Really, AT&T? Just $9.99 per month? That’s it? Funny.  Google Voice provides this same service for free.  Of course, everything Google Voice provides is free.

You’d think, though, that for all the money I already give AT&T each month, that they’d give me a little something extra once in a while.

But, no.  Cool service, but I’m not paying extra for it.

This is the first Apple product that I have ever owned.  I hadn’t touched an Apple “Anything” since, well, probably, my last day of grade school.  We used these old Apple IIe computers to learn Logo on.  Fun, in an 80’s kind of way.

I’ve owned several Windows Mobile devices in the past, and I’m just now severing my relationship with a Samsung Blackjack II, which is a top of the line Blackberry-type device that runs Windows Mobile 6.1.  I started looking into a replacement phone because I liked the look and feel of a touch-screen device.  I kept wanting something “iPhone-like” that ran Windows Mobile, and came close to getting the HTC Fuze (HTC Touch Pro) because it was a Windows Mobile device.  But I finally realized, I didn’t want something “iPhone-like.”  What I wanted was an iPhone.

But here’s The Thing: (And I really mean The Thing)  The iTunes App Store.  That is what single-handedly made my decision easy to switch to the iPhone.  The App Store is the Killer App.  I’ve had iTunes installed for a while, and I’ve occasionally bought an album or two from the iTunes Store, so I thought I’d poke around and see what all was available for the iPhone.  I truly had no idea of the volume of the stuff available! And all in one place! With a WM6 device, I had to scour the Internet and hope to find the software I’m looking for.  And most of the time I end up overpaying for some simple software that doesn’t work exactly right, or was built for a different screen resolution, or one of a hundred different things…  The App Store has everything I’ve been trying to get for my old WM6 devices at a fraction of the cost, and available immediately Over The Air!  No PC needed.  Wow!  (Yes, I know, you can download and install .cab files right on a WM6 device, OTA and all.  I’ve done that.  But the experience is nowhere near the same.)

I’ve just started delving into the App Store to see what is available, and I’m amazed.  I’ll probably be blogging more about some of them soon.  (Like Ocarina… just outstanding!)

So, the bigger question remains… Is this the start of something? Will I become a convert? A Steve Jobs cheerleader? A MacHead? Eh… I think it’s a little early to predict that will be the case.  But I was always an ardent supporter of the Amiga, so I already know how to Think Different.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/170347

Obama harnessed the grass-roots power of the Web to get elected. How will he use that power now?

This is a good little article.  I think this issue deserves some attention because a lot of people who helped elect Obama expect to continue to be involved.  But I can also understand the fine line that now must be walked by former campaign managers and staffers who now find themselves working for the president-elect.

The rules have certainly changed.  Things like transparency and data-retention are serious issues that are complex but need to be addressed.

If I were Obama, I wouldn’t give up my Blackberry.  I would certainly be very judicious about how I used it though.  It’ll be most interesting to see how he will be able to use the small army of volunteers and “Facebook followers” that have been built up over the past two years.  You see, it’s great that President-elect Obama uses technology to establish a two-way communication between the governed and the government, but he also doesn’t want to create a fundamental gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots.”  Believe it or not, there are still people who don’t spend their days YouTubing.

There is a lot of potential here.  But the right balance has to be struck, and that little ballet will be entertaining to watch.

Well, I’ve got this one a little bit operational. I’ve installed Ubuntu 8.10, added Apache2, MySQL, and PHP. (Otherwise known as a LAMP setup.)

I’ve thrown a couple of installations of the latest beta of WordPress up there on two virtual http servers just to play with internally. I’m supposed to help Russ redesign the Shinnston Community Band website and I thought using WordPress would be perfect. Now, I can design away and change as much as I want without worrying about messing anything up. When I get something that looks like it might work, I can open up the firewall and let Russ take a peek.

On another front, I finished reading “On The Edge: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore” tonight. I really enjoyed that book. It amazes me how much the history of the personal computer industry has been “rewritten” basically to exclude Commodore. It seems like everyone wants to focus on Apple and IBM (and PC clones) and decide, firmly crooked, that that is where the industry started. Hmmm. It just must seem so romantic that Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak invented the whole personal computer industry right from their garage! I don’t know…

Another thing fascinating regarding that book: The cast of characters involved in making Commodore what it was. That must have been an amazing place to work, in a very interesting period to work. If you are at all interested in the history of the personal computer (maybe you even owned a Commodore 64) I definitely recommend reading that book. Very educational.

I really believe that the way the Obama camp immersed itself with technology was a key to victory.  They did an outstanding job with facebook and MySpace profiles, with their MyBO portal, their personalized e-mail and text message distribution.  We all know that Barack didn’t personally pound out a text message at 12:52am on November 5th, but there is still a certain amount of satisfaction from receiving a “thank you” from a candidate mere minutes after watching his acceptance speech.

What will be truly interesting to me is: Where does this go from here? They’ve spent 21 months compiling a massive list of supporters with e-mail addresses and phone numbers… well what happens next?

I don’t think it ended on election night.  In fact, the last e-mail I received from the campaign states “I’ll be in touch soon about what comes next.”  So I do believe there’s more to come.

But for how long? Once he steps into the oval office, a whole new set of rules will apply.  And since we haven’t exactly had a “high-tech” president yet, we really don’t know how text messages and e-mails can be used to govern.  But it will at least be interesting to watch.

That technology is very cool, and pretty funny when used correctly.  I found a little more about the company behind the map, Perceptive Pixel, at their website.

And I thought Microsoft’s Surface was cool… I think this looks a little more useful.  But you know what happens.  Microsoft seems to take a successful technology and takes it a little closer to home and office use.  So there’s still a good chance you’ll see Surface on a table near you.