I’m a 30-something technology guy living in San Francisco’s Mission District. I’m from Berkeley, California (which some people believe is the most liberal place ever), and I went to school at UC Santa Barbara (UCSB), where I studied computer science with a minor in awesome sunshine.
I moved back to the bay area after I graduated from UCSB, and have been working in the valley for internet companies ever since.
This blog is where I write about all of my interests: technology, business, politics, what’s hot on TV, sports, or whatever comes to mind.
Here is where else you can find me:
- Twitter: @simonmosk
- Facebook: simplesimon
- Linkedin: simonmosk
Amazing!
I just found your “Corner” and read your piece about prepaid wireless and “needing” new cell phones. I could have written them myself!
I’m a 60-something retired technology guy living in sunny South Florida. I grew up (starting at age 30 or so) on S-100 and Apple ][ systems. In my last job, I was an I.T. director and I had “all the gadgets” – the latest smartphones, unlimited voice and data, WIFI everywhere I went, etc.
Now that I’m retired and paying my own way, things have changed. I have a prepaid T-mobile SIM that gives me 1000 minutes of voice only, good for a year, and it cost $100. I think that’s about the cheapest you can go and still have a cell phone! I use an old Blackberry Pearl with WIFI for a phone, and a jailbroken iPod touch for an e-book reader and occasional network sniffing. That well fits my needs/wants for pocket sized stuff.
Apart from the outlandish and semi-compulsory rate structure (bits are bits – why do we have to pay differently depending on how the bits are interpreted?) I have a gripe with the maps on GPS enabled devices. Why shouldn’t we be able to download a set of maps for an area and then go of-line to navigate with the GPS? Of course the answer’s obvious – AT&T can charge you over and over and over again to download the same set of maps!
Thanks for a great blog!
Walt
@Walt-
It’s really great to get your feedback – pleased to hear you’re enjoying the blog. The T-Mobile plan sounds like a pretty good deal. Another pretty good wireless deal I’ve seen recently is Virgin Mobile’s unlimited data on mifi (essentially a mobile wireless card) for $40 pre-paid; with AT&T charging you an extra $20 on top of your 2GB data plan to tether your devices unlimited data for $40 on all your devices sounds like a deal.
Re: the offline maps, I’m all for apps that work offline. I’m a big fan of the NY Times app on my ipod touch that works even when I’m not on wifi – and I wish Google Maps did as well!