IPad, a magical device – indeed it is. I’m using one right now for this post coupled with the WordPress app. For bloggers, this seems to be a very convenient way to write, although just using the onscreen keyboard can be slightly awkward at first. So far I can type almost normally except for learning to keep my hands in the air for the resting position. This does provide for some discomfort for extended periods. 2 finger typing can also be very effective when using this keyboard. I am currently contemplating on whether or not to get an add-on bluetooth keyboard and using the iPad as a on the go computer replacement.

While typing, I can be listening to my iTunes library…nothing like writing with some classical music. I’m now at the end of my first thoughts. Trying to attach a photo, I haven’t found out yet how to remove photos from a post. So apparently I can now either upload 3 screenshots of me typing this post, or scrap this post and remake it using copy and paste (which is what I decided to do). The screenshot taken had to be pulled into Adobe Photoshop Express for rotation.

Well, that’s it for now for this iPad neophyte’s first adventure with blogging with the iPad…figuring out how everything works is what took the longest time…which I’m sure future posts will be much easier to do.

I started this article to bring awareness of a smartphone’s TCO, or total cost of ownership.  As I wrote this article, I discovered that quite like banks and all of the fees they charge, many cell carriers make a GREAT deal of money based on consumer ignorance, or more appropriately put, a consumer’s lack of knowledge of the contract terms they agreed to when they signed up and bought a phone.

There’s a lot here, and much that everyone needs to understand in order to keep your checking account in the black (instead of your carrier’s…) so please, read everything carefully and remember that all of the prices and costs here relate to either monthly costs of individual based voice/ data plans and one specific cell phone (my Nexus One).  The numbers will vary somewhat based on the costs (subsidized and unsubsidized) of YOUR phone.

Smartphones. They are EVERYWHERE..

The iPhone, Droid/DroidX/Droid 2, Nexus One, HTC HD2, Samsung Vibrant/Galaxy S, or Sprint EVO and Epic. I walk the streets of Chicago from the Lake Front to Union Station twice a day, and nearly everyone has their nose in their phone. Its truly amazing, as it seems that everyone, everywhere is now addicted. Crackberries be damned!

I saw an interesting article on MSNBC recently, and wanted to comment on and add  a few things. The author, Wilson Rothman, is dead on right about the major push of his article – the cost of your smartphone doesn’t mean squat compared to the Total Cost of Ownership (or TCO) of the device over the life of your wireless carrier contract. 

While its certainly something to consider in today’s budget conscious/expense leery and fragile economy, I think many cell and smartphone consumers are missing one important point – Cell phone carriers aren’t making money on voice plans, unless you don’t use all of the minutes you purchased, and then on AT&T, that doesn’t mean much due to their Roll Over Minutes.

Fees.

Minute overage fees. Data overage fees. Service fees (411, road side assistance, GPS, etc.).

At the end of the day, unless a specific service is provided, and you actually USE the service (like 411 or GPS), your carrier pockets that money and it floats right to the bottom line in the, "free money ‘cuz we imposed a policy or they didn’t use what they bought," column.

So, let’s take a quick look at the base cell plans that all of the carriers are providing, and see how your TCO fares and where the carrriers are really making their money.

Consider the chart below.

Wilson’s article basically lays out the above costs for service on all four major wireless carriers. You’re left to do the math (though he does a great job of adding things up for you). This however, is not the end of the story.

What is?  Great question. Here’s the answer – Overage and other charges, and of course, the cost of the device…

Thinking Holistically
With Verizon’s data plan, you can’t get charged any overage fees for excessive bandwidth.  It is truly the only unlimited data plan left. From a data plan perspective, this is the best and most cost effective data plan available.

While Sprint and T-Mobile call their data plans unlimited, they cap out at 5GB. If you use more data than that, you risk either getting funneled to a slower network segment or up to, and including, having your account cancelled.  Honestly, I’ve pushed and pulled a LOT of data. I’ve hit as high as 3.5GB in month, but I’ve never come near 5GB. At most you need to be careful on these networks. Getting stuck on a throttled network segment can suck, and depending on where you are in your billing cycle, the end of the month doesn’t mean the 1st.

On AT&T, if you have the 200MB plan and you go over 200MB (say 200.01MB) your data charges of $15 are doubled to $30.  I’m not sure what happens if you go over 400MB; but they will likely hit your for an additional $15 bucks that month. 

This is, by the way, the WORST data plan I’ve ever seen for a smartphone. If you do ANYTHING on your smartphone other than make calls and send text messages (though they are DATA, everyone charges for them, separately), I can guarantee that you are going to use more than 200MB of data in a month.  You’re going to come close to that with just simple data syncs when the device turns on and off, let alone e-mail and web surfing (or FB/Twitter/MySpace status updates).  Buying this data plan is a huge mistake. If you are on AT&T and have this plan, don’t be surprised when you get hit with additional fees. You have no one to blame but yourself.

Ok… so how do you think holistically?  Easy.  Add in the cost of the device, the full price, not the subsidized price to the 24 month voice and data plan costs above, and then divide by 24; but… the results can be somewhat subjective.

I use T-Mobile and have a Nexus One.  My costs are also slightly different, as I have an Unlimited Voice plan for $99 per month. To refresh your memory, here is the T-Mo data again; and my TCO related costs are at the bottom:

My Monthly Costs without any taxes or fees

Now, this is where things start to get a little interesting. Most people don’t have the huge down stroke needed to purchase a device without a contract, so the carrier allows you to "save" some money by agreeing to a contract. Everyone knows that… You get a reduced price on the phone you want, and your carrier locks you in to 24 months of service.  Below are my actual costs.

My costs for my current cell service without any taxes or fees

Now, check this out – If you subtract the unsubsidized cost from the subsidized cost and then multiply that times 24 (the life of the service contract) you get $349.92.

The cost of subsidizing the phone over the life of your contract

Keep that number in mind.  Its a very interesting number.  Why?  Simple.  I paid $180 for my Nexus One – a savings of $350 over the unsubsidized cost of the phone.

I actually come out ahead over 24 months

Based on my plan (actually part of a family plan…) I actually come out ahead $1.92 (or $0.08 cents a month) over the life of the contract. So, if I actually come out ahead on the deal, how is T-Mobile making any money?  Easy – fees. Every 411 Call costs me $1.79 per instance. With the way my wife and daughter use that, I regularly give T-Mobile an extra $30-$40 a month, or an extra $480 a year.

Let’s go back to our minimal plan example above. If you have a 500 minute plan, and used 743 minutes, used 411 5 times (with it texting you the number so you could copy it into your contact list for next time), Caller Tunes (callers listen to music instead of ring-ring) at $1.49/month, and downloaded 5 ring tones, 2 applications and 5 wallpapers, you would have incurred the following additional charges on T-Mobile:

The monthly bill (minus taxes, regulatory fees and other required charges) for the T-Mobile example above is $80 per month.  If you incurred the noted charges, which isn’t all too difficult if you think about it, then your bill is nearly 3 times its normal amount. Now, think if nearly every person with that carrier did something like that every month.

Cha-ching.

Honestly, what killed the example above is obviously the overage minutes.  However, at nearly $30, the extras I cited are nearly half the normal bill. This is the carrier’s dirty little secret. Overage charges, extra services – charges and fees that you don’t necessarily see when you signed up. 

What’s worse, is that even if you’re really careful, you can STILL run into unexpected charges.

So… obvious question – how do you stop the unexpected charges?  Good question.  Here’s what I’ve figured out.

1. Read your Bill
   The more you understand it, the easier it will be for you to see the little added extras and gotchas that can creep in when you aren’t careful. Understand what the taxes come out to. Understand what regulatory (and other required) fees you’re obligated to pay.  These aren’t part of your variable bill.  They’re usually constant.
2. Find the Right Data Plan
   Since the iPhone 3G, all smartphones now require a data plan. If you get ANY e-mail on your device at all…If you surf the web even a little bit, AT&T’s 200MB plan is NOT what you want. You’re going to get hit with an overage charge, and then your bill grows. Smartphones are more about data than calls. Get the right data plan on your carrier for your data needs and you’ll save money and headaches.
3. Find the Right Voice Plan
   If you talk on your phone at all (and I don’t know many who have a smartphone and don’t use it for calls…) then you need to take some time and really think about how you’re going to use its voice features too. If you plan to ditch your land line in favor of your cell phone, sticking to the 450 minute/500 minute plan may not be for you.  At $0.45 cents per minute over the allowance, 243 extra minutes cost $109.35, at least as much as minimum monthly charge for the plan WITH data and messaging, and then some. Get the right voice plan for your needs and then use those minutes but don’t go over. If you’re on AT&T and have roll-over minutes, then you’re ok, but you need to find some time to use those too… You DID pay for them.
4. Enough with the Downloads Already
   All smartphones come with a USB cable and the ability to connect to your PC or Mac.  If you want ring tones, make your own.  You can rip your CD’s and use tools like Audacity to cut the tracks into the segments you want for your ringtones. I do it all the time.

   Wallpapers can be found on the internet, many for free, and you can use the free tools that came with your PC to edit them and make them the right size for your phone’s screen.

   The iTunes App Store, the Android Market and all the other application stores have TONS of free applications.  The only thing you need to be careful of is the quality of the app. Don’t use crappy apps.  Hunt around, try some, uninstall those you don’t like or want and keep the ones you do.  Free is good.

   Caller Tunes…really?  REALLY?  Look, ring-ring has been good for more than 100 years.  I’m not gonna die listening to ring-ring. I don’t need to hear the latest tune from <pick your favorite artist> while I wait for you to pick up or get tossed into your voice mail. I’ll live… really.

5. Directory Assistance
   When you’re driving and have a hands free kit, and really need a number, directory assistance can be a big help. If, however, you can pull over; or have another person in the car, most smartphones and their location services can find businesses around you.  In that case, Google Maps (available on most smartphone platforms) can do the trick. It can find what you’re looking for and give you the phone number, address and even directions to the destination… AND guess what..? Its free.  Please stop with the 411 calls… you’re killing me.

So, what have we learned?  Let’s briefly review –

• Managing your bill means understanding it and what is on it. You’re going to get hit with things you weren’t expecting if you don’t watch out.
• Wireless Carriers don’t make a lot of money on voice or data plans.  They make their money on all of the overage fees, service fees and downloads you charge to your account. Make sure you get the right plans for your needs and stop with the added extras if you really need to pinch pennies. You can make your own extras and transfer them your device very easily.
• Smartphone Total Cost of Ownership is more than just the cost of the device. You have to factor in the costs of the data service, messaging service, and voice service and all of the associated charges and fees.

Being connected is great; but in this economy, protecting your checking account is much, much better.

You know what..?  I don’t get it.

What is it with the 4Square, "hey I’m physically <over here>," stuff??  This whole advertising exactly where I am to the entire multi-verse is really confusing to me, potentially problematic, and if we’re all just a bit (paranoidly) honest, dangerous.

Yes… I understand its great for impromptu meet-ups and such; but advertising that I’m not at home or out and about (as in, away from my car), leaving my <pick a stationary, valuable asset> unattended, just seems to scream "please come and rob me."

I don’t get it… AND I’m just sayin’…

Now, don’t get me wrong. I loves my Tweeples, and my Facebook friends; but you guys don’t need to know where I’m at all the time, everyday, out loud. That’s why I don’t use things like 4Square, Google Latitude; and now won’t use Facebook Places.

If you want to give Facebook Places a try, and don’t want other people tagging you or checking you into places without your consent, then you need to tweak your privacy settings on Facebook. I saw a cool little article on Gawker that goes over this. I’m going to reproduce this quick, little procedure here for everyone.  Why Facebook rolls out features with little to no fanfare and then opts you in to everything continues to amaze and annoy me.  I just don’t understand their way of thinking…

However, all of settings are in your Account Settings in Facebook, and you do have to make changes to more than one spot if you want to take care of this.

How to Insure that Only YOU Note where you are with Facebook Places

1. Log into Facebook & Access your Account
   
   Your Account drop down is in the blue bar, at the right corner of your browser window.  Its got all sorts of goodies in it.
2. Access Your Privacy Settings
    
   You want to access your privacy settings, so click the Accounts menu and then choose Privacy Settings.  You’re then taken to a web page where a number of different privacy options can be accessed.
3. Select Custom Settings
   
   Custom Settings is where you need to go. In the Custom section the link near the bottom of the left side is what you want to click.
4. Things I Share
   
   Ok. Let’s get down to business. If you’re like me, not everyone needs to know where you are all the time, everyday, out loud.  So, in the Places I check into option, you can select Everyone, Friends of Friends, Friends Only or Customize.  I chose Friends Only at this time. I’m not entirely certain I’m going to use Places, but I’m not certain I’m NOT going to, either.  This gives me the ability to use the feature, but allows me to limit who can see that information to the people I specifically trust, my FB friends.

   Next, you need to determine if you want to be grouped together with People Here Now.  Depending on what you are doing, where you’re doing it when you’re doing it, and who you’re doing it with, you may not want to be grouped in with all the other lemmings and labeled. Enable this with care, and insure that you want this to be enabled.

5. Things Others Share
   
   Last, but not least, Things Others Share.  Its nice when someone you’re travelling with can check you into the conference you’re attending, can check your coat for you, or some other courtesy. However, having someone else check you into a place may not be what you want.  You may not want others to know where you are (Gawker used an example where you skipped out on watching the latest episode of <pick a chick show> with your girl friend, you go to the bar, a buddy tags/checks you into the bar and BAM, you’re busted when your girlfriend sees that on Facebook Places. Not good…) 

   The other end of that is that your buddy is drunk, wishes you were at the bar drinking and having a good time with him and the rest of your buddies, and BAM, checks you in as a joke (and you’re either on your way home or stuck in traffic or something); and BAM you’re still busted when your girlfriend sees that on Facebook Places. Let’s not talk about those less than completely trustworthy friends of friends who might also need something to hawk to make rent and notice you’re not at home because you checked in somewhere.

The Gawker article tries to paint humor around why these settings need to be adjusted (and does a good job); but in the end, it all ties back to the way Facebook assumes everyone wants to use everything they have available all the time (every day, out loud…); and that’s just not the case.  I would prefer NOT to be included in all this stuff.  At the end of the day, its not that I’m trying to hide things from ANYONE, but that I just don’t want to share with everyone that I’ve gone to the bathroom…again. 

It seems I’m not alone on this either, as many others are calling this a huge privacy problem.  MSNBC has an interesting article saying much the same thing as the Gawker article; but Gawker doesn’t have the Carnegie Mellon quote:

"I think it’s quite Orwellian. We have literally become each others’ Big Brothers," said Alessandro Acquisti, a privacy expert at Carnegie Mellon University.

Nice… NOT.

Dear Facebook, Stop assuming I’ll love everything you do. I don’t. Signed, All your Users

What is the one application you always load first or make sure you install on any new mobile device you purchase?

The average consumer, be they business or private individual, seems to gravitate to what’s popular. In browsing, IE and Firefox have become the standard (some would say Safari should be mentioned, but I think you’ll find more Mac users loading Firefox than PC users loading Safari, just to make my point).

When it comes to media players, the field of choices widens considerably. And a lot of them are good. But it would seem that iTunes has become the default choice of the average person, whether they own an iPod or iPhone or whatever.

I have noticed the business community thinks it ends up influencing what people choose and use. I tend to think our children might be driving the bus. They try everything and they make their opinions clear. They actually spurred the growth of DivX, for a while. They seem to have embraced Chrome among themselves and kind of chuckle at any conversation about Firefox and the like. And iTunes seems to have been given their nod as the only media player to even bother talking about.

I could be making all that up. The question for today is, has iTunes reached the tipping point with the masses and become king of the hill, from which they will not be dethroned?