I’ve already mentioned my disdain for using my iPhone 3G with iOS4. Yesterday was my breaking point. I either was going to order a new phone or pull out my backup flip phone and shut down my data plan for 6 months until I could upgrade. After some talking with ATT, they actually seemed empathetic toward my situation but expressed their limited ability to act due to Apple’s strict pricing agreement. So they offered to credit my bill to make up for not getting the full discount on the phone (since I’m 6 months from upgrading, I get a price in-between the 2 year price and full MSRP). So I’m now on the waiting list at the Apple Store.
I feel suckered… this is exactly what Apple wants. You get teased with the great features of the new product, realize your current one can’t come close to handling those features, feel compelled to upgrade your hardware. But what are my real alternatives? I live a very plugged-in lifestyle and would really not want to go an extended period of time without a mobile internet device. Despite the improvements, the Droids are still not at the point where you can do everything you do with your iPhone (but they are getting quite close) and let’s face it, Blackberry is falling way behind. I like the Apple phone, I like the OS. Despite having a fairly high aptitude for technology, I do enjoy not having to exert too much energy thinking of how to accomplish tasks and simply being able to do what I want with ease (productivity and usability are the signatures of almost any Apple product). By all accounts, performance on the iPhone 4 is not an issue, so if I get the same functionality I have now, minus the performance issues, with additional desirable features (better camera, better display, some sort of multi-task, etc) I should be content with the outcome. I still feel a bit suckered. A bit used.
PS – for any of my 12 or so readers: If you don’t like ATT, just know this; I don’t like any mobile provider. However, I get a way better than average price through ATT and live in an area with great coverage. So the dropped call, no coverage issue has been a non-factor for me. The good price makes it foolish to switch. Just wanted to throw that in before some Verizon or Sprint fanboy chimed in.
Well, we are going to be hitting our 3rd television provider this year. It looks like DirectTV is going to be the winner. UVerse hasn’t been able to fix our random DVR problems and we have lost interest with giving them extra chances. When we move in a month, the plan should be t make the switch at that time. I am not excited about having to get settled in with another provider, but I am excited about more HD channels and getting rid of ATT.
Anyway, the television saga continues.
So I’ve had problems since getting AT&T UVerse installed. However, it seems lately those problems have really added up. Here’s the rundown of issues: – Set series recordings to “once per day” and “first-run only” only to find 5 showings per day record, all of them being re-runs. DVR actually is reverting the settings back to “Anytime/anyday” and completely ignoring the “first run only” part of it. Solution: Delete/Re-Add series recording, replaced DVR box – still can’t get “first-run only” to work, but I am SO FAR only getting one recording per day. – Select a show from the guide to record, no conflicts, show doesn’t record. This happens with series recordings also. When you look at your scheduled recordings, you can see the show in the list (assuming it hasn’t started yet), however, in the description next to the show title, there is a blank space where the channel name should be. If you select the show to view recording options, you get teh full show description but there are no recording options on the screen. You can’t cancel it. If you try to set the show to record a 2nd time, you will get an error that it is already scheduled. Solution: Do a manual recording. This seems to be a problem with the guide, so you have to pretty much override the whole guide part of it. This way UVerse just records whatever is on the channel you select at the times you say. That’s what I’ve got for now. I guess the number of different problems isn’t high, but the frequency is. We may be rockin’ OTA HDTV in the near future.
