Mobile uncertainty…

I’m not sure why, but for the last week or so, I’ve been very torn about what mobile phone I prefer.

2 years ago, I signed up for AT&T and picked up this joke of a phone – the Pantec Slate

(please take a moment to laugh at it’s beauty – or lack there-of…  about 5 months later, my wife (fiance at the time) and I decided we should be on a phone plan together – ditching her parents contract, her LG chocolate, and Verizon – to get on AT&T with me… we scored a deal with the AT&T rep that got us each iPhone 3G’s, and I was on to a smarter, better phone.

Being the Apple fanatic I am, it was perfect… it looked right at home with my macbook, cinema display, and my lifestyle… It was awesome!

6 more months pass, and we relocate to norther Iowa… and not much to my surprise, AT&T has

terrible coverage in the area… so terrible, in fact, that they inform me that my “Off Network” usage is too hight, and that they will disable my ability to access the internet with my iPhone unless I’m on AT&T’s network – and I still get to pay the $30/month/line to have data… That wasn’t cool with me… so I talk to a rep, he says we can get out of our contract without the termination fee!  I say “Deal” and I start looking for a new carrier…. Big Red.

Verizon doesn’t carry the iPhone at this point (early 2010) – so I weigh the options and choose the original Moto Droid – “The brick” if you will” – for my wife and I… and we HATE it.

I find a deal through work where I can buy a slightly used (read: Practically new) BlackBerry Tour – and I bite… and I love it… something about the lack of excess on it is just perfect… and that keyboard – RIM deserves a medal for their keyboard, it’s phenomenal – and I rock that for almost a year…

Then Verizon picks up the iPhone 4 – and of course, I do what I do best – I get the techy toy and I bask in the glory that is another new Apple product – and one that matches my iPad and Macbook – I have the full set!

 

But it’s been about 5 months since I got my iPhone back, and I’m starting to miss my Tour… what about BlackBerry makes it so appealing… why am I so tempted to pop into the Verizon store and have them swap devices?  I just don’t get it… it doesn’t seem right…

 

What to do… with iOS 5 coming, I’m gonna stick to my guns and hang on to the iPhone… who knows, maybe the iPhone 4S/5 will seal it.

 

[images: property of cnet.com & thetechjornal.com – via google images]

Square

So I recently read about Square. You know, the little credit card reader that plugs into the headphone jack of your iPhone or iPad. It’s a great idea – and I started thinking…..

Being from a small town, I don’t go to half the places around because they only take cash or check.  Cash is a pain – if I have it, it’s gone right away… I feel like it’s ok to spend cause I know I can’t overdraft and I’d never pay my bills with it.  Checks suck cause you write a check and a week later (if you’re lucky) it comes out of your account – and during that time, you want to be sure you factor for it in your balance… Obviously card is the way to go – and Square is a step towards the future… Small towns need this. For $500, you can buy an iPad – you get the square for free and pay almost nothing for each transaction – and now all the mom-and-pop businesses can start taking card.

To add to this, Square is starting to introduce Card Case – think of it as having a store credit card for everywhere you love to go… only without the ridiculous fees and all the obnoxious emails & “special offers.”  It’s a way to link your bank account to your profile, and for a store/shop to charge your profile with your consent.  You don’t even have to touch your wallet.

I had heard rumors of Near Field Communications (NFC) – which is a way to swipe your mobile device and have it contain your bank/credit information to be charged.  It involved extra sensors and the risk of losing your phone and someone having your phone and all your money at their fingertips.  Card Case seems like a much safer, more logical spin on it. Those folks over at Square have their stuff figured out.  And how can you not like them, Jack Dorsey (one of the founders of Twitter) started it.

Now if only there was a way to work for Square as a marketing person… I’d be killer at that.

Check out Square!

Let me know what you think!