I know, everyone has an iPhone opinion and you are just about to hear another one but wait! Before you surf in another direction read on… I have gone from a Canadianized (hacked - Jail Broken - What ever you want to call it) iPhone running 1.1.4 right up to 2.0 software and now I am using the real deal all lagit and as virgin as they come 3G 16GB iPhone in Black.

First off I have to say I could not imagine what I would do if I did not have an iPhone? Was there really a time when they didn’t exist? It must be true because everyday I feel like I am using a device some rocket scientist went into the future, stole and brought back with him.

So here are my thoughts on the iPhone as I know it and not in any particular order…

All iPhones Rock: Any iPhone is amazing, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 1st, 2nd or 3rd generation.

Battery Life: For all of you whiners out there who are complaining about not getting through the entire day without a battery top up! Get real, you ask your iPhone to connect via WiFi, BlueTooth, GPS and sometimes all at the same time. You have the screen on and turned up full most of the time and the thing is getting used like no other device you own. You’re pushing email, contacts, calendars, SMS, downloading applications, photos music, video and YouTube! You’re Facebooking, WordPressing and iChatting. And if that weren’t enough your even phoning people! Try that on a regular phone and see how long your battery lasts, remember an iPhone is more like a mini computer that fits into your pocket, what would happen if you carted your laptop around all day and used it to the extent that an iPhone gets used, dead after 3 to 4 hours I would say… Read the rest of this entry »

I bit ago I wrote a quick post about why I wasn’t so sure about getting the new 3G iPhone here in Canada as I have been using a hacked 2G US model for some time and all I was really missing was a data plan.

Well lots has changed since the last post… Rogers caved-in to some degree and is now offering iPhones on your old plan available at the subsidized pricing but you have to renew with a three year contract, I have even heard that some people are able to get iPhones at the $199 and $299 pricing without even getting a data plan? Rogers has also introduced a limited time offer 6GB for $30 per month data plan available for most Smart Phones including the iPhone.

So what does that mean to me? I’m sticking with my old 2G iPhone and grabbing the new 6GB data plan!! Ya I know I won’t have the built in GPS ( I already have a great turn by turn Magellan GPS in the car). And ya I know I’ll be waiting for my web pages to load up with my slow Edge based data connection. The truth is I  really am not using my data as much as I thought I would, in the past 20 days I have only used just over 20MB of data. part of this is because I was in California for four days doing the Mac Video Training Tour. I guess I must do the bulk of my iPhone browsing from home based WiFi? Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a bit of a marathon couple of weeks and I am just getting caught up. I wanted to post some updates while on the MVT Road Show but it turned out to be some very long days usually ending with getting into the hotel late and crashing.

The MVT Road Show was well worth it in the end, we met with around 20 Mac Dealers, most of them where very interested in our Quick Start Your Mac Training Video. Paul and I even managed to sell a bunch of our courses and offset most our trip costs. It’s was really great going and seeing all of these amazing people and their Mac based businesses.

Now for some of the highlights…

Day 2 we went made our way to Cupertino and of course we had to stop in at  the Apple Mothership.

Read the rest of this entry »

We made it to San Francisco and I have the photos to prove it. It was a bit of a marathon day getting up really early, the traveling and getting a few store visits in before the business day ended. We even found some time to make a stop in at the San-Fran Apple Store…

The Mac Video Training Website went live today! Still some minor changed to make but for the most part it’s a go.

I am about to embark on a 4 day roadshow tour with my business partner Paul. We are starting with San Francisco, traveling to Los Angeles and ending with San Diego. The purpose for this trip is to promote our new Quick Start Your Mac video training course to the people of America (If you come - they will buy it - or something like that??) We have a very busy four days ahead of us with plans to visit some 20+ retail Apple locations.

Time permitting we will try to post an update with some photos of our journeys…

I haven’t really said too much about the new 3G iPhones coming out in a few days from now (July 11th). Originally I was very excited about the thought of being able to legitimately purchase and use an iPhone in Canada (along with 21 other countries) on July 11th. Unfortunately I live in Canada where we have the absolute worst Cell and Data plans in the world (Thanks Rogers/Fido!), I won’t go into the details, it’s much too depressing. In short the top end $115 plan doesn’t even get you unlimited data or even Call Display and all plans lock you into a 3 year term.

So I thought I already have an iPhone so maybe I could get onto the iPhone plan in Canada without the 3 year term in case I didn’t like it, no can do! If I want to get on the iPhone plan I have to sign a three year contract even if I don’t want the new 3G iPhone. No way I say!

Lucky for me Rogers recently announced some raw Data plans that are not too over the top compared to what we here in Canada are used to. I am trying out a 300MB for $30 plan that I simply add to my existing voice plan and I don’t have to lock into a 3 year contract. My only concern was that Rogers would pull the “Sorry your phone is not supported” card out and in the end my $30 data plan would not cover the data my non-supported iPhone used costing me 8 bazillion dollars for data. I have been monitoring my usage and I will have no problem keeping to under the 300MB cap (Going from non data to 300MB is easy to keep a leash on). I have had to pull a few teeth over at Rogers in order to find out if I am actually getting charged for my iPhone Data usage and it looks like my $30 plan is in fact working with my iPhone. For the record Rogers policy is you have to wait till the end of your billing cycle to find out how much data you have used and what you are getting charged for, that’s very convenient for them but not for us… I will keep you posted on how this plan works in the long run, I really hope Rogers makes some amendments to their iPhone plan so more people can get on board the Apple Train.

Here are some relevant links:

• Rogers iPhone Plans
• Canadian iPhone 3G plans lack unlimited data
• Early iPhone adopter on fence about new one
• www.ruinediphone.com