Is Apple iPhone 3G really half the price?
Posted 24 July 2008 in Personal Finance Leave a Comment
I often agree with Apple commercials. In their “I’m a Mac. I’m a PC.” commercials, I agree that PCs have more viruses and a lot of problems. After years of using Windows and finally making the switch to the Mac platform, I should know. However, in their recent iPhone 3G commercials, I totally disagree with their message. It is not half the price.
“Everyone” commercial transcript:
Some people will like surfing the web twice as fast.
Some people will like downloading stuff twice as fast.
Some people will like finding their way twice as fast.
But pretty much everyone will like paying half the price.
True, the cost of the actual phone is half the price, but it is because the new iPhone 3G is subsidized by AT&T. And don’t think AT&T is doing you a favor. They have worked the subsidy back into the iPhone 3G contract, which means you will be paying them back the subsidy and then some.
To summarize the new iPhone 3G plan: you will have to pay $30/month for its data plan compared to the original iPhone data plan of $20/month and pay an additional $5/month for 250 SMS text messages (250 text messages are included on the original iPhone plan).
Please be informed before purchasing on the basis of their advertisement because it is not entirely true. The additional monthly fees will more than make up for the half that you thought you were going to save.
Related Links: iPhone 3G – ‘Everyone’ commercial
Related Articles: How the half-price iPhone 3G actually costs you more | The Real Cost of the iPhone 3G
Staying in Sync with MobileMe
Posted 16 July 2008 in Technology 1 Comment
The MobileMe service by Apple was widely promoted as “Exchange for the rest of us.” And for those who do not know what exchange is, it is basically a messaging and collaborative tool developed ironically by its rival Microsoft.
When I first heard about this service, I got really excited. Not because of its push messaging service, which allows you to receive email notifications the moment someone clicks on the send button. I was more exited about the possibility of syncing my calendar and address book between my iPhone, computer, and the web without the need of actually hooking my phone physically to a computer. To me, that is what this service is really about.
MobileMe, however, has a much clearer mission that solves a much clearer problem. It’s meant to keep the e-mail, calendars, address books and Web bookmarks on all of your computers — Macs, Windows PCs, iPhones and iPod Touches — synchronized in real time. —David Pogue, NY Times.
See, the revolutionary idea about MobileMe is that once you update your appointment on the iPhone, that data is automatically transmitted up to MobileMe and down to your computing devices. You do not have to physically hook up your iPhone to your computer nightly to backup your address book and calendar!
While push email is exciting to see in action, there is one main disadvantage. To use MobileMe’s push email service, you will need to use their me.com domain. There is really no way to configure your iPhone to use the push email service without using the @me.com domain name. I agree that it is a really cool and short domain, but I am totally against the idea of using an email address that I have to pay for the privilege to use (for example, using an email address assigned by your ISP), since you’ll be stuck paying for a service just for its email address.
What I found MobileMe’s push email service useful, however, is using it for notification purposes. For example, American Express (and most financial institutions) emails you a notification when there is a new statement or if your bill is due. By configuring your notifications to be sent to your @me.com address, you will be instantly notified if your bill is late, or if you have gone over your credit limit.
For more technical purposes, I have also set my servers to notify me if something goes down or if customers are in need of assistance (very useful). Since MobileMe’s push email service is instantaneous, I will be able to react to any notification the second it reaches my iPhone.
Sure MobileMe has push email, but what you really get for $100/year is syncing without the cable.
Related Articles: In Sync to Pierce the Cloud | TUAW Review: MobileMe | Apple Apologizes for MobileMe
Related Links: Exchange Server
A sit down with Warren Buffett
Posted 7 March 2008 in Personal Finance Business Leave a Comment
If you did not know this by now, Warren Buffett is the world’s richest man alive, according to Forbes. At 77, he is the largest shareholder and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, a holding company that owns the gecko at Geico, the fruits at Fruit of the Loom, and all the lactose at Dairy Queen. Buffett’s wealth came in the form of great investments into public companies such as American Express, Coca-Cola, and Gillette. He is admired by many, which is why 25 thousand investors make their way to Omaha, Nebraska to attend Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting.
A few lucky business students were invited to meet the man himself in a Q&A session (the entire Q&A session is linked below under related links). Below are some tidbits that I found interesting…
Why do you think that despite making your methods publicly available, that relatively few people have been able to emulate your success?People want to make money fast, but it doesn’t happen that way. Graham’s philosophy doesn’t promise enough for many people. You don’t know when it will happen, but you just wait for the fat pitches within your circle of competence. It’s not as exciting as guessing whether the stock price will go up the next day. Most investors in internet companies didn’t know the market cap. They were buying because they thought the stock would move, but if you asked them to write “I would buy XYZ company for $6 billion because”, they wouldn’t get halfway through the sentence. It’s the classic tortoise versus hare, bound to work over time. Charlie and I have educated competitors. Most don’t compete with us, though. It’s fine, we have more than enough money.
Given your business success, your immense fortune, and your celebrity status, how do you stay so down to earth and humble? Are there specific people or lessons you have learned throughout your life that enable you to maintain this outlook?I was lucky to have the right heroes. Tell me who your heroes are and I’ll tell you how you’ll turn out to be. One of your most important jobs in life will be raising your children. They will learn more from you than they will in graduate school. My father was a huge influence, and later on Graham came along. I was also never let down by my heroes.
What importance do you give to balance as it pertains to work and life and what do you do to maintain your appropriate balance?I have so much fun that it’s not work. In my own life I did virtually no social functions or meetings that I didn’t want to do. In my adult business life I have never had to make a choice of trading between professional and personal. I have simple pleasures. I play bridge online for 12 hours a week. Bill [Gates] and I play, he’s “chalengr” and I’m “tbone.”
There you have it: there is no such thing as quick money in the stock market, find the right heroes in life, and find a job that you enjoy so much that it does not become “work.”
Related Links: Notes from Buffett Meeting | About Warren Buffett | Berkshire Hathaway
Related Articles: Gates No Longer World’s Richest Man
