Less configuration
The approach to security
My overall improvement in Productivity

I found that the Apple experience simplifies my life and my business allowing me to focus on getting work done rather than configuring computers and being a Systems Administrator. That’s my biggest win.

These days I prefer the consumer appliance approach to IT as opposed to the configuration approach.

As we move into the post PC era where PC become a thing of the past and most consumption is done on a mobile device such as Tablets, I prefer devices that need little or any configuration but rather customisation to my preferences.

The more I speak to friends, and colleagues, it seems that’s what they want as well.

Lastly, to bring the equilibrium to my story and a question you may ask me, is the Apple ecosystem perfect? No,of course not, however it’s pretty darn good and does make life easy. I’m happy to live with those minors for the majors.

Chris

Article – Why I jumped ship and changed to an Apple Mac – By Chris Mundy

Other Useful Articles – Six reasons to buy an iPad by Christopher Breen

How long does it take to build a mobile APP

January 12, 2013 By Chris Mundy Leave a Comment

I’m not a mobile app developer. The only programming I did was a semester of Java at Uni, however, for over eight years I have worked with and managed developers and programmers developing some funky enterprise software.

I’ve often wondered how long it takes to build an app for a mobile device, whether it be for iOS or Andriod. I came across this info-graphic that attempts to explain how long it takes. There will probably be programmers who would probably beg to differ about the time frames, however the top and lower level column headings, give a great insight into the design process. I hope you find this useful as I did.

How Long Does it Take to Build an App? infographic by Angelina.

By Chris Mundy