Mobile Tech

The Story of my Technology Stress Dream

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In the summer of 2019 I woke up to wrote down the details of a crazy stress dream I had. In the dream, I was working for the leader of a country that was just a bit unstable. Everyone around them seemed pretty out of it and I was trying to be reasonable and rationalise my working there.

Then I woke up. For a minute I was really confused and was not really sure why in the world I had a dream like that. Then I told M about it. And as I was talking to her it dawned on me. The night before I had purchased a SIM card from Google-Fi for our trip to New York that summer. Now it was not as difficult as you might think to associate working for an almost dictator and buying a Google-Fi.SIM card. I actually fretted over the SIM card purchase. I had spent many months previously ridding myself of all direct usage of Google services. Now here I am buying their phone service that inevitably was tracking me in ways that if I fully understood I would probably be very concerned. Then I rationalised the purchase because it was inexpensive compared to most other options and gave me a US number for our trip.

If I’m honest with myself I subconsciously associated buying Fi mobile service with going to work for an evil dictator. It’s not however I should have gone with my initial instinct and stayed away from their services. I know that they harvest data from my information and that’s okay if you know that and are okay with it. I’m not ok with it. I typically try to avoid it for my privacy. I’m also happy to encourage others not to do it. That doesn’t mean that Google is a horrible company. They really aren’t. I have friends that work there that love it. I even went to several interviews with them years ago and seriously contemplated working there.

I found it fascinating that I had that particular stress stream the day after I. made that purchase. I did use the service for the month we were in New York. I then cancelled it and have no intention of getting it again. Besides whatever data collection they do when you have the service it actually was pretty good service. And that is the problem. Not many people say google doesn’t offer nice stuff. it is the true cost that I am not ok with.

My iPad Mini as a Phone?

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I have had two mobile phones at the same time for years. One is my work number. The other one is my personal one. It is been that way ever since work stopped letting me expense my own number and required you to have your number on their shared account for at least 10 years or so. In the US I had concerns about moving my personal number to my work account. What if I left and I wanted my number back? Our human resources Department was actually very cool and had said you can absolutely have your number back. Only in rare situations (not a scenario I fell into) would there be a question of not allowing it. In any event I felt more comfortable keeping my personal number separate so I had my work phone and I had my personal phone.

When I got to the UK I could have simply got only a work phone. I didn’t have any history of a number that I have been tied to. In the end I got my own personal one for the same reasons I had one in the States. I wanted one separate from Work. In the UK it is significantly cheaper to do this. My personal phone SIM costs me 13 pounds for more data and minutes than I ever remotely use. In the US that same plan would cost 75-100 dollars.

The phone I use for work has varied greatly. It is generally my second phone. That means it is never a high end one. It has been everything from vanity of Android to an iPhone SE, the original. The SE is what came standard with the contract in the UK. The screen is frankly just too small for me. I find that funny since for years that was the standard size of an iPhone screen. I had many different iPhones of that screen size and didn’t like the size however got by ok. I guess age just catches up to you. Since the phone that came with the contract was virtually useless to me I used the SIM card to experiment with different phones. When are travelled internationally a bit in the summer of 2019 I bought an Android phone and they did dual SIM cards and used the Work SIM with it. I found that the very big sized screen of the android phone I was using specially as a second device made it useful for me. I didn’t always keep in my pocket so even though was bigger than my regular iPhone 11 pro it didn’t matter. I have written about my issues with the Android phone and why I sold it in another post. With that phone gone however I was back to either using the iPhone SE or an iPhone 6 that I had from the states. Neither option had a lot of storage. 32gb on an iPhone is basically unusable in my opinion now a days. To compensate for the poor storage and small screen of the SE I splurged for a used iPhone 7+. The screen size was nice. It was better than the 6 or SE I had. It just wasn’t bigger than my iPhone 11 Pro that I used for personal use. The physical size of the 7+ was bigger than the 11 Pro. That made it an oddity. The screen was smaller yet the size was bigger. The screen was nicer and the storage was better than the other options I had. I still found no value in carrying it around and left it in my bag for when I need it.

Even before the lockdown I had thought about using a tablet as a quasi phone. It was a good idea I never really did anything about it. During the lockdown I obviously did not really leave the house very much. I ended up using my iPad Mini 4 as a sort of phone replacement. In many use cases at least around the house the iPad mini was a pretty good phone replacement. I couldn’t keep it in my pocket all the time yet it was nearby most of the time. One challenge was that the iPad mini 4 was starting to see its age in performance. Before the mini 4 was being used as a sort of phone replacement I had meant to sell it on eBay anyway. My using it and feeling its limitations compelled me to sell the mini 4 on eBay and and upgrade to an ipad mini 5.

Sometime after getting my new iPad mini I moved my work SIM card to it. I have been using the mini basically as my second phone. Even though I can’t put it in my pocket (it is a bit big for that) I can carry around and even put it in my jacket pocket of some jackets. If I am out of the house for more than a brief trip to the market I usually have my backpack or messenger bag with me that I can easily put it in. I am finding the much larger screen size to be great.

Except for WhatsApp I think I can do pretty much everything on the tablet that I do on my phone. All my work apps work perfectly well and I take advantage of the bigger screen. I can make calls using FaceTime audio, Signal or Bria for voip calls using my US number. Let’s face I do not make many regular phone calls these days. Even if I need to I can use FaceTime tethering to my iPhone for that anyway.

I may end up needing to put the work SIM card into a real phone at some point in the future. I am not really sure. I am hoping not. The iPad mini isn’t perfect. I still use my phone more in the house since it in my pocket. I also use my iPad Pro more as a sort of computer replacement around the house. When I need to run out for short periods of time or even just to sit here and dictate this blog entry using the iPad mini is just right.

iPhone 6S or Not

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Ah September.  Fall is almost upon us.  That means iPhone upgrade season.  I admit that typically I have upgraded phones annually.  That ended when when the iPhone 5S came out.  There was just not enough compelling reasons for me to upgrade so I skipped it.  Last year the 6 was significant enough of an upgrade and I needed  new phone so the decision to upgrade was simple.  The harder part was deciding between the 6 or 6 Plus.  The 6 won out.  This year I have to ponder the same issue.

The 6S may not be enough of an upgrade however the force touch does seem nice.  It boils down to I likely do not need to upgrade however I am going to anyway.  I save away money every month with the assumption that I am going to upgrade and I can sell the 6 with enough resale value that I am don’t get sticker shock from the upgrade.

The Apple Watch Worth it, For Me?

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I have had my Apple Watch for a few days now.  It hasn’t been enough time to write an exhaustive review about features, however I am not writing a full technical review.  I am writing about my experience with it to date.

Physically the watch face looks ok to me.  The band is a nice rubber band but its still not great.  I know I bought the cheap band.  Some of the other ones look much better however no super awesome band will take away from the fact that this is still a digital watch.  The watch itself is pretty thick and boxy.  It is well built but not beveled like someone at work pointed out.  Ascetically pretty decent.  Not fantastic but overall not horrible.

Someone pointed out in a review I read that the main things people will really regularly use a smart watch for is 1, telling time, 2 activity tracking, and 3 notifications.  I generally agree with this.  The other functions are nice to have’s but not anything that I would use often. The using the watch for example as a viewfinder for the camera is nifty but i am not going to use that very much.

Using those three main functions I wanted to see how the Apple Watch fared for me.  First as a watch it wasn’t great.  I was just ok.  I personally had issue with the watch taking a while to go on when i moved my wrist to look at the time.  It isn’t a lot of time but it is very noticible.  I also don’t have the best vision so once i am looking at the watch face I have to focus on the hands to know what time it is.  Most people may glance much faster at it and then the waiting for it to light up may not be a big deal.  For me waiting for it to light up and then having to look at it and get the time was just too long.  I know I could possibly solve my issue by just using the digital time however I have been an analog watch person for over a decade now and I don’t want to change now because the Apple Watch doesn’t turn on fast enough.

As for activity tracking I am honestly still confused by the three circles that the watch uses to track me.  Move isn’t really a step count I think.  I am not sure and if i can’t easily figure that out then it is too complex.  Tracking my standing is cool however if the watch knows i am active why does it matter that it knows i am actually standing.  My Up band alerted on lack of activity.  It just seemed simpler.  In any event the activity tracker seems good enough.  The main issue with the watch as an activity tracker is that it is built into the watch.  On one hand that is great.  One less thing to wear.  Of course what if I wear another watch?  Or as in my case I want to track my sleep habits as well like i have been for a few years with my Jawbone UP.  For me if I were to keep the watch it wouldn’t be my only watch so I would need an activity tracker anyway.  My Jawbone UP24 broke last week so I just ordered a new Jawbone UP2.  I will blog about that hopefully soon.  In any event I am not giving up my dedicated tracker so the Apple Watch as an activity tracker is redundant for me.  For others it may be great or the best function now that they can get rid of another wrist band.  I for one am happy to own a basic activity tracker like the up that doesn’t have a screen on it and just tracks what i do since that is the only reason i own it.

The 3rd main reason to have a smartwatch would be the notifications.  This is where my problem lies.  The Apple Watch is good at this. Really good.  In the few days i have had it i have loved the meeting notifications and the ability to snooze them and not forget to be somewhere.  The timer is helpful also however not much easier than just dictating to Siri on my phone.  Telling me about a new text was great, however there were a few that I never got on my watch but did get on my phone.  Overall I liked the notification features of the watch.  That in lies my problem.  This watch along with all smart watches are a huge distraction or so I thought.  I initially got concerned the first full day I had it when the girls were climbing all over me to play with it.  I was concerned about the distraction.  I am trying to adhere to be here now when I am home.  Because of the distraction I was all set to return the watch.  Then I read another blogger who said the notifications on the watch were great because it allowed them to keep the phone in their pocket and actually be less distracted.  I was intrigued.  That was exactly what I wanted.  Because of that the watch got a reprieve and I will keep trying it for a while longer.

 

 

My Choice of an iPhone 6

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When the iPhone 6 & 6 Plus came out I originally wanted the Plus.  With my eyes I wanted as big of a screen as I could get.  However I did have a Galaxy Note whoever version was out right after Teagan was born.  I tried it for a few days and quickly returned it because it was unusable with one hand.  Someone needing to hold a baby a lot having two hands free isn’t always possible.  Those thoughts in my head and the fact that the Plus wasn’t really available right away led me to the 6.  Even with the 6 i was concerned about its size.  I need that one handed use.  I was pleasantly surprised when I got the 6 that it is generally usable with one hand.  The screen size was much better than my old 5.

This upgrade cycle I opted for the 128gig version.  I had the 64gig for the 5 and the 4S before that.  I may have had a 64 4 if they made them but I can’t remember.  When I got the 5 I really needed the space.  As I used it and day to day used my iPad more I found the storage not to be as limiting as it used to be.  That being said I did come close enough to filling up all 64gig’s that I didn’t want to chance another year or more with that much space. I spend the extra money on the larger storage.  I also opted for the white version this year.  For a few years I kept wanting white but either canceled the order and changed to black or couldn’t get the white.  This go round I didn’t want to make any excuses and I got the white.

So far I have been very happy with my choice.  I even toyed with a 6 Plus for a few days last month.  I confirmed my original thoughts that it was too big and I returned the phone.  I made the right choice for me until next September.  Then we shall see what else comes out.

More Wireless in the Subway is Good

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This week I started noticing I was getting wireless signal on my phone in the stations in Queens on the way home from work. I was surprised since I hadn’t had that happen before. For several months if i wanted to check mail or sync something i knew i had to wait till 5th ave on the way in or 5th ave was the last chance i got till i got home on my return trip.

After a few days of curiosity I searched the internet and found that the MTA did announce new stations coming online this month. It was just challenging to find what stations. Once i found the list i confirmed that all the stations on my route home in Queens will get signal. That will be helpful to me when i am checking mail on my way into work each day. I have found that my commute is a good time to sort through all the mail from overnight and get quick responses back to people.

Of course the downside of signal in stations are people making calls. Data is great but having some clown talking loudly on the subway into their phone is not fun. Especially when they leave the station and there is the inevitable “hello, hello, can you hear me” when they drop the call. I guess progress has a price.

New Nexus 5

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Today I got a new Nexus 5. I had been pondering getting another Android phone for a while. Probably ever since i sold my old Nexus last year. I love my iPhone but I always hold out hope that I will like Android more. Every year or so I give Android another try. I am not jaded about the cycle. I end up just taking the money I earned selling the last phone and throw in a bit more and buy a new one. The Nexus ones make that easier since they are much cheaper than typical unlocked phones.

So far I have been pleased but less than a day is not a good amount of time to get a feel for it. The large screen is a nice change of pace from my iPhone.

My 2nd (or 3rd, depending on how you look at it) Jawbone UP

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Last week I got a new Jawbone UP.  So far I have been very pleased with it.  MC saw it and I was suprised that she was interested in one too.  She wants to work out more and it seemed like a good tool to motivate her.  After trying to see what colors I could get her I ended up back at the Apple store picking up another black band for her.  Only difference between hers and mine is hers is a smaller size.

We now are “compeeting” with each other and seeing our results.  I hope for both of us this gets us to be more active.  If anything it makes me smile every time I see the cute picture MC took for her profile picture.

My New Jawbone UP

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Last year when Jawbone announced the UP I thought it was a super cool idea and I got one.  I wore it every day for a month or so until it broke.  My UP was one of the many defective units that ended up being recalled by Jawbone.  Jawbone was very cool and I got all my money back so there was no hard feelings.

I still thought the idea was great but the alternatives (Nike Fuelband or the Fitbit) didn’t apeal to me.  The fitbit clips onto your clothes so i wasn’t a fan of the idea.  The fuelband doesn’t track sleep and it needed charging often compaired to 10 days with the UP.  The Fuelband is also big.  I was pleasantly suprised when Jawbone reintroduced the UP (even thought they said they would I am always skeptical until it happens).  I was in the Grand Central Station Apple Store getting a gift card for my Niece for the holidays and I saw the UP, so I got myself one.

I am excited to see how much it works.  I like the ability to track sleep and activity still but they added better food tracking.  I hope to write more about it once I use it a bit.