IveGoneMobile.com

Unless the world really has changed, this will be one of the few times that I complement AT&T.

I just called to ask about their Wi-Fi service. I wanted the monthly price and the number of hot spots. The first person that I spoke to didn’t know the answer but gave me one (the wrong one) anyway. When I politely told her she was off track, she decided to transfer me to someone else, then corrected herself and said that she was going to stay on the line so that she could learn. I was impressed.

While waiting for the next person, I found the info that I was looking for online. When agent #1 one came back, I told her so. She asked me what I found and where I found it (she wanted to learn). I told her, thanked her for her help and hung up.

A few minutes later, my cell phone rang. It was AT&T. I’m a customer; I had identified myself at the start of the other call. The agent on the phone (agent#2, who I had been holding for) wanted to make sure that I had the answers I was looking for. I did.

As I was ready to hit “post” on this blog entry, my phone rang again. It was agent #1. She assumed that I was looking for the Wi-Fi service for my iPhone (I hadn’t corrected her that I was just doing research). Would you believe that she was still digging into the issue and realized that with my data plan I probably didn’t need the Wi-Fi service? Amazing.

I can’t expect every agent to know every answer, but it’s refreshing to hear that some of them want to learn from their customers. It’s also refreshing to see that AT&T is trying…they’re calling back minutes later when they sense that the customer isn’t satisfied. They called me again when they thought I was on a wild goose chase.

This all leads me to wonder whether AT&T really understands their Wi-Fi offering and how it applies to the iPhone. I know there was some confusion just after the iPhone 3G was released. I guess they haven’t straightened it out.

The country has and will continue to have fuel problems until we deal with supply AND demand.

Prices were high (though not by global standards), driven by excessive consumption, stifling regulation and an arrogant, greedy, monopolistic supply chain.  

When catastrophes happen like the recent hurricane Ike which hit the Texas coast, citizens and government go on the lookout for people and companies looking to profit from others’ misfortune by gouging their customers. Hysteria takes over and people who typically fill their gas tanks only when empty start to fill up at ¾ of a tank…shortages, lines and high prices ensue as happened recently in Atlanta (where I live). If stations take advantage of the situation and gouge, they’re fined. But what about when other companies take advantage of misfortune?

We’re used to the airlines nickel and diming us with add-on fees like “fuel surcharges” and “blanket fees.” My phone bill is about 20% taxes and fees (I live in Atlanta, have an Atlanta billing address, a NYC phone number and get taxed NYC taxes by AT&T). It’s annoying. It hits the pocket book. I live with it. I understand. Fuel prices can be the death of an airline and they have to survive. Phone companies are phone companies. They’ve gotten away with it for so long, they do it because they can ( a subject for another post maybe).

My wife has been complaining that the price of milk has gone up several times over the last few months. She asked at the grocery store. Fuel prices were the culprit. Now that the price of a barrel of oil is half of what it was a few months ago, she wants to know why the price of milk hasn’t gone down again. Locally, the price of gas is 30% less than it was a month ago. If the price of milk followed the price of gas up, why doesn’t it follow it down as well?  I tell her that it probably took several months for the price of gas to be reflected in the price of milk on the way up; similarly, the adjustment might lag on the way down. The reality is that this is inflation and few companies will give it back. This is the reality of business. I don’t feel ripped off. I’m just upset about it.

When I rent a car, they charge a premium for fuel if I don’t fill the tank before I return it. I understand that. When taxis add a fuel surcharge because all their profits are wiped out by high gas prices, I understand. As I said above, I can even understand food prices rishing because it costs more to get it from the suppliers to the store shelves.

With that said, some companies are using fuel prices to rip off their customers.

On Sunday, I rented a tiller from Home Depot (yes, I’m doing yard work…planting a lawn in our back yard). The machine came filled with gas. I used the tank and refilled it before I returned it. The tank held ¼ of a gallon of gas. At this week’s gas prices, that would cost about 80 cents. A month ago, it would have cost about $1.25. When I returned the machine, I was informed that there was a $5 “fuel surcharge.” I was shocked.

Did I use their fuel? No.

Did it cost them more to get the tiller to the store? Maybe a little, but come on. That thing has been sitting in their rental center for months. The machine costs only a few hundred dollars. If they rent it fivec or six times, they’ve paid for the machine and transport, regardless of the price of gas.

Did they deliver the machine to me? No. I picked it up and returned it.

Where did they consume fuel? They didn’t. They ripped me off. Case closed.

I said something to the sales person. I wasn’t rude. I just expressed that they were ripping off their customers. He agreed. There wasn’t anything that he could do. As an honest customer, there wasn’t anything I could do, other than pay the bill. I did. The fuel surcharge was a 10% theft by Home Depot.

Does Lowes rent tools? 

“Power to you”

After telling me that he couldn’t support me in my quest to connect my router to my modem (beyond a cursory check), that’s how the Comcast agent finished our call.

“You see,” he told me, “it’s just like if you change something on a car, you void the warranty. I’ve shown you that the internet works, so I’m done.”

Here’s the summary of my call with an arrogant tech support agent. I had already spent 45 minutes on text chat with someone a few hours earlier. He wasn’t helpful but he was friendly and he tried. He suggested that they do a truck roll. I suggested that I call as an escalation instead. I then spoke to a very nice lady. She was patient and helpful. Unfortunately, our call got disconnected. When I called back, I got this arrogant ass instead.

Me (after the background and following his instructions which were the same ones I had been through with the last two people): “I can connect a computer directly through the modem and use the internet, but not for any sustained period of time. Moreover, when I switch and plug a router into the modem, things break down again. The router gives my computers IP addresses, but no connection.”

Him: “We don’t support routers.”

Me: “What I’m telling you is that I don’t think it’s my router. I have two different routers. Two different brands. Neither one works. The computer connects, but not for long. If it does connect and I unhook it, it won’t work when I hook it up again…and I’m not leaving my laptop in the closet to use from now on.”

 Him: “Sounds like you need a firmware update for your router. Linksys support is very helpful. You should call them.”

Me: “My routers are up to date (coincidentally, I updated the firmware on the Linksys within the last 2 weeks). Even if the firmware on the Linksys is out of date or corrupted, what are the chances that my other router is similarly flawed? Given that they both worked within the last few days, what are the chances that they both failed now?”

Him: “I’ve seen stranger.”

Me: “So have I, but I think we should look a little deeper at this. I’m always plugging and unplugging things around here. I’ve never had any problems. Now I have to power cycle everything multiple times to get bursts of traffic? No consistency. Both routers misbehaving in the same way? No way. The only things that are involved in every scenario are your modem and your network. That’s where the problem is.”

Him: “We can’t support 3^rd party routers. We don’t have the documentation for them and they are all different. (My interruption…you think you could get the documentation on the most popular ones?)  I got the internet working for you.”

Me: “You may see a signal going into my home but if I can’t do anything with it, it’s a waste of $60 a month. A signal isn’t enough. I need to be able to do stuff. I don’t blame you. It’s a bad policy. Your higher-ups should be told that. You’re going to lose me as a customer. I think that AT&T offers a Wi-fi router I assume they support.”

Him: “we don’t support routers.”

Me: “That’s a dumb policy. You’re going to lose customers.”

Him: “It’s just like if you change something on a car, you void the warranty. I’ve shown you that the internet works, so I’m done.”

Me: “AT&T sells their car with a radio built in. I guess I have to go to them if I want music in my car and actually want it to drive.”

Him: “power to you.”

Me: “Goodnight.”

Click.

Do you think that Comcast technical support even knows that their job is to reduce churn? I don’t.

Epilogue:

After the call I power cycled the modem one last time and left one of the routers connected before walking away.

I went to my desk and put my laptop down figuring that I’d use my EVDO modem to connect and post this rant. As I put the computer down, I noticed that Skype connected.

I went and checked my wife’s computer. It had gone online too. The Internet was back, through one of the routers. I hadn’t updated firmware. In fact, I hadn’t done anything that I hadn’t done a dozen times over the last few hours.

Whatever the problem was, it had fixed itself.

NetNewsWire released a number of interesting stats on Monday that quickly gained interest around the web as the post was picked up and amplified by TechMeme story. The echo chamber and pundits started within hours with experiences and the stats being discussed on Infinate Loop, the MacRumors iPhone blog and tuaw.com.

The stats are impressive by any measure:

· There are over 200,000 users of NetNewsWire for iPhone

· Over 115,000 iPhone users have signed up in the past 30 days

· The average NetNewsWire iPhone user subscribes to 26 feeds

· One NetNewsWire/iPhone user has over 2,800 feeds — wow!

· More than 130 million items have been marked read by NNW/iPhone users

I’m a NetNewsWire/NewsGator user.

I used my first RSS reader a couple of years ago. For the life of me, I don’t remember which one it was but it was probably a very basic, free, standalone program. I remember though that I instantly saw the value in it and started my search for the perfect one.

[For those who don’t know what an RSS reader is, it is a program that reads “real simple syndication” (RSS) feeds from websites. What is an RSS feed? It’s the data (the story on a news site, the post on a blog, etc.) from the website. When CNN.com, for example, posts a new story, they also post the raw data for that story in an RSS feed. The RSS reader, which often resembles a program that you use to read email, makes it possible to read that post. The result is that I can scroll headlines on the sites that are most important for work and pleasure. If something interests me, I can click through and read the whole content. Many RSS readers let you email the story/post or archive it . For more, see this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rss]

One of the first readers that I tried was NewsGator (www.newsgator.com). At the time it was a plug-in that let me view feeds inside of Outlook, which was great since that’s the one program that I interact with throughout every day. After the free trial, I bought a license. I mention that because later they changed their license terms to a subscription model. I don’t recall the exact chain of events, but I do recall that I complained and they made good. Newsgator in Outlook was great because it would download everything and I could read it on planes when I had time to catch up.

For some reason I left them as part of my quest for the perfect reader. The nice thing about RSS readers is that most of them make it really easy to export your feed list to take it to an alternate reader. I tried Snarfer which was great until feature creep bloated it. Then I used Flock, which for the first time put me into a browser for feed reading. I missed the offline access to stories, but I could tolerate reading in a browser.  I did like the fact that my reader was my browser; one less application open at any given time.

Then, the app store came along for my iPhone. I wanted an RSS reader on my iPhone and there was NewsGator. I’m long past having it on my computer (I’ve probably changed computers three times since I last used it). I downloaded it to my phone. It wanted me to login or create a new account. I tried to register using my preferred username and it told me it was taken; it turns out that it was taken by me. The account that they made good on, at least two years earlier, was still active. I logged in and it started synching my feeds; it still had the ones that I had been reading the longest and I updated the rest of the list.

So, I left Flock and went back to Firefox, Internet Explorer and now Chrome and NewsGator is now my home page. I’m using the browser version when I’m connected and can read most feeds on my phone when I’m offline. What a great solution. It’s nice to be able to spread battery usage over two devices when on the road and I always have access to the news.

With their success, here’s what NewGator needs to do:

1.       Fight the temptation to add too many more features. I say this despite the fact that I will suggest features below and thus accept that some suggestions should be ignored if they cause the app to become too complex or run poorly.

2.       Work on stability. The app stutters on the iPhone. Fix that.

3.       Work on synchronization quality. I switch back and forth between platforms throughout the day and the synchronization doesn’t seem to keep up. Why not?

4.       Work on the experience for each platform separately: Note that the iPhone interface is different than a PC. Some feeds that require you to click through to a browser are a pain to deal with on a phone. Maybe, to preserve power, I don’t want to display images on my phone? Maybe when I email a story, I want to choose between sending the story and only sending a link? I want it all on my PC…I’ve got resources to spare.

5.       Can you find a way to add feeds from the iPhone when I’m within the browser? This is probably something that isn’t possible because of Apple’s restrictions.

6.       Give me a way to know what version number I’m using on the phone. Without it, it’s hard for me to accurately provide feedback…and I will take the time to provide feedback. The newest version fixed some of the annoying problems with the last version which introduced problems that the previous version didn’t have. NetNewsWire would benefit if I (and the hundreds of thousands of other users) could be specific in complaints and support requests.

7.       Create and release different versions. Some people may compromise performance for features. Some might even pay for a version that has more features. I know I would (if it performs well). The important thing is to always keep a high value, high performance “lite” version available as the default.

8.       I’ve recently discovered that I can configure individual feeds so that they don’t show on the iPhone but do show up on the web. I don’t know if this is a new feature in the latest release or if it is a feature that’s been in the last several versions. What I do know is that I found the feature by accident and it was one that I’ve long (relatively) wished was there.

I know that Apple’s rules are the the reason that I can’t have everything that I want in the iPhone app. I’m looking forward to trying the Android version that I can only assume will come soon. I’m also looking forward to regular improvements to the versions that I have.

Growing up, I remember that some of my friends and relatives had office phone systems (PBXs) in their homes. I always loved the intercom function and was surprised that people actually used them. In my house we just yelled.

Now that I own my own home we don’t even have a home phone line (so clearly an office system is out of the question).

A few minutes ago, I was sitting at my desk doing some work with the TV on. Heather (my wife) was up stairs (we live in a ranch) watching another TV. Then, I got a text message on my phone:

“im going 2 bed now”

Yelling? Intercom? Forget it. We’ve got mobile text.

I wonder how many people use text to communicate within the home. If the phone companies didn’t charge so much for messages, I’m sure it would be far more common. Give it a few years. The phenomenon of people giving up their home phones and the inevitable pressure on the mobile phone service providers to only make a respectable margin on text messages instead of an insane one will lead to more and more of this.

Text is only getting more popular.

My 2 ½ year old daughter (Delaney) calls my iPhone 3G “Iris’ Phone” because her old nanny (Iris) had a 1^st generation one. I’m on my second iPhone (I only used the 1^st one for a few months before going back to my Blackberry). I think that it should be “Daddy’s Phone.”

 Iris and Delaney would take and look at pictures together on it, probably every day. Who knows what else they did with it (in the days before 3^rd party apps were made available). Delaney would see me with my phone in the mornings and evenings and have little or no interaction with it, so I guess it makes sense that I lose on that one. Iris was only her nanny for a few months though and she’s been gone now for a few more.

You can imagine my surprise when I put my first iPhone down one day last year and saw her (at the time about 18-20 months old) sliding her finger across the screen to unlock the phone.  I can barely use a “childproof” lighter and have problems opening pill bottles; she was learning fast. I was proud.

Fast forward a year…

The iTunes App Store and Exchange support were the game changers that I needed.  The steady stream of new applications makes the iPhone an incredible tool and entertainment device despite the fact that I my 3G barely works and the battery life is among the worst that I’ve seen on a phone (and I play with prototypes of different phones, that haven’t been power optimized, regularly). I can’t see myself giving the iPhone up to go back to my Blackberry this time. It’s more likely that I’ll go back to carrying two “phones;” One will be the iPhone and the other will be a good/real phone.

So, I really like my iPhone despite its critical shortfalls, but Delaney loves it.

With multiple home screens, I’ve set one up just for her and loaded it up with applications. She knows how to unlock the phone, scroll to her home screen and choose the application that she wants. What’s on her screen?

·         Moo: a cow picture appears. When the phone moves, it moos. Good for 3 minutes of entertainment

·         Scribble: today’s arts and crafts. Draw with your finger in different colors. Good for 5-10 minutes of entertainment

·         Jared: a scary looking happy face singing. Good for 3-5 minutes of entertainment

·         Bubbles: touch the screen and bubbles appear. Touch the bubbles and they pop. Good for 5-10 minutes of entertainment

·         Crazy Mouth: choose from 2 different funny looking mouths that make noise (she figured out that she should cover her real mouth with it. Very cute to watch). Good for Easily 10 minutes of entertainment

·         Bubble Wrap: As a kid it didn’t matter what was in the package that arrived at the house as long as you got to pop the protective bubble wrap. You don’t have to have a package shipped anymore. Good for 3-5 minutes of entertainment

·         Dizzy Bee: Basically a maze where you pick things up along the way. She hasn’t really gotten into this yet.

·         Rubber Duck: Basically a picture of a duck. Touch it and it squeaks. Good for 1 minute of entertainment

·         YouTube: Little Einstein’s (despite my problems with the show…more on that another time), Mickey Mouse, Sesame Street, etc. Good for hours of entertainment (or until the battery runs out)

[If anyone can recommend more apps that she’ll enjoy, let me know]

I challenge anyone to name another device that can do that while fitting easily in a pocket (and provide me with three more screens of entertainment and productivity tools)…it just doesn’t exist. When Steve Jobs says that it’s the apps, he’s 100% right.

If developers keep churning out things she enjoys, it will soon be “Daddy’s phone.” Of course, unless Apple does something to improve the 3G signal and the battery life, it’s more likely to be “Daddy’s Toy,” with another phone tucked away in my pocket.

Every blog inevitably starts with the “why I blog” post and mine is no different.

I’ve spent my career building and selling new products and services that help people communicate better and have never really been satisfied with my personal communications choices.

I gave up my home phone line more than 5 years ago but have inevitably had a VoIP line or extra mobile at home to test for work, so going over on my service plans have never been an issue (having thousands of minutes a month at my disposal helps too); my wife on the other hand, manages to go over her plan every few months (we both recently switched to unlimited plans). Living in an apartment in Manhattan meant that my home was always small enough that I could hear and reach a ringing cell phone. Why would I even consider having a second phone and a second voice mail to check (I hate voice mail). Cost plays a role, but simplicity has always been the biggest issue.

It’s been two and a half years since my daughter was born and we moved to Atlanta. The move and baby meant more phone calls to and from my parents and in-laws. It also meant that we moved into a house. Now, the phone isn’t always near enough to hear the ring and often isn’t near enough to answer. I get calls from grandparents wanting to talk to my daughter at all the most inappropriate times–like while I’m travelling on business, in China, at four in the morning. Simply, I’m not happy with my personal communications options or choices.

At work, I build communications solutions, so you’d think that I’d be able to make myself happy. Well, I can easily solve my personal problem by finding a kludge assembly of 3rd party products, but that’s a pain to set up and to manage. I know from experience that just as I start to get comfortable with my solution (which will take tens of hours to cobble together and active maintenance to keep working), one of the companies will go out of business or change their terms of service and I will have to find a stopgap to become satisfied again. Moreover, I won’t really be happy unless the solution I use is “off the shelf.” I’d rather find a way to solve the problem for everybody than just solve it for myself.

Over the last twelve years, my time at work has moved from PC based VoIP to phone based VoIP, to traditional landline phones, back to VoIP phones. Over the last few years, I’ve increasingly been working on mobile and for the first time in my career I can see how the things that I’m building will impact my life directly. For the first time in my career, I am my own target customer.

I intend to blog about my experiences at work and at home as they relate to communications (and anything else that seems worth blogging about at the time). I already know that I have some funny and sad experiences to share and will do so soon. I’ll occasionally comment on products and services that I read about, hear about and test and try to remain objective, all within the bounds of the confidences and other restrictions placed upon me . This blog is in no way sanctioned by my company so I will maintain that boundary in my blogging. With that said, if my company announces anything publicly, I might talk about it and will make my bias very clear so as not to deceive. I don’t expect to post daily. Probably not even weekly. Certainly not at any interval that could be considered “regularly.” but I will try to find a way to keep it interesting.

Enjoy.

-Adam