Magic Jack No Harry Potter

Is the Magic Jack phone device the answer to all our telephone needs?  One might think so from the ads on late night TV but I had to see for myself.  The company mailed me one of the devices to try out and I have used it for the last two weeks; here are some of my first impressions both Pro and Con.

Pro

• Installation is absolutely mindless and should be no problem for even the most technically challenged person.  Within 5 minutes I had set up my new phone number, identified my location for E-911 and was ready to make calls.
• Made a test call to Ed Rudel, my cohost, and he said that it was clearer than my iPhone (ouch…nice going AT&T).  He also noticed a bit of echo but none of the subsequent people I called mentioned problems with the call quality.
• I am no longer using the Magic Jack at home for reasons listed below but want to try it out with a WiFi connection on my Mac Book Pro (details to follow) because that would be truly useful when traveling to avoid cell phone charges

Con

• The program immediately interfered with my firewall (I am running Zone Alarm basic firewall on Vista Business Premium with a new Dell desktop that has 2 Gigs of RAM).  I had to reboot and look for my ZoneAlarm which had been prevented from loading.  Major annoyance.
• You cannot port your current number to the Magic Jack (major deal killer for my house where we have had the same phone number for over 30 years)
• You cannot hook up a Magic Jack to  your home phone system and use it throughout the house.  Only one handset at a time.
• Speaking of handsets, you have to use a traditional phone handset to work with the Magic Jack (Least clunky way to do it would be with a portable headset and dialer…bit of an expense).  It cannot use the integrated or external mikes and speakers on your computer.
• If you hang up a phone connection on an answering system, you will not get the phone back for use until you find a way of disconnecting from the answering system.  Example:  I called my iPhone to test out the service and hung up when I heard the voicemail start.  I then picked the phone up again but could not connect to another line because Magic Jack was still talking to my answering system.  Tried three more times with the same result and finally let a brief message, left the system and hung up.  Then I got the line back.
• Any time that you make a call with Magic Jack a dialer pad pops up right in the middle of your screen and has to be minimized in order to keep using the screen.
• Calls are limited to continental US, small extra charges for many countries outside that area including some in Europe.

My overall impression is that you get what you pay for: a $40 device with a $20/year (approx) fee.  Support is sketchy and mostly done through IM.  This might, however, be a great device for “snowbirds” who migrate between Michigan in the summer and Miami in the winter.  The rest is up to you; feel free to post your comments about Magic Jack as  you use the device and we will point our listeners to this post and its comments.

On the Internet Advisor show on WJR, Detroit we are exploring alternative phone technologies during the month of July 2009.

The Great Vista Debacle

I recently bought a new desktop (Dell Inspiron 530, Dual Core, 2 Gig Ram, 250 Gig HD) for my home office primarily for my wife’s email and as a back up computer. The old one died unceremoniously before Christmas…Hello, Santa.

I confess that most of my wounds, as far as computers are concerned, are self-inflicted and this past Sunday I decided, in a momentary but serious lack of judgment, to use the disk that came with the computer to upgrade to Vista (Business). I really prefer Vista’s layout and even some of the security functions (not the accursed UAC!) and, after all, Dell had included it with the machine so it must be OK! NOT!

After a relatively long (60+ minutes) to install Vista without any error messages, I rebooted the machine and was presented with the friendly log in screen. As soon as I logged on the machine gave me a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) and an error message I had never seen before. It was all downhill after that, nothing would work, not even Safe Mode with Networking (allows you to connect to the Internet while in Safe Mode.) DESPAIR!

I spent the rest of the next three days trying to Google the answer with little result, emailing Tom Diroff and Ed Rudel, our two tech experts from our computer show and spending over an hour on the phone with my own personal help desk, i.e. Ed, all to no avail. After sleeping on the couch a couple of nights (Ginny was not happy with my tinkering) I decided to simply do a complete clean install of Vista and then restore her data which I had saved on an external drive. Even that proved to be full of grief because the new Vista was pretty much without most of the key drivers needed because it was supposed to be an upgrade installation over Win XP. So I had to manually restore many of the drivers from the disks that Dell supplied with the machine, e.g. the drivers for the DVD player so that I could install the other programs like my printer software.

The moral of the story? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! I do have to say that I much prefer the new Vista system, even with its problems and Ginny doesn’t seem to notice the difference since she only uses Outlook 2007 which looks exactly the same.

At least I’m off the couch…for the time being.

Multi-tasking Inauguration

I just couldn’t help myself, it was too much of a temptation. During Tuesday’s inauguration, CNN streamed the ceremonies online in conjunction with Facebook. On my computer screen was a flash video window with the CNN reports and the proceedings while on the right hand side of that same page was a panel that allowed me to see either what my friends were posting about the event or switch to see what everyone was saying. It was a remarkable experience, kind of like standing on the Mall in Washington, DC, waiting for the show to begin and striking up a conversation with the people around you about the event. The only problem was that I eventually got to talking to half a dozen people at one time and began to lose track of the event itself.

Soon the whole multi-tasking thing got way out of hand. I had the TV on in the living room to record the event for my wife Ginny, a TV on in the office with me (because I discovered that CNN/Facebook coverage lagged behind the real event by 30 seconds) to follow the event as it happened, the CNN/Facebook coverage on my computer (muted because it was behind) and in the meantime I was trying to install Vista on my wife’s computer! I’m afraid that I probably missed some important parts of the inaugural address but I figured that I would catch it later.

It amazes me that my grandchildren somehow manage to accomplish a lot of things while doing many things at once. I discovered through all this that I am simply not up to multi-tasking more than two things at one time, such as walking and chewing gum while the world around me Twitters itself into a cloud of ADD oblivion.

Hail to the Chief

What a remarkable confluence of history: The inauguration of the first African American president of this country following the remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King’s valiant struggle for just such a moment. I can imagine Dr. King and St. Peter leaning on one of Heaven’s parapets looking down on the events Tuesday morning when suddenly the gatekeeper of glory nudges Dr. King and says, “See, I told you, we shall overcome.”

May the “we” truly be all of us as we put aside political divisions, racial mistrust and economic differences to once again stand as “We the People of these United States…”, committed to raising one another up and stepping over the threshold of fear and indifference to apply our considerable skills to “bearing one another’s burdens.”

I invite you to join me and take a moment and pray for our new president and his coworkers for wisdom, courage and decisiveness. Then let us ask God to show us”… not what our country can do for us, but what we can do for it.”

Jobless in Appleland

Pardon me if I don’t shed a tear or phone my broker to dump my Apple shares (as if I could afford them!) Apparently Apple’s own Elvis has left the building. Steve Jobs, a brilliant innovator, resuscitator of the Mac fortunes and all around promotional genius is taking what some believe his final leave of absence from the company he made enormously profitable. The rationale that is being given is that his “hormone imbalance” is much more serious than imagined and that he needs the time off to get well. Lest I sound callous, let me say I sympathize with Steve and his family as they go through this trial again and hope that he recovers completely.

Now, on to the main point, what is Apple going to do to keep its creative process that has produced some of the most exciting and trend setting devices imaginable going without “the man”? I don’t think the real issue is whether Apple can survive without Steve or not but whether it can grow up in time to become a self-sustaining purveyor of digital excellence.

I have lived in a country that was run by a dictator for many years and then freed by the democratic process. One of the most insidious effects of that dictatorship, however, is that it leaves a whole generation of people enslaved internally. Conversations constantly surrounded how much “safer” things had been when the military ruled the country and people were summarily executed for stealing a loaf of bread. At least in the public eye, it seems that this same attitude exists with the benevolent dictatorship of Steve Jobs. “Things were so much better when Steve was in charge. What will we do now?” How about think for yourselves and keep Apple moving in the right direction…ahead with or without Mr. Jobs.

Braun-Bascom 2009 Family Newsletter 2009

Christmas 2007 Family Portrait

Top Row L-R: Curt Kendall, Tim Huber, Mitchell Huber, Grandpa Foster, Dan Keller, Patrick Kendall, Logan Standifer, Chris Lattin, Bridget Standifer, Anthony Stack, Christina Stack, Beth Bascom-Kendall, James Stack
Second Row L-R: Jacob Keller, Lynn (Bascom) Huber, Madeline Keller, Charlotte Keller, Molly Bascom-Keller, Grandma Ginny , Grace Huber, Alicia Stack, Amy Bascom-Lattin, Abby Lattin
Floor L-R: Ben Huber, Christian Huber, Carson Keller, and Jack Lattin.

Happy New Year to our dear family and friends, near and far. It has been way too long since we shared our growing family’s history with you. When you take a look at the group, you get a sense of why. As the family has grown larger, our sense of gratefulness grows for simple things like good health, the laughter of cousins, cheering one of our many athletes and giving thanks for 10 fingers and 10 toes.

Isaiah 40:11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

We love this scripture passage that is part of Handel’s Messiah, which we enjoy at an historic Detroit church every year to kick off our Christmas season. It reminds us to put our trust in God, who diligently watches over each of our families. As we enter this New Year with its economic uncertainties, we find hope and courage in knowing that God, who loves us dearly, is still in control and watching closely.

We hope you’ll enjoy seeing the highlights of our precious family. Ginny & Foster

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The Bascom-Kendall-Stack Family

Back Row: Patrick Kendall, Beth Bascom-Kendall, Curt Kendall
Front Row: Anthony, Alicia, Christina & James Stack

Beth is an M.D. who works in the St. John Hospital system as an attending emergency care physician. Locations and hours vary. She also heads the emergency dept. research program and teaches residents. These endeavors enable her to travel to interesting places in the U.S. and beyond to present research, work with medical missions, and just have fun. She loves to take family members along. She and the older boys just returned from the FL keys, and right now she and some of her sisters & kids are planning a 3rd European adventure. We want to be sure to mention that Beth has this year successfully completed the Weight Watchers program and is looking great!
Curt’s business is under new ownership, but he’s still with them & finding success in the computer world. He and Beth have bought a riverside home in Gladwin MI, where they and their three dogs escape as often as they can to relax and fish. Curt has also developed some hunting property nearby, frequented by many of the male family members. He has jumped on the weight loss bandwagon too and lost quite a bit by cutting carbs.
Anthony (24) is once again living at home and working full-time at a store in downtown Royal Oak.James (21) shares a rental home in Troy with a buddy that he’s in business with, and is a student at Oakland Community College.
Alicia & Christina (19), our sweet twins live at home & attend OCC as well. Christina also enjoys working in a nearby daycare center.
Patrick 18  lives with friends, works, and is a student at OCC too.

The Huber Family

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Ben, Grace, Mitch, Lynn, Christian & Tim Huber
Lynn has increased her schedule as a research assistant for St. John Hospitals to 3 days/week now that Grace is in school full-time, . She keeps herself busy by managing Christian’s soccer team, co-leading a breastfeeding support group with Ginny & carrying a district La Leche League position, teaching Sunday school, helping at the kids’ schools, and driving children about a million places each week. Oh, and she attends Weight Watchers and has taken up running, which have resulted in her losing 65#! She is such an inspiration!
Tim enters the New Year as an employee of another food company instead of continuing on with his own due to the Detroit economy. This promises to be a great opportunity for him! Tim also plays and refs hockey and, along with brother-in-law Dan, coaches Ben & Jake’s soccer team. He likes to hunt and play tennis and golf when he gets a chance. Tim continues to run their church’s successful winter fish fries.
Mitch (16) plays back-up goalie for Royal Oak High School’s winning hockey team. He picks up spending money by dog-walking and reffing younger kids’ hockey. Mitch runs cross-country for his school team and competes, often with siblings and even Mom, in races around the Detroit area.
Christian (13) swims on the swim team and runs cross-country for Royal Oak Middle School and in various other races. His main passion, though, is playing year-round soccer for the Renegades, a Royal Oak travel team.Ben (11), who plays violin at Oakridge School in RO, also is busy with soccer, on another year-round Renegades team with his cousin Jake. Their dads coach them, so it’s quite the family affair!
Grace (7), not to be outdone by her brothers, is playing on a girls’ travel soccer team from Clawson. She also enjoys Oakridge School and ballet classes. In the summer, Christian, Ben & Grace compete on the Cranbrook Swim Club team and play tennis there.

 

 

 

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Lattin-Bascom-Standifer Family and "Friends"

Logan Standifer, Jack Lattin, Chris Lattin, Amy Bascom-Lattin, Abby Lattin & Bridget Standifer

This is our little farm family! Amy and Chris raise goats mainly, but also have horses, ponies, donkeys, sometimes a lamb or two, chickens, and turkeys, as well as a steer that Bridget is now raising. They have all the work of a small farm and many animals to care for. In addition, Amy teaches adult Ed med tech and science classes one or two nights a week in Lapeer and helps out with the high school equestrian team and 4-H activities. She used her artistic talent making lovely goats’ milk soap for gifts this year.
Chris’ respiratory equipment company is under new ownership and Chris continues to enjoy representing them by working from home and not having to travel too much. There are plenty of projects around their house and farm to keep him busy! Chris loves to hunt and does it locally, up north, and out west with his dad.
Bridget 18 lives at home and is our 5^th Oakland Community College student. Since an accident with her horse at the State Fair in August that badly broke her ankle, she’s been unable to pursue her love of equestrian speed events (like barrel racing) or her job at a local stable. Instead, she’s been raising a steer for auction and attending steer shows in Michigan and Ohio.Logan (16) is active with the Oxford High School equestrian team which involves the family most weekends during horse competition season. Logan is also involved in 4-H, but her main passion right now is hanging out with her friends.
Jack (4) is doing well in preschool 3 days a week, and plays on a community team during soccer season. He is fascinated with cowboys and super heroes, and very good with his little sister.

We welcomed Abby Elise on 8/1/07. She is very friendly and looks just like her mom, only tall like her dad. Abby loves horses and can make farm animal sounds that are very authentic.

 

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The Kellers

Dan Keller, Jacob, Charlotte, Molly Bascom-Keller, Carson & Madeline Keller
Molly continues to put in many hours at Ferndale’s Open School Program at Kennedy School.  She is parent coordinator and often works in the children’s classrooms.  Molly also co-leads a La Leche League group and carries district responsibilities with LLL.  She still loves to knit and has recently started a small business of jewelry-making with beautiful beads.  Molly, like her sisters, is often in the car running hither and yon so that the children can get to all their activities.  She helps out by sewing dance costumes or whatever needs to be done.  Molly also runs for exercise whenever she can.
Dan has been through some job changes and now is happily representing a company that sells supplies to the hospitality industry.  One great thing is that he has almost no travel in this job, after being gone most of the week in the last one.   He is assistant coach on Jake & Ben’s soccer team and loves spending time with his family, as well as hunting, and playing tennis & golf when he can.
Maddie (12) swims on the Ferndale Middle School swim team, plays flute in the school band and is involved with the high school drama department.  She has been in their spring musicals the last 2 years, and brother Jake was able to join in last year for Oliver.  Maddie also is in Girl Scouts, but her favorite and probably hardest activity is classical ballet.  Maddie has completed the first 2 levels of the serious Cecchetti program and has begun this year to adjust to toe shoes.  We were all thrilled last month to go to the beautiful Detroit Opera Theater where Maddie had auditioned for & won a part in the cast of the Nutcracker with the famous Chicago Joffrey Ballet Co.! Later in December Maddie also danced in the Nutcracker for the second year with her own dance troupe.
Jake (10) plays percussion for Kennedy School and has lots of fun playing year-round soccer with his cousin Ben on their Renegades travel team, with his dad and uncle coaching.  It’s so much fun for us to go and see the two boys play together!
Carson (7) loves school and Cub Scouts.  He plays soccer for Ferndale and also plays indoor soccer with a group of friends during the cold months.  During the summer, these three kids swim competitively for Cranbrook Swim Club and play tennis there, along with their cousins.
Charlotte (3) has had to be a pretty flexible girl to adapt to all the places she finds herself.  She has fun in preschool twice a week and has already been to Europe twice, something her grandparents can’t say!  She also loves playing with her cousins and friends and having special play dates with Grandma and Grandpa.

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Ginny and Fos with Abby at Halloween

Foster and Ginny
Our lives are overflowing with our children and grandchildren, with many dear friends, with the continual flow of worship and fellowship in our church family, and with more work and responsibilities than we ever thought we’d have at this stage in our lives.  We are greatly blessed!
Although it will be no surprise that Fos’ business has suffered with the economic challenges that have hit Detroit so hard, we continue to depend on God to open doors and supply our needs.  In addition to his voice and video work, Fos has begun to teach ministerial studies classes for Central Bible College’s Detroit extension program.  He also continues to work for WJR (760AM) doing his Saturday evening Internet Advisor program and occasional subbing.  He is still part of the Macomb Jail ministry that our church has had for many years and occasionally has other opportunities to preach. In addition Fos continues to lead our small group of families that meet in homes twice a month.  These folks, like others whom we’ve been with in groups in the past, have become like family to us.

Due to changes in our church’s girls’ program, Ginny has been freed up to co-teach a class on Wednesday nights with Fos that’s part of our church’s new Celebrate Marriage ministry.  She also continues to happily lead our church’s Moms’ Group which has grown and developed strong friendships among the moms who attend.  Ginny recently added another type of moms’ group to her plate.  In 2007, Lynn & Molly heard about an opportunity to lead a breastfeeding support group that was in transition in a nearby suburb.  Lynn is a very experienced La Leche League leader and took over the group initially while Ginny began the process of gaining her credentials (something she’d started when Molly was a baby 35 years ago!)  Then, last spring, after Lynn & Molly had mentored her through a challenging process, Ginny’s dream came true when she was recognized as a La Leche League leader in the presence of two of the founding mothers of this 50+ year old organization.  She and Lynn now lead monthly meetings and play dates for their LLL group, as well as helping moms by phone & email.
We can’t resist telling you how excited we are that we are both consistently losing weight on the Weight Watchers program.  Spurred on by Beth, Lynn and Molly’s efforts this spring, Fos started running and cutting calories and then joined the WW program when Ginny began to attend their meetings with Lynn in September.  He’s lost about 50# and Ginny has lost about 40# so far.  Right now she is having fun going through Lynn’s fashionable clothes that she could no longer wear.  Tune in this time next year as Ginny nears or reaches her goal weight!  Our health and energy levels are much improved and Ginny has even discovered she feels better when she works out every day!

Economically, there is not much cause for hope right now particularly with Fos’ job situation or lack thereof!  However, because of our faith in Jesus, who has cared for us not only these last 3 years but always, we have hope and peace about the future as we begin this New Year standing on God’s promise in Phil 4:4-7 4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

It is our prayer that your lives will also be full of God’s grace, peace, hope and provision as we journey through 2009.  Please keep in touch!
Love you!

Fos and GinnyBraun
20633 Van Antwerp
Harper Woods, MI 48225
fosterbraun@hotmail.com
(586) 940-1633
ginnybraun1@hotmail.com
(586) 940-1634

PS.  Many of our family members have recently joined Facebook, an Internet-based social network.  If you join, you can see many more pictures of our growing family and join in the joyful noise that is the constant conversation going on around us.

Our Crazy Dog Ling Ling

Family Collage 2009

 

 

 

 

 

New year, new computer

Well that seems to be the way that it goes with my life! In 2007 a cup of tea executed my trusty Dell Inspiron laptop and I replaced it with my MacBook Pro 15″. This year old age finally did in the motherboard on desktop that Computer Builder’s Warehouse (remember them?) custom made for me on our show around 2003. I had been getting close to maxed out on the 60 Gig hard drive and the old processor kept shutting down mysteriously until one day it started no more.

So it was time to go shopping. I had been thinking about buying an iMac 20″ or 24″ all-in-one desktop but I simply couldn’t afford the “Apple Tax”. No matter what other Mac Boys and Girls may tell you, generally speaking, comparably equipped PC’s are at least 20% cheaper than their pretty Apple counterparts. I know that this is heresy but more and more of us former Windows folks who switched are saying it and even the great Leo Laporte admitted to it on one of his podcasts this past year.

Being short on cash, I made a pilgrimage to Micro Center in Madison Heights where my friendly salesman, Jeff Kurz, suggested I look at the Dell Inspiron 530 desktop which was on sale for $399. So I gave up my Mac dreams and went for the PC! The machine is basically my wife’s for email, documents and the occasional picture. I also use it for back up of some key programs such as my Pro Tools LE recording software.

Here are the specs: Dell Inspiron Dual Core 2.20 Ghz processor, 2 Gig Ram, 250 Gig Hard Drive, DVD RW, Card reader ports, Win XP Pro (upgrade disk to Vista Home Premium included).

So far it has been a pretty fast little machine and real pleasure to work with. The only problems I am having right now are trying to get the Documents and Settings from the old hard drive. Problem: it’s just the hard drive, the computer died and I hooked it up externally to the new machine with a USB drive. I just can’t get my wife Ginny’s or my Contacts to switch over. Any suggestions?

Consumer Trends in 2009

Netbooks: These smaller than normal (9-12 screens) computers are fast becoming the growing edge of computer sales according to some market analysts. Portability, battery life and most of all a modest price point make them extremely attractive to a public already indoctrinated into handheld computing with the iPhone. Big question: Will Apple get on board with their own netbook (perhaps a larger version of an iPhone/iPod Touch?)

Get ready for Windows 7, Microsoft’s new generation of operating system if only because Redmond has got to shift the focus from its much maligned Vista OS even if Win7 is the same thing under the hood. No more dawdling, Mr. Ballmer; put up or shut up in 2009.

Feast on Memory (RAM) and Stock up on Storage (Hard Drive). Prices on both RAM for your CPU and Hard Drive space have dropped like the stock market. Why not save some money and just juice up that old computer? Find out how much memory your computer can use (remember that 32 bit machines can only use a little more than 3 Gigabytes of RAM); I recently bought 4 Gigs of RAM for my MacBook Pro for around $60. Look for quality in the hard drives but buy big and back up! Prices are so low! (http://www.alts.net/ns1625/winchest.html) The cost per gigabyte of memory in Feb. 2000 for a 20 GB Fujitsu hard drive was $19.73/GB. In April 2005 a Western 250 GB sold for $1.15/GB and right now a Western My Book 1 Terabyte (1,000 Gigabytes) sells for $.18/GB.

The impact of a tech-savvy president will be felt far and wide. Soon-to-be President Barak Obama is a child of the electronic age and is completely comfortable communicating in that format. What impact will this have on political life and our national future? Probably not much to start with but what happens when Pres. Obama is stymied by Congress and takes his case to YouTube or social networking sites to make his point to the American people directly?

Telcom feeding frenzy. Expect the few remaining, giant telcom players to start squeezing consumers for higher rates, e.g my wife just got a text message on her ATT phone inviting her to activate text messaging so that she could be charged $.20/message incoming and outgoing. Parents, watch out for those exploding phone bills when your teens start tapping incessantly to keep in touch with their many BFF’s. A major cable company is “bragging” about a $24/month local digital phone call plan! Vonage offers the whole country and a few of our neighboring nations for about the same price. I predict that one of the major telcoms will gobble up Vonage soon and silence it so that they can reduce competition and wring the most out of the customer. Long live capitalism!

Are you my “friend”? Social networks sites will start having a deeper and deeper penetration into the culture first as baby boomers with time on their hands join Facebook to see the grandchildren who are often spread all over the country because of scare jobs. Secondly, because finding work is all about who you know and not so much what you know, professional networks like LinkedIn, Plaxo and Pulse will become the place to find new jobs, clients and colleagues.

What are your predictions?

Foster’s Annual Computer Crash

Certain cyclical events mark the seasons: the swallows return to San Juan Capistrano…the buzzards come back to Hinkley, Ohio and one of my computer systems dies unceremoniously around Christmas. For the second year in a row, I have been forced to buy a new computer because an older one gave up the ghost or was turned to toast.

In 2007, shortly after my Dell Inspiron laptop went off of lease, the hard drive died and I replaced it with a larger one and made the move to Vista. The move was painful but ultimately successful until I spilled a cup of tea on the laptop while on a business trip and fried the motherboard. That was when the “Trip to the Dark Side” began (see earlier posts from last January) and I eventually bought a MacBook Pro 15″ laptop and dove headfirst into a dizzying year of ups and downs with the new equipment and system.

Monday, Dec. 15 history repeated itself and brought together all the elements for a perfect computing storm. I had to take the MacBook into the Apple store and had to leave it overnight for a complete refresh of the operating system. I returned home to use my Win XP PC as a back up only to find it wouldn’t start up at all! This is the computer that Computer Builders Warehouse custom built for me almost 5 years ago. The 60 Gig drive was nearly full and I had been experiencing mystery shut downs without any warnings. That normally signals a problem with the power supply which is a quick and cheap fix. So I did just that but the computer would not restart and I was in desperate need of a back up while my MacBook was in the shop.

I had known that we needed to replace the PC for some time but I didn’t want to put out a lot of money for a system that is basically used by my wife for email, writing the occasional document and gaming by my grandchildren when they visit. I lusted for a 20″ iMac because of the beauty of the machine, simplicity of the OS and clutter it would kill in my office, but with economic hard times there was no way to justify spending $1,200 for that machine (Apple tax and all!)

So how did we solve the problem and why is my wife now…happier with the new computer? Come back soon to find out or listen to the Internet Advisor on WJR 760 AM, Detroit Saturday, Dec. 20 between 7 and 9 PM for all the details.

Journey to the Dark Side 5: Love at first iSight-iPhone

One of the most frustrating aspects of working with my new Mac was not being able to sync the contacts and dates that I had in my phone with the computer. I had tried all sorts of work arounds including buying a $40 piece of software called The Missing Sync which was supposed to take care of the problem. It didn’t and now I have to try and get my money back.

Thanks to a friend in Apple, I was able to get a nice discount on the iPhone and it arrived yesterday. I had been impressed with the simplicity of the interface and I was not disappointed.

First of all the iPhone is a beautiful piece of industrial design, sleek, efficient and extraordinarily easy to use. That last point is what I have been looking for in a phone for years. Until this summer I had gone through a series of Palm Treo’s which have small touch screens but are very bulky and poorly designed for human use unless you have hands as big as mine. I then switched to AT&T and got a Samsung BlackJack which I have learned to hate because nothing is straightforward on it. True it is a beautiful slim little phone, specially after using the bulky Treos, but it runs the Windows Mobile OS and you are forced to drill through layers of screens to perform the simplest tasks. When my BlackJack would no longer sync with my Win XP machine and would not connect to the Mac, that was the kiss of death.

Secondly, but most importantly, the iPhone just works. Without reading pages of instructions, I simply plugged my iPhone dock into the USB port, docked the iPhone and iTunes did all the rest. Within 10 minutes I had synchronized all my contacts and calendars and had, as a matter of fact, received my first phone call! I can’t tell you how many times I have searched the manual for the Samsung BlackJack in vain looking for answers to the simplest questions. The iPhone is profoundly intuitive: the graphics make it clear what steps to take to perform whatever task you want from calling someone to looking up a website. Let me repeat: it just works!

This is why even the hardened PC lover like Gary Baker admitted that the iPhone is revolutionary. That’s not because it is the perfect product by any means, but because it reverses the trend of most phones which require the user to adapt to all sorts of sophisticated operating systems and proprietary interfaces. Apple, on the other hand, seems to have started with the consumer and asked,” What do I hate about cellphones and what do I want mine to do right out of the box?” this is what is revolutionizing the cellphone industry; consumers will no longer stand for clunky bricks that make you learn a whole new language before you can use them effectively. While I realize that there are some weighty issues with the iPhone, the overall user experience is “Why haven’t my other phones just worked like this?”

I know that there is much more to learn about the iPhone but I don’t have to dread wading into a thick manual to try and figure it out myself. I now feel like I am ready to rock and roll on the new platform. Running Vista on the Parallels side is another matter and one that I will talk about as I dig into it. For the time being I have enough on my hands getting projects back on track in the new year on the Mac…and earning enough money to pay for all this beautiful but expensive technology!