5 Reasons to Hate Cellphone Shopping

...by special guest blogger, Karen Mihina, Nextrio Web Services

1. The "flaired-out" (3 clip on badges, holstered phone with plastic cover and zip out stapler) Sales Reps in the stores.

I'm not a top-of-the-line, MP3, email-syncing, song-identifer, needs-to-be-orange cellphone user. I need my phone so I can call for help when I lock myself out of the car, or the house (that hasn't happened in a while), but that was the catalyst for the phone. I walked miles to the nearest payphone (!), then to my husband's work to watch him drive away in the opposite direction, then walk miles back to the house. That was many years ago, and now at least two cell phones ago. So I just want some basic plan that allows me to call and now to text, because I can't get away from that. So when we asked for two basic free phones (hey, it's the recession), the sales person stopped his eyeballs in mid-roll. He almost sighed as he spoke without moving his lips to show us two models. Normally I research products before I buy them, but the phone thing is overwhelming and I figure they won't have everything in stock at the store, so I was hoping to rely on experts; experts who clearly loathe me.

2. Teenagers getting $500 Blackberry phones look at your phone purchase with disdain.

Yep, a 15 year-old next to us was getting a $500 phone. Her parents were purchasing insurance because they were all pretty sure (salesperson, the parents, the teenager) the phone was going to be lost. If I want to throw away $500, I'll book a trip to Vegas where I'll spend 1.5 hours gambling away $200 in fives at the Blackjack table, then spend the rest of the evening watching Elton John and John Lennon impersonators over the bar at the MGM hotel, because I can't go to sleep--I didn't book a room. I said throw away "$500"--that doesn't include the room in Vegas.

3. The non-data transfer.

When I say non-data transfer, I mean with basic phones, the pictures you took, the videos you shot, the messages from your kid while they spent the night at grandma's 2 years ago, all that will not be transferred to your new phone. That's what I mean, "non" or "no" data transfer.

4. Service like the post office without the numbers or ropes for a line.

It always seems like a mobbed free-for-all. No pick-a-number, no ropes. Do I stand behind someone? But then we should be looking at the phones, right? Do the sales people notice who's next? You'll wait and wait (lots of fun with young kids), and you know you're next, but then 2 or 3 people come in. Oh, ok, let's indicate we're next, but guess what, they've been in previously so the sales person recognizes them and they go in the back or pull out what they were waiting for. So for better service should I come back a few times during the day before I purchase?


5. Hang-up calls.

So while you were checking out the phones, your phone rings. You start towards the door to take the call, then realize it's your spouse calling you from a store phone. Har har. Then after you've endured the flaired-out sales rep, the teenagers, the line skippers and the tenseness of thinking that you need to go home and transfer all the data off your phone to the online album at $.25 a pop (and later find out your spouse has 56 items to offload!) you start getting calls that have no one on the line. BECAUSE your number is now in the store phone and the little kid that was playing with the store phones when you left is now calling you. Over and over.

Is this the Demise of the License Plate Game?

It's that time of year again - when we pack up the family wagon and head out on the open road to visit family. Vacations may never be the same with AutoNet Mobile, a wireless Internet service for your car. Great for long road trips, this device, which can be mounted almost anywhere in the car – even in the trunk or under the seat -- lets passengers surf the web, instant message, or play on their PSPs. You can even use it to talk on the phone if you have one of the fancy WiFi-Voice over IP handsets. The hardware costs $500 and comes with a monthly charge of $29. In true WiFi Hotspot form, the box lets you share one Internet connection with the whole car – rather than have separate “aircards” for each laptop. The Wi-Fi range is about 100 feet -- just enough to prevent tailgating freeloaders.

But before you stop paying your other Internet Service Providers, consider the limitations. The terms of service say the car has to be in motion, so this cannot be your home or office solution –not even if you leave the motor running. Not that the speeds of the service (which rely on the cell phone networks) would be sufficient enough to replace your other service. Unless you’re currently on dial-up – this service, advertised at 600-800 Kbps, will be a lot slower than what you’re used to. And don’t forget that wherever you drop your phone calls will be where you’ll drop your Internet connection – so don’t try to access your QuickBooks database or other high-throughput application. This is really for the family that can’t stop surfing and messaging long enough to enjoy each other’s company. How will we share the time-honored tradition of “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall”?

Paranoid, Perverted or Pragmatic: Why IE 8 is Good for Business (unless your name is Google).

First, let’s remember that this is a business technology blog. What you do in the (relative) privacy of your own home, on your own time, is your business. Sort of.

Let’s really talk about the business of browsing at work or on behalf of work-related interests. In general, we at Nextrio have favored using Firefox for all your Windows surfing needs wherever possible (there are many web-based applications that require Microsoft’s Internet Explorer). Our major concern has been the security features, or lack thereof. Microsoft’s impending release of Internet Explorer 8 is the closest we’ve come to recommending their browser. It looks like they are finally catching up to the competition (including Opera and Safari) and spackling over those known security deficiencies.

The feature garnering the most press is the InPrivate functionality (nicknamed “porn mode”, wink, wink). InPrivate really has two parts:

1. InPrivate Browsing which allows users to surf websites without leaving a trace. No browser history, no cookies, no cached files, no saved passwords from forms, nada. Unless you are a criminal investigator by trade, your secrets are safe with IE.
2. In Private Blocking which prevents users from being “tracked” across websites. In the past, although a website may not know exactly who you are (your address, phone or SSN#), it could tell if you were the same visitor that has been there 22 times before. Frequently, the site could tell what other sites you went to just prior to or just after visiting there. That tracking information turns into Internet gold when you are attempting to make money by placing targeted ads, based on browsing patterns, in front of users.

Clearly this is a huge win for those trying to buy a surprise gift or trying to make a secret rendezvous using their spouse’s computer, however I don’t believe Microsoft would have put this much effort into protecting the art of gift-giving or ensuring marital harmony. This is a chess move intended to put Google on the defensive, timed around the announcement of Google’s new browser, Chrome, to take some of the wind out of their sails. With the largest ad revenue business in the world, Google (DoubleClick) is the company most often “tracking” users’ surfing patterns. Feature #2 effectively shuts them out, at least for now.

So what does all this mean for business?

Sorry, but if you are surfing at one of the larger businesses that has any sort of web content filtering solution which watches users’ activities – you still should not be surfing inappropriate sites at work. They will know and you will be fired.

If you’re using Google Analytics to track visitors to your own website, you will likely see a change in data trends. Google will not be able to track them in quite the same way as before. On the bright side, if you are researching a competitor, you can dig through their website without the competitor catching on.

Also a plus, you can more freely and confidently surf and/or retrieve web information while at Internet cafes or other public kiosks. However, I still would not conduct my online backing on any machine that I didn’t own and could not physically secure.

IE 8 is not yet released for the general public, and in the end, any small advantage it may have established will likely be quickly attacked by thousands of hackers and panned by many more critics.

The browser wars continue, dear colleagues, but at least now you can hide which side you’re on.

Trying Twitter

So, I’ll admit that when it comes to social networking tools, I am a fuddy-duddy. Just saying fuddy-duddy gives you an idea of how old-fashioned I am in my relationship skills. I like the part where you get to look people in the eye, shake their hands, give them a hug, read their body language. I’ve found online social networking tools to be devoid of some of the interpersonal feedback that I believe, quite frankly, separate us from the apes.

And yet, I’m now the reluctant owner of a Twitter account.

After months of hearing about its swell to fame among junior high students and college kids – I’ve built a fairly solid resistance to the concept, essentially on principle. I’ve been searching for the business use for our company and I’ve yet to find a really compelling reason to regularly twitter. Of course, like any new, bright shiny gadget, gizmo or tech toy, Twitter has captured the attention of my technology-addicted spouse. And so I have gone kicking and screaming into the abyss.

Here’s my professional and personal analysis:

What is Twitter?
Twitter is basically the online publishing tool for perpetually answering the question, “What are you doing?” at ridiculously frequent intervals. As the mother of a toddler, I’m pretty familiar with this idea of repeatedly answering the same question over and over. I’m just not sure that anyone other than a toddler would be interested in knowing exactly what I’m up to, what’s just crossed my mind, or what I just saw every other minute of the day.

Twitter is a voyeuristic, hyper-connected community, separated into categories: those you are Following or those who are Followers of you. What unites you as the Following or the Followers can be an individual (friend or colleague), a shared interest (hobby, sport, club), a location (your town, your neighborhood, your school) or an event (concert, election, conference).

Updates (e.g. responses to “What are you doing”), limited to 140 characters max, are posted by users as often as they like and made available to each group of Followers via SMS text message, email, IM and/or the website. You can make your updates private – meaning that Followers must be invited and approved by you – or public – meaning anybody with time on their hands is potentially your new friend.

How Twitter might actually be useful:

So after much deliberation and consultation with my expert staff, I think Twitter could come in handy in a few select scenarios:

• You’ve been wrongfully imprisoned in an Egyptian jail. Seriously – read this: http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/04/25/twitter.buck/
• You’re being held hostage by a bad blind date or in a boring meeting and you need a friend to “interrupt” you with a phone call
• There’s a hungry mountain lion loose in your neighborhood and you should not open your front door.
• The President is in town and the intersection at the Starbucks you’re trying to get to is completely closed off.
• You want to notify a team of people that you are going to be late to a meeting, missed your flight, won a big deal or are quitting your day job.
• You need to publish delivery room progress reports on your new baby or give surprise party attendees updates about the proximity of the guest-of-honor.
• Or any other “public service” announcement, team “e-blast” or mass instant messaging communication.

So depending on your content and your audience, this is probably not worth your small business’ time right now. With several other more effective outlets of expression at my disposal, Twitter will remain on my back burner for awhile yet. Just let them figure out how to make money at it – and I’m sure I’ll be singing a new tune.

Follow our escapades at Nextrio: http://www.twitter.com/nextrio

Need to talk? Call Jott.

I’ve always thought that I would have published the great American novel by now if only I had a personal secretary to which I could dictate it. Voila! Enter Jott.com: an important business tool for the true road warrior and the least complicated employee-like relationship you’ll ever have.

Jott converts your voice into emails, text messages, reminders, lists and appointments. FREE.

Basically, Jott is your personal secretary. Call the 866 number, state the name of your recipient, dictate your message into the voicemail box and hang up. Jott’s live operators (yes, REAL people, not text-to-speech engines) will type your message and email it and/or text it to your contact. That’s it!

Think of the possibilities:

• Do you bill your time? Jott the start and stop time, including notes about your client meeting before the client is out of sight.
• Need to mobilize your staff? Jott a message to get the ball rolling before you get back to the office.
• Want to maintenance the spouse? Jott them a tender note and score major points.
• Want to remember your to-do list? Jott yourself a reminder message and ditch the sticky notes.
• Don’t have a pen to write down a phone number? Call Jott and tell it the number.
• Thought of a funny story for your novel? Jott it out while it’s fresh on your mind.

The uses are many – the options are easy!

Here’s how it works:

1. Go to Jott.com and create a free account. Be sure to enter your phone number (best to use your cell phone number) as it relies on Caller ID to automatically identify you when you call in.
2. Next add a few contacts. By entering their email and phone information on Jott’s website, you will be able to simply say “Jott Bill or Jott Susie” and skip having to dictate their address information.
3. Now you’re ready to Jott!
   You: Call 866-JOTT-123
   Jott: Who do you want to Jott?
   You: Angela
   Jott: Angela, is this correct?
   You: Yes
   Jott: Beep!
   You: Remember to call Mr. Warwick, W-a-r-w-i-c-k about dinner Saturday
   Jott: Got it!
   You: Hang up.
   Jott sends Angela a text message and an email of the transcribed message, including an audio link.

Jott keeps a log of all your sent and received messages so you will have them for reference. It’s simple, accurate and did I mention, free?!

When no one else listens, Jott is at my beck and call.

Thou shalt not covet...

Well, IT and my marriage have finally collided.

I was prepared to face the reality that I might very well be replaced in that special spot in my husband’s heart by a slim, sophisticated, dark beauty. I knew where he was going at 4:30AM as he quietly snuck out of our bedroom last Friday. Sadly, I’ve contributed to his indiscretion by agreeing to explore other options, experimenting – if you will – with other ways of doing it. I always assumed it was a phase – that he’d eventually grow tired of the “newness” and come back to what he knows. I never imagined that I, too, would find myself wanting to experiment; fantasizing about having my own slim, sophisticated, dark beauty. I must tell you, I’m not really the type. I’m pretty comfortable with what I’ve got. I feel so guilty. I never wanted this to happen. I didn’t really want more. Until now.

Now, I want an iPhone.

I spent the weekend stealing glances at my husband’s 16gb, black iPhone 3G and I have to admit it is cool and functional. Everything my phone is NOT. Once I got over my Jetson-esque response to only having a single navigational button, the interface is great. Simple, fast and stable. My biggest complaint about PDA/cell phone combinations is the fact that sometimes the most rudimentary features can take forever – case in point: try making a phone call on a Smart Phone with a bagillion applications loaded. Try finding your calendar screen on your Windows Mobile device if you have 10 other windows open. I know – whah, whah, whah – but hey, I tried to dial 911 once and had to wait for a reboot. I don’t get the sense that this is the case with iPhone 3G.

And now that my last excuse, the fact that it will use ActiveSync to access all my corporate email, calendar and contact entries, is history – I have no defenses left.

Well, actually, there is one – a year and a half left on my Verizon contract. By then, the object of my desire will be relatively old and slow again. Maybe I can get in line at AT&T now, to be ahead of my husband for the next release.

Lightning can strike twice...

I know it’s monsoon season because something’s beeping in my office again. You know the drill – you’re plodding along doing your work on your computer when - *crack* - a bolt of lightning strikes nearby and in a split second your screen goes black. Unless you’ve recently saved your work – you’ve probably lost everything. Worst case, you may have taken a direct hit and fried something electrical that renders your machine a giant paperweight. And lest you think that lightning seeks out desktops and PCs exclusively - your firewall, TV, phones, and other appliances are at risk as well. So what to do?

First, let’s make sure we’re on the same page by describing the two primary categories of prevention: electrical protection (most often branded as “surge protection” and back-up power sources (most often sold as UPS or uninterruptible power supply). In business, you should skip the surge protection and go for a UPS that includes both surge suppression and backup power in a single device. Filter boards, fancy power strips, extension cords and the like are cheap, but not worth your time spent crawling around under the desk to get them plugged in. At home, I might concede you could get away with less – but again, why would you? The savings is not substantial while the difference in risk is significant.

Next, realize there is NO guaranteed solution. Once you’re OK with that knowledge, it now becomes a matter of understanding all the vulnerabilities. While most of us realize that electrical power is at risk, most of us forget that the phone line (not just the dial-up Internet dinosaurs; think about your TiVo or your satellite dish), the coax cable (like supplied by Cox and Comcast, Ethernet cable and basically any other wiring that is a connected to a device, can transform into an express lane for destructive electrical impulses.

The best solution is the one that balances your comfort level with the risks compared to the price of protection. In general, I recommend that you purchase a UPS that will provide some level of power conditioning. The price of a UPS is dependent upon the amount of stuff plugged into it and the amount of time you expect the backup battery to power all that stuff. The more power your devices consume and the longer you try to run them, the more expensive the UPS. Consider buying one with data protection built-in. This allows you plug your phone line into the unit, providing an additional barrier of protection. There are even models that have coax, Ethernet, and phone line in one unit.

If you’re using a single PC or a couple laptops and a PC, you probably can get away with a couple units total. If you’ve got a server – buy a dedicated UPS specially designed to handle that type of power load. And spring for the “auto-shutdown” option which, when installed correctly, will use those extra 10 mins of battery power to shut down your server (and all its delicate databases) safely.

Last but not least, update your insurance policy to reflect the latest investments you’ve made in equipment, make frequent backups of your data and don’t forget to save often!

(Just want me to quote the perfect one for you? Email me with details: info@nextrio.com)