But the foundation, like everybody and his brother, couldn't resist looking for a piece of the iPhone action. It used the launch as an opportunity to preach the merits of its new license and raise the specter that Apple's iPhone will violate it.
"We know that Apple has built its operating system, OS X, and its Web browser, Safari, using GPL-covered work--it will be interesting to see to what extent the iPhone uses GPLed software," said Peter Brown, executive director of the foundation, in a statement on Thursday.
That sounded a little vague, so I asked the foundation for some follow-up. Joshua Gay said he doesn't know what software is in the iPhone, but said, "If it's true that Apple can upgrade the software on the phone, but users can't, then distributing GPL 3 software on the iPhone would be a violation of the license."
Even if the iPhone uses GPL software, it's not clear whether Apple will employ GPL 3 versions of it at some point. What is clear is the foundation's loathing for what the iPhone represents.
Free software--that which grants anyone the freedom to see, modify and redistribute its underlying source code--is "radically reshaping the industry and threatening the proprietary technology model represented by the iPhone," the foundation said. On Friday, "Steve Jobs and Apple release a product crippled with proprietary software and digital restrictions: crippled, because a device that isn't under the control of its owner works against the interests of its owner."
Specifically, the foundation decries what it calls "TiVo-ization"--the incorporation of GPL software into a device, such as a TiVo's personal video recorder, that stops working if its software is modified.
The GPL 3 attempts to block such behavior, though Linus Torvalds, leader of the Linux kernel project, objects to it vehemently as overreaching.
I managed to get two iPhones after a 1 1/2 hour wait in line at an Apple store. Although normally waiting in line for anything drive me a little batty, this line was actually fun because of the festive mood of all the people in line.
Although they were all strangers, we shared a common enthusiasm for all things Apple. I'd bought work stuff to go through while in line, and ended up talking to folks for all the time in line.
It was almost sad to say goodbye, when each of us finally arrived at the Apple counter to select and pay for our iPhones.
I asked the rep if he was selling many 4 Gigabyte models that were a $100 cheaper than the $599, 8 Gigabyte models. He said barely anyone was ordering the 4 Gig models.
No Apple accessories were available for the iPhone, except for extra chargers and cables. The store didn't have the Apple-designed bluetooth headphone. But there were plenty of third party iPhone accessories to choose from, including bluetooth headphones, cases, and car chargers.
The lines were very well organized inside the stores, and moved pretty quickly.
The Apple folks had done a great job organizing the whole thing. The lines were orderly, and Apple employees came out regularly, even to the very end of a very long, snaking line, to give updates on the process, and provide tacit assurances that they had enough iPhones for everybody.
They even had an Apple cart with Starbucks coffee,and another with Smart-brand bottles of water for everyone.
It was a party.
Coming home and activating the phones was another story.
As widely reported, the iPhones don't do anything until activated via AT&T/Cingular, other than allow you to make an emergency call.
After entering my info for each phone, I got a screen saying "AT&T is activating your iPhone, the process could take up to 3 minutes".
Then in each case, I got a web page saying that the activation would take more time, and that AT&T would email me when the activation was complete.
I got an email two hours later informing me that my wife's iPhone was activated.
It's now over 8 hours on the other phone, and still haven't received an activation email on mine.
Online forums say that AT&T was "surprised" by the wave of activations, and overwhelmed. Waits of up to 24 hours are being suggested by AT&T reps when you get them on the phone.
The toll-free support lines at AT&T are being picked up within a few minutes. The operators are friendly and apologetic enough for the delays, so that's a good thing.
All in all, the experience was about what one might expect, given the deluge of first-day orders and activations.
If you haven't gotten yours, would recommend going tomorrow to an Apple store rather than an AT&T store, if possible. Number of folks in my line yesterday had anecdotal reports that the AT&T stores were running out of the 8 Gigabyte models.
The Apple store seemed to have a good supply of both.
Happy hunting, and a great fourth of July weekend to you all.
UPDATE: My iPhone finally got activated via AT&T about 9 hours after data submission.
Today's the day you'll finally be able to plunk down way too much cash for a cell phone with an Apple logo on it. I'm doing what I can to resist the urge to call it iDay . . .
I've been holding off doing a full swan dive into the iPhone swimming pool, but I don't think I can avoid taking the plunge any longer. When there's this much rumor, innuendo and raw, raucous hype about something this geeky, there's only one thing to do . . .
In case you missed all the media hoopla and long lines outside your local Apple or AT&T Store, the iPhone is now shipping. It looks like everybody who waited in line got one, and there were a few left over after that. Initial reports are mainly positive, with some common negatives.
The positives:
Touchscreen interface is everything it promised to be
Activation is quick and easy (for most users) via iTunes; you choose your AT&T plan directly from the iTunes interface
Voice quality appears to be good
The web browser is terrific -- with one qualification (in a minute...)
The screen is also great for viewing movies.
The auto-swivel feature works quite well, reorienting the screen when you turn the unit in your hand.
The 2 megapixel camera is pretty good for a phone
It's a great iPod music player, except for the storage limitations
The negatives:
Web browsing and email via AT&T's EDGE network is slower than slow -- several minutes to retrieve a message or load a web page. Intolerable, especially for device that has souch a great web browsing interface.
The touchscreen keyboard is difficult to type on at best, impossible at worst. This is not a phone for heavy instant messagers or emailers.
No connection to corporate email servers means you can't use it for work email, as you can a Blackberry. Which is why most corporate IT departments are saying "no" to the iPhone.
The lack of MMS messaging means that you can't send the photos you take via text messages. (You can send via email, however, but not to another user's cell phone via text.)
Lack of stereo Bluetooth means you can't use Bluetooth headphones -- although you can use Bluetooth mobile headsets, like the Jabra.
You only get 4GB or 8GB of storage (actually 3GB and 7GB, after you account for operating system software), which isn't enough to store a lot videos or big music libraries.
There's no voice activated dialing, which is baffling in a phone of this overall caliber.
In spite of previous reports (wishes?) to the contrary, you buy the iPhone, you're locked into a 2-year AT&T service plan.
AT&T sucks, of course.
It costs freakin' $600!
My advice? Unless you absolutely, positively have to have the latest and greatest, don't buy a first-generation iPhone. Wait for the second-generation model, probably in January, which should fix most of the negative issues. (There will be lots of negative press in the days and weeks to come; people will have buyer's remorse.)
There is a very nice posting on the iPhone at RoughlyDrafted, taking a thoughtful look at all the coverage, and pointing out double standards in many of the negative commentators who are putting down the iPhone for not being "enterprise ready".
Back in January, I wrote a summary of thoughts on the iPhone from the perspective of typical product development practices. That post got a lot of traffic, it seemed to be very popular in Germany, where there is a great tradition of quality product design (I can't think of a German designed product that isn't well engineered).
Overall, with the additional advance information that has been released so far I don't think I was too far off the mark. I did expect that support for Adobe Flash and Java would be included, but they both appear to be missing. This is going to be the biggest pain, as there are a lot of web sites that use Flash or Java applets. Given time I expect these issues will be addressed.
I talked about Minimum Marketable Features (MMF) which are described in a book called Software by Numbers, written by my good friend Mark Denne. Its a philosophy of development that optimizes product features by releases over time. Many of the iPhone's shortcomings are explained by an initial focus on the needs of people who have never used a "smartphone" before, (rather than a focus on the business market) and a close integration with other Apple products that support an "insanely great" combination of product features.
For integration with non-Apple products, there is a two pronged strategy. One is to provide basic file viewers for Microsoft Word and Excel documents that are common email attachments. The other approach is to leverage Google's web based application suite within the Safari browser, which now includes Word, Excel and Powerpoint, Gmail etc, and also integrate with the Google maps application on the iPhone itself.
For the question of whether the iPhone can be used in corporate environments, there are two issues - virtual private network (VPN) access to get at internal web sites, and email integration with Microsoft Exchange. There have been some hints that the standard MacOSX VPN functionality is included, and Apple states that syncing is supported with Outlook/Entourage contacts and calendars. For actual Exchange email access, the Exchange server would have to support IMAP or POP (most aren't setup this way) or the Outlook Web Access client could be used in the Safari browser on the iPhone.
Safari is key. It is not only the way to manipulate documents and corporate email, its also the designated "API" for new iPhone applications to be developed. Apple stated that Safari will have access to many of the internal functions of the iPhone, so that the primary programming language for developers becomes Javascript. For all the people with existing mobile applications this is a pain, as they want to have J2ME to get them ported quickly. However, the iPhone is a huge leap forward in user interfaces, and to provide the consistent look and feel that magnifies the ease of use, Apple are enforcing Safari as the only framework for extending the iPhone. This makes perfect sense as a product strategy. It has upset many developers, but the laser-like focus on ease of use greatly increases the iPhone's perceived value and total addressable market. More users will be willing to pay more, increasing Apple's sales. Later on, perhaps Apple will focus more on the "traditional" smartphone market, but for now they are simply going to redefine what that market is.
How many people have both iPods and cellphones in their pockets? This fall, how many students will turn up at college with an iPhone in their pocket?
My work machines are a MacBook Pro and a Blackberry. I'm building the homebrew myPhone design (more on that later), but I think I'm getting tempted by the user interface, I want an iPhone....
AT&T is the exclusive iPhone carrier for the United States, which means you can expect every AT&T store in the country to overflow with customers at 6:00 PM local time on June 29. Demand is expected to be so high that AT&T stores reportedly will close shop for about two hours before the 6:00 PM launch, installing iPhone displays and roped queues to handle the anticipated lines. But earnings simply from retailing the iPhone won?t be AT&T?s biggest boon from its Apple partnership. Anyone wishing to be an iPhone-owner has to sign a two-year AT&T service contract, which means the telco could steal millions of customers from rivals like Verizon, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile.
AT&T chief executive Randall Stephenson said today that about 40 percent of people who showed an early interest in the iPhone are not AT&T wireless customers ? a strong indication the ?ultimate digital device? will help the company pull customers away from rivals. If Steve Jobs is proved correct in his forecast of 10 million handsets sold worldwide by the end of next year, that could mean an additional 3 million customers for AT&T.
But it?s not clear sailing for AT&T or Apple. The iPhone will operate on AT&T?s EDGE network, one generation behind the latest data networks, which means Web pages will take longer to download on the iPhone than other devices operating operating on competitors? third-generation networks. And there?s plenty of direct competition among super-smart handsets ? Dan Frommer at Forbes put together a thorough list of nine iPhone alternatives, and points out that every major cellular company is poised to offer a direct iPhone competitor:
Don?t write eulogies for the other cellular companies yet. The iPhone is a threat to the wireless industry, but it?s also helped convince millions that spending $500 or more on a cellphone, and another $40 per month for a wireless data plan, is completely within reason. Each competing carrier and handset company has juiced up its product line, marketing one or more new, high-end smart phones that mix phone calls, the Internet and multimedia capabilities like music and video players.
One point remains firmly in place, however: the iPhone is definitely the sexiest phone of the lot. But it?s still in the air whether that chic styling and all the media hype can overcome a slower network, unfamiliar interface, and nine competing products. Stay tuned.
(Image of AT&T at Apple iPhone Presentation by Kainita)
Many Web sites offer a resource library for visitors?an area filled with articles covering relevant topics to the industry with which the site is connected. The articles may cover how to do something, or they may define an aspect of the industry, but they do not usually directly sell the company's products or services.
Benefits of a Resource Library
While it's true that a resource library, on the surface, exists to benefit site visitors, it doesn't end there; it also provides benefits that can have a direct impact on any business.
First, they spread goodwill among a business's prospect base?and its non-prospect base. Visitors see the site as offering free information about important subject matter, and that makes it a more attractive site to return to in the future, when a purchase will be made or a service established.
Second, with a solid resource library, the site puts itself in a great position to organically attract important inbound links. Outside sites will notice the offerings of important and unbiased information and link to individual articles or to the resource library as a whole?boosting traffic and rankings overall.
Third, if the articles in the section are optimized properly, they will also boost rankings for popular and competitive keyphrases, driving additional targeted traffic to the site. The traffic may enter the site at the articles, but visitors are then likely to click for further information about the site itself.
A Common Objection
The most common objection a search engine optimization company hears when recommending that a site add a resource library is "I want to sell my product, not educate." However, that is shortsighted.
It is important to reach buyers at all stages of the sales cycle. For example, if someone is just starting to investigate a product or service, a site with an appropriate informational article will reach him or her at this critical early stage. The prospect will then likely remember the experience when he or she is ready to buy and will return to the site.
In addition, a site with a resource library can help a salesperson save valuable time. With quality articles freely available on the site, the salesperson will no longer need to take the time to explain the basics to a prospect?the site will have already taken care of that. Instead, the salesperson can focus on speaking to the people who are ready to make a purchase.
Examples of Successful Resource Libraries
Several sites serve as great examples of this approach. Let's look at three of them?Bed Bath & Beyond; Lowe's; and Step Two Designs (an Australian consulting firm).
Bed Bath & Beyond opens its resource library with a friendly "Need help shopping?" and follows it up by telling visitors that they can "browse through the sections below for helpful shopping hints on a variety of topics." There is no mention of specific sales at any point on this page.
Taking a deeper look, one will find that the targeted phrase "window treatments" brings up Bed Bath & Beyond's guide on the subject on the first page of Google. This phrase has the impressive monthly search estimate (using data from WordTracker) of 55,304. Note that this page, which is an unbiased article offering tips on choosing different types of window treatments?and not a retail sales page?is what achieves the rankings.
Home-improvement chain Lowe's actually has several resource libraries on its site, from buying guides to an extensive how-to library. Its buying guide page notes, "Work Smarter: We'll help you find the right equipment and tools you need for all of your projects." And the company's article on choosing floor tiles appears on the first page of Google for the targeted phrase "tile floor," which has a monthly search estimate of 2,046. Again, it's an informational page, and not a product page, that gets the great rankings.
Both of the above examples are great, but you don't need to be selling a product online?or even in the retail business at all?to use a resource library to your benefit. Step Two Designs is a consulting firm that offers a resource library of whitepapers on its site. Its "How to Evaluate a Content Management System" article, for example, establishes its usefulness right at the top, stating that "No vendors or products are mentioned in this article: this is not a survey of current commercial solutions. Instead, it provides tools to assist you to conduct a review of suitable products."
This article appears on the first page of Google for the targeted phrase "content management systems," which has a monthly search estimate of 2,356. While this may be a lower number than the Bed Bath & Beyond example, a consulting firm's average sale will likely be greater than that of a single purchase from a retail outlet, and so these visitors are potentially more valuable. Even in this type of business, a resource library will quickly prove its value.
Conclusion
Resource libraries clearly offer something of value for everyone involved. Prospects appreciate their existence, search engines reward sites that have them, and salespeople are relieved of the burden of explaining basic concepts to early prospects.
You can create your articles in-house or, if you're not sure where to start, hire a search engine optimization company to help you with everything from idea generation to writing. In either case, with just a little bit of effort, your site can realize the benefits of establishing this type of section.
But one does need to get mentally ready for the financial commitment involved here.
Here's the low-down:
"Pricing & Availability iPhone goes on sale at 6:00 p.m. (local time) on Friday, June 29 and will be sold in the US through Apple?s retail and online stores and AT&T retail stores.
iPhone will be available in a 4GB model for $499 (US) and an 8GB model for $599 (US), and will work with either a PC or Mac®.
All iPhone monthly service plans are available for individuals and families and are based on a new two-year service agreement with AT&T. Individual plans are priced at $59.99 for 450 minutes, $79.99 for 900 minutes and $99.99 for 1,350 minutes.
All plans include unlimited data (email and web), Visual Voicemail, 200 SMS text messages, roll over minutes and unlimited mobile-to-mobile and a one-time activation fee of $36. Family plans are also available."
Key takeaways:
1. Apple is emphasizing unlimited data on all three plans, highlighting the web browsing functionality of the iPhone. That despite the slower EDGE data network on AT&T/Cingular vs. the EVDO networks of Verizon and Sprint.
2. A one-year AT&T contract doesn't seem to be an option. It's two-years or nothing. So above the $500 or $600 the user pays for a 4Gb or an 8GB model, s/he is committing anything $1440, $1920, or $2400 for the two years.
That's before any accessories and doo-dads one gets for the new gadget.
3. Can't use the new gadget as just a new version of the video iPod. The jkOnTheRun puts it:
"...you'll need to re-up for a new two-year contract to "activate iPhone features, including iPod functions".
And for the top-tier $100 plan? You don't get unlimited voice or SMS text messages. What a deal. The only saving grace of the whole thing?
You don't need to deal with a human being to activate the thing. The gadget can be activated entirely through one's Mac or PC, via iTunes.
But if you absolutely MUST have the thing in your hands on Friday, you'd better get in line. Gizmodo reports the lines are already starting to form at the Apple stores.
Wonder how long Apple will wait before unveiling new video iPod models with the screen and touch features of the iPhone sans the phone features.
I'll start the pool with a guess of three months, with a new line-up in time for the holiday season. Any other takers?
The line for the iPhone stretches over to Powell Street, one of the routes taken by San Francisco's iconic cable cars.
(Credit: Tom Krazit/CNET News.com)
It's officially happy hour in San Francisco, and as busy commuters make their way home through the Stockton Street area, hundreds are lined up for Apple's iPhone.
The line at the Apple store has now moved around the block and over onto Powell Street, while the lines at the AT&T stores are building as well. There are hundreds in line at the Apple store, while there are about 50 people in line at the AT&T store at Fremont and Market, with about 75 in line at the store a few blocks away at Third and Market.
They're in a celebratory mood at the AT&T store on Third and Market. One gentleman, an intern at a local financial services company he preferred not to name, was standing in line at the request of his bosses. He said the experience had been a lot of fun, especially because he was adjacent to another gentleman who had managed to acquire a number of adult beverages for the front of the line.
Local gadfly Frank Chu is trying to warn iPhone waiters about the control exerted on our lives by the now-800 galaxies.
(Credit: Tom Krazit/CNET News.com)
Back over at the Apple store, local psuedo-celebrities such as Frank Chu basked in the crowds, who were getting antsy as 6 p.m. loomed. No one knows exactly how many iPhones Apple will have available, which concerns some at the back of the line who have been waiting for hours.
Still, everyone was peaceful as they lined up in front of the blackened windows of the Apple store. It doesn't appear that CEO Steve Jobs made an appearance at the Fifth Avenue store, but Apple is planning to let reporters inside the San Francisco store to witness the action, so perhaps there's something planned. Stay tuned.
The most eagerly awaited cell phone ever is upon us Friday. Should you resist the iPhone's breathless hype, or take the plunge? Unless you're already standing in line outside an Apple or AT&T store, or are prepared to mug one of the first customers to come out after the 6 p.m. launch, the answer, at least for now, will have to be "let me think about it for a week or two." The level of hype and demand for Apple Inc.'s phone is reminiscent of the debut of the PlayStation 3 game console in November, when minor riots broke out at some electronics stores. However, eBay prices for resold PS3s quickly fell, and two months later the console was in ample supply.
Apparently, much of the initial demand came from people who weren't really interested in getting them for themselves, but counted on being able to sell them to people who were.
It's quite possible that the iPhone will be subject to the same demand bubble. Check with the stores a month from now: If they have iPhones in stock, the bloom may be off the rose.
Hype aside, the iPhone is a radical design, a sliver of a device with a 3.5-inch glass screen and very few buttons. The iPhone differs by being designed to be touched with the fingertips rather than a stylus, making it a greater departure from the PC experience. (There have been several expensive phones with large touch screens before, generally using Windows Mobile software.)
The iPhone does e-mail, Web browsing, music and videos. It comes in two models ? $499 for a 4-gigabyte version and $599 for 8 gigabytes of memory ? and requires a two-year contract with AT&T Inc.
That's the basics. Here's a breakdown of who might want to consider an iPhone and who shouldn't:
? The music listener ? Possibly. The big screen will make it easy to navigate a large music collection. A feature called Cover Flow shows your album covers like they're pages of an open book. However, the storage capacity is smaller than today's full-size iPods. The 4-gigabyte version fits about 800 songs, the 8-gigabyte version 1,800. The memory is not upgradable or expandable with external cards, so the 8-gig version is probably the one to get. Apple puts the battery life at 24 hours of audio playback, which is good.
? The video watcher ? Sure, get one. The screen is twice as large as that of the video iPod, and the resolution, at 320 pixels by 480 pixels, is twice as high. The smaller memory capacity is going to mean frequent syncing with a computer, but the bigger screen will make it worth it. Definitely get the 8-gigabyte version, which will fit about 9 hours of video if that's all you keep on the gadget.
The iPhone also can access some YouTube videos, but since it relies on a relatively slow data network, access could be spotty, unless you're using its other built-in wireless technology: Wi-Fi. Other Web video will mostly be inaccessible, since the browser doesn't play Flash content, but that may change.
? The phone chatter ? Maybe, but using it mainly as a phone seems like a waste. You can't type in names to quickly bring up someone from the contact list. Voicemail is listed with the caller's name or number, sort of like e-mail. In another neat feature, a sensor turns off the screen when you bring the phone to your face.
The cheapest service plan costs $60 a month for 450 daytime minutes ? relatively expensive, since you're paying for unlimited data use. Getting 1,350 minutes costs $100 a month.
? The gamer ? No. The iPhone does everything except games. A pity, with that nice big screen. Third-party developers might put something clever together that works in the iPhone's browser, but it's going to be limited. You probably have a Sony PSP or Nintendo DS already, and the PSP, in particular, already has the big screen and some of the iPhone's multimedia functions, so you can complement it with a cheaper phone.
? The corporate road warrior ? No. For professional use, you're probably stuck with what the company supports, and for now, that's going to be BlackBerries and Windows Mobile devices like the Samsung BlackJack. Corporate Microsoft Exchange e-mail servers can be configured to send e-mail to the iPhone, but many companies will not take this step. Other features of Exchange, like contact and calendar syncing, are not available.
One possible solution is to forward corporate e-mail to free Web-based e-mail accounts that the iPhone can access, but that raises security issues.
If you're looking for some entertainment from your work phone, Windows Mobile phones like the T-Mobile Wing are already quite capable. A recently released BlackBerry, the Curve, plays music through a standard stereo headphone jack and has a built-in camera.
? The frugal buyer ? No, the first-generation iPhone is likely to be followed by something substantially better, like one that uses a faster cellular broadband network and has more memory. It's unlikely that the first iPhone will be upgradable, and in any case, it would require a trip back to Apple.
? The photo buff ? Not likely. The iPhone has a 2-megapixel camera, which is decent, and the large screen should make the results easy to appreciate. But phones dedicated to camera buffs also record video and have higher resolutions. The new Nokia N95 has a 5-megapixel sensor and a lens from Germany's famous Carl Zeiss. Unfortunately, it sells for $750, since it isn't subsidized by any U.S. carrier.
? The world traveler ? Possibly, but it's not ideal. The iPhone will work overseas, but only at AT&T's roaming rates. Better to have a world phone that has been "unlocked" by the carrier, so you have the option to use a local number and pay local rates.
? The fashionista ? Sure. The iPhone is one of the best-looking phones ever. The screen is glass, not plastic, and should be fairly resistant to long fingernails. Goodbye, pink RAZR.
There's nothing like a little hard-won experience. Personal finance expert Lynnette Khalfani got out of $100,000 in credit-card debt in three years. Now the author of books like "Zero Debt: The Ultimate Guide to Financial Freedom," she writes and speaks about how others can follow her example. BusinessWeek's Ben Steverman recently spoke to Khalfani about the "bling-bling lifestyle" that leads young people to borrow more than they can handle, her own experiences with heavy debt, and her strategies to help people get out from under.
Why do Americans end up in so much debt?
There are two primary ways. One is through overspending and poor money management. No one really teaches us about financial literacy in this country. A lot of folks learn through trial and error and the school of hard knocks. What they learn from their parents tends to be wrong-headed. It's easy to get caught up in that spiral of debt.
The other is when people fall victim to circumstances. I call them the six Ds: downsizing, divorce, death in the family of the main breadwinner, disability, disease, or disaster. Whatever your personal disaster, if you're not financially prepared, you can find yourself deep in debt.
How did you end up with $100,000 in credit-card debt?
I was overspending. I was earning a six figure-salary, but I was spending as if I earned seven figures. I bought time-shares in the Caribbean, not one but two. I had my kids in a very expensive private school. I would buy gifts for the family and treat my girlfriends when I went out for dinner.
You paid that off in three years. When did you decide to start doing that?
I was fed up. I was maxed out on all my credit cards. I said to myself: "This is ridiculous." I was actually doing a lot of things correctly with my money. I was socking away money in my 401(k). I was saving for my kids' college education. I had life insurance. I had disability protection. I created a will. But when it came to my spending, it was out of control.
Does getting out of debt require a big attitude shift?
Yes. We all get caught up in this consumer-driven culture. I call it the "bling-bling lifestyle." Especially when you're young, there's this push that makes you want to keep up with the Joneses. You want to demonstrate that you're successful, that you've made it.
You have to make the mental shift: No, things are not going to make me happier. What's going to make me happier is not being stressed out about money.
So it's not that young people are necessarily in debt because they're poor. Many young people start making some money, and only then they start overspending in a big way.
When you're still in school, everybody's bumming it. You're wearing the sweatshirts and jeans.
When you start working, appearances have to be kept up. You want to dress the part at work. You don't want to say you live in an apartment with four people. Once you start out on your own, you want to prove you're an adult. Young people tend to want to maintain the lifestyle they grew up with. But you're just starting out. You don't have that kind of money.
There are two classic mistakes that recent college graduates make: They underestimate how much everything is going to cost: Rent and food, car, re expenses, clothing, connection for utilities, furniture. Everything costs way more than you thought it would starting out. Compounding that situation, most people earn less than they think they will. Even if six-figure salaries are the norm in your career, don't think you're going to make that.
So how did you start paying off your debt?
You kind of get to a point where you think there's got to be a better way. One of the decisions I made was that I was going to stop the travel. And I love to travel.
I shifted my mindset. I don't have to have the latest and greatest clothes to wear. I don't have to be the person who plops down the Visa and American Express whenever we go out. I started taking windfalls that I received and throwing them toward credit-card debt.
I negotiated a lot with my creditors to help make the debt more manageable. I had more than a dozen cards, but because I hadn't missed any payments, I had some leverage with those creditors. Credit-card companies know it's a competitive market. That gives all of us some negotiating power.
So what kind of advice do you give in your books to people trying to get out of debt?
I suggest you attack your own area of pain. Whatever is bothering you, that's where you get most aggressive about paying off your debt. Some people are frustrated that they have enormous amounts of debt. But sometimes having multiple credit cards can also be stressful even if you don't have high dollar balances. It becomes an immense juggling act. You have to remember to pay everybody. This is a paperwork nightmare.
Opt out of getting all those credit-card offers. When you're deep in debt, that's extra temptation you don't need. Make a personal commitment to stop digging. This is about you recognizing you have a problem.
In your latest book, Zero Debt for College Grads, you take on the topic of student loan debt. You at one time had $40,000 in student loans. When is it worth going into debt to pay for education?
One mistake is taking on loans too quickly without exhausting all other financial alternatives. Student loans are the path of least resistance. Exhaust every other way to finance a college education -- scholarships, grants, work study, paid internships, and then, of course, contributions directly from the student and his or her family. And doing these things can't just be a one-time effort. Get your hustle on. Otherwise you're really going to pay the price later.
Also, make sure your borrowing bears some semblance to what your income is going to be. When you borrow at excessive levels that bear no sense of reality, then no, it's not worth it. Those student loan payments are going to be killing you.
How important is it for young people to keep an eye on their credit scores?
Most people who are in college think the most important number is their GPA. It's not. The single most important barometer of their financial health is their credit score. It impacts you in ways large and small.
You save a tremendous amount of money simply by having good credit. You can save hundreds of thousands of dollars on mortgages, auto loans, student loans, and even things like life insurance rates. You should just jealously guard your credit rating.
Many employers are looking at your credit rating to decide how responsible you are as a person. Right or wrong, fair or not, the thinking is that if you honor your obligations, if you pay your bills on time, chances are you'll likewise be a good employee.
That was the easy part. But I should have realized that if the customer service whizzes at AT&T could find a way to mar what was otherwise a perfectly pleasant experience, it would. After nearly nine hours, AT&T has yet to activate my iPhone, and it can't be used until then.
Buying the iPhone is easy, but AT&T activation isn't.
(Credit: Declan McCullagh/mccullagh.org)
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Earlier on Friday, I had taken photographs of the throngs gathered outside for the San Francisco Apple store at 6pm, and the far more sedate crowd outside the Market St. AT&T store, and then decided not to bother standing in line for an iPhone on Friday. I figured I'd read some more early reviews and then pick one up sometime in the next few days after the lines were shorter.
Then, around 11:30pm, I read our News.com article by my colleagues by Tom Krazit and Erica Ogg. They had stayed longer than I did and reported that: "Ninety minutes after Apple started ringing up sales of the iPhone at its 24-hour flagship store on 5th Avenue in New York, anyone could just walk into the store and pick up a device with a minimal wait."
Well, Apple stores were open until midnight, so why not? Around 11:40pm, I persuaded my wife to join me in a late-night dash to the Stockton Street store.
Yes, they had iPhones. Yes, the sales staff seemed exhausted after having to do crowd control earlier. Yes, there were still two San Francisco policemen standing guard outside, looking slightly bored by now. But there were only two people in line in front of me, including one desperate fellow who had driven far too fast from Marin County north of San Francisco to make the midnight deadline after finding that an Apple store up there had run out of 8 GB models.
So far, so good. When I got home, I plugged the phone into our media-server iMac and typed in my information in iTunes. I received an e-mail message at 12:10 am saying: "AT&T is now processing your activation. You will receive an email confirmation once your activation is complete." I had an existing AT&T account, so I figured that adding the $20/month iPhone wireless plan shouldn't take too long.
Then I waited. And waited. And waited.
It's now 9:06 am, and still no change. Against my better judgment, I even took the God-help-me step of phoning AT&T customer support, which is something you should never do unless you're absolutely desperate and learn that some malcontent is running up calls to Zambia on your mobile account, and probably not even then.
Mary-Kay eventually answered. "Unfortunately, sir, you do have to wait," she wearily replied, apparently sick of having to answer this question about once a minute since her shift began. "The iPhone will tell you when it is activated."
How long would this take, I asked. Five days? Two months? "I doubt that," Mary-Kay replied. "Believe you me, you're not the only one in those shoes. They did get jammed up last night. It's first-come first served."
I began to ask her if my existing Cingular phone would continue to work, but the line seemed to go dead. It could be my sucky VoIP service, or Mary-Kay could have simply hung up on me. I really wouldn't blame her for being sick of dealing with frustrated iPhone customers all day.
Now, I've been a computer programmer longer than I've been a journalist, and I find it hard to imagine any system that should take nearly nine hours to perform a database query, do a credit check, and whatever other black box magic is necessary to make this thing work. It's even less likely that the system should this long in the middle of the night after the east coast iPhone binge-and-registration should, in theory, be complete. And I'm already an AT&T customer, even.
Any bets on how long it'll take AT&T to activate this guy's iPhone?
(Credit: Declan McCullagh/mccullagh.org)
Occam's razor suggests that the more likely explanation is that AT&T has such antiquated computers that some poor saps in another secret AT&T division somewhere are keystroking in my account update by hand. Seriously. We may never know, but I can believe it.
I'm hardly alone. Some reports indicate AT&T activation is a recurring problem. One local Fox news channel article is titled "iPhone debuts with big headaches." A LiveJournal user entry buttresses my theory by reporting that the AT&T "transfer team" gets in to work at 9 am PT.
There's speculation that existing AT&T SIM cards may work with the iPhone, but I haven't tried that yet. Some posts in that thread are saying AT&T is telling customers they need to wait for 24 hours because of high volume. Some people are saying that their existing AT&T phones become unusable during the transition, though that hasn't happened to me so far.
It's important to stress that the iPhone can't be used for anything useful, not even playing music or movies, until activation happens.
The bottom line? Apple did everything it could to ensure that buying and setting up (and presumably using, though I can't attest to that yet) an iPhone is a pleasant experience. It succeeded magnificently.
But its key business partner, AT&T, has failed just as miserably. Computer companies know how to load-test server to figure out how it will respond under unusually high demand for its services. Why didn't AT&T do the same for its iPhone activation?
Brandon Saunders, 16, had been saving his allowance and birthday money for months to get one of Apple Inc.'s coveted iPhones. He waited in line with his 70-year-old grandmother for about eight hours Friday in front of a San Antonio AT&T store and left sunburned but grinning, shopping bag in hand.
"It's worth it," he said. "It's like Christmas in June."
The teen was among the first to get his hands on the coveted gadget from Apple, joining throngs destined to become braggarts of and guinea pigs for the latest must-have, cutting-edge piece of techno-wizardry.
Apple is banking that its new, do-everything phone with a touch-sensitive screen will become its third core business next to its moneymaking iPod music players and Macintosh computers.
The doors of East Coast Apple and AT&T stores opened promptly at 6 p.m. EDT with cheers from employees and eager customers. Stores farther west followed suit as the clock struck 6 in each time zone. In San Francisco, customers sang "Auld Lang Syne" following a countdown, as if heralding a new era in telecommunications.
Patrons at the Apple store in Palo Alto were treated to a very brief appearance by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. He momentarily posed for pictures before leaving.
"I'm glad it's over," said Carlos Sanchez, 19, at Apple's Fifth Avenue store in New York City, clutching shopping bags containing two iPhones ? the maximum allowed per person. "I don't have to sleep outside anymore."
Techies, exhibitionists and luminaries ? even the co-founder of Apple and the mayor of Philadelphia ? were among the inaugural group of iPhone customers.
The handset's price tag is $499 for a 4-gigabyte model and $599 for an 8-gigabyte version, on top of a minimum $59.99-a-month two-year service plan with AT&T Inc., the phone's exclusive carrier.
Because Apple designed a new way for customers to activate the cell phone service from AT&T, by logging onto Apple's iTunes software from their computers, many buyers headed straight home to christen the device.
In Newton, Mass., Khu Duong, 30, said he was excited but "afraid to open it. You want to sit down and relax."
Fellow customer Nick Seaver, 21, couldn't wait. He flipped open his Mac laptop right in the mall and paid $5 to use the wireless network and activate it. But because his current service contract with Verizon was set to expire the next day, Seaver got a computer message from iTunes he would have to wait 24 hours before his iPhone worked.
In Seattle, Paul Clark, a videographer, had his iPhone up and running in short order right outside the Apple store. He installed the required new version of iTunes, hooked up the cell phone to his Macbook, synchronized his phone contacts and calendar, and was soon off taking calls from clients, putting them on hold, checking his calendar, phoning his wife and responding to e-mails.
Scared about dropping the phone, Clark then darted back into the store to purchase a protective skin for the gadget.
Will all the waiting have been worth it? For many, it didn't seem to matter.
"I just love getting new stuff," said retiree Len Edgerly, who arrived at 3 a.m. Friday to be first in line outside an Apple store in Cambridge, Mass. "It's the best new thing that's come along in a long time. It's beautiful."
Even Steve Wozniak, the ex-partner of Jobs, showed up at a Silicon Valley mall at 4 a.m. aboard his Segway scooter. He helped keep order in the line outside the Apple store.
The other customers awarded the honorary first spot in line to Wozniak, who planned to buy two iPhones on Friday even though he remains an Apple employee and will get a free one from the company next month. He said the device would redefine cell phone design and use.
"Look how great the iPod turned out," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "So who wants to miss that revolution? That's why there's all this big hype for the iPhone."
Apple's media blitz wasn't without its glitches.
On NBC's "Today" show, co-host Meredith Vieira ran into problems trying to get the iPhone to work, laughing that "this is why gadgets drive me crazy."
With a team of Apple representatives hovering off-screen, Vieira was supposed to receive a call from co-host Matt Lauer in London. The iPhone ? billed by Apple as the most user-friendly smart phone ever ? displayed the incoming call, but she couldn't answer it.
Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris declined to comment.
The gadget, which Jobs has touted as "revolutionary," has been the focus of endless anticipatory chatter and has been parodied on late-night TV. Since its unveiling in January, expectations that it will become yet another blockbuster product for Apple has pushed the company's stock up more than 40 percent.
Apple itself has set a target of selling 10 million units worldwide by 2008, gaining roughly a 1 percent share of the cell phone market. It's expected to go on sale in Europe later this year and in Asia in 2008.
In addition to the cost of the phone, for those currently using another cellular provider, there's also the cost of switching carriers.
Some bullish Wall Street analysts have predicted sales could hit as high as 45 million units in two years.
"That's nuts," said Rob Enderle, an industry analyst with The Enderle Group. "Over-hyping this thing just puts it at risk of being seen as a failure.
"Apple will break (sales) records for a phone of this class," he said, "but selling tens of millions of units so quickly is going to be tough. First-generation products always have problems that you don't know about until the product ships."
More likely, Enderle and other analysts said, Apple will grow iPhone sales by refining its models and improving the software features ? much as it did with the iPod, which has fueled record profits for the company.
But unlike its foray into digital music players, Apple faces competition in cell phones from deep-pocketed, well-established giants, such as Nokia Corp. and Motorola Inc.
Apple has not disclosed how many iPhones were available at launch. But analysts expect it will sell out by early next week ? between sales rung up at retail stores and online through Apple's Web site, which has been a major distribution outlet for other Apple products.
WASHINGTON--In our nation's great capital, where line-standing is an occupation unto itself, I was halfway expecting to see hordes of seasoned lackeys holding spots for high-powered lobbyists during my Friday afternoon circuit of five downtown AT&T stores prepared to offer up the iPhone.
But alas, instead of the usual guys in bike messenger garb holding up cardboard signs bearing their clients' handwritten names, I was confronted with relatively short lines containing earnest Applephiles, many still donning their buttoned-up office attire and ID card lanyards (among those I spotted: U.S. Department of State, DC government). Many of those who actually agreed to talk to me (remember, this is a city where people like to avoid going "on the record" whenever possible) admitted to be line-standing newbies that had gone starry-eyed over the hype surrounding the sleek gadget.
And there wasn't much of Camp iPhone mentality around these parts, either: with only one exception--a guy who refused to be named at a New York Avenue AT&T store who showed up at 6:30 a.m.--none of the lines began forming before about noon on Friday.
Line leaders willing to share their stories pretty much fit the Apple fanboy/girl profile. At a store near Dupont Circle, a self-employed Web developer who lives nearby had been keeping an eye on the storefront throughout the morning and admitted to feeling a little sheepish about coming out first. "Every time they release a product, the lines get earlier and earlier," Jon Reiling told me. "I don't want to contribute to an excessive amount of waiting."
Undeterred by drizzle, about two dozen people lined up Friday afternoon outside Washington's Dupont Circle AT&T store.
(Credit: Anne Broache)
At an AT&T store in the city center, 22-year-old Jessica Lamb, who just started a job as an intelligence analyst with a federal law enforcement agency that shall not be named, said she couldn't wait to blow her first paycheck--which conveniently arrived today--on the $500+ gadget. "If Steve Jobs told me to give him my right arm, I would probably do it," she said gleefully. She had managed to snag the fourth spot in line even though she said she didn't cut out of work--with her boss's permission, of course--until about 1 p.m. Friday.
This AT&T store in central D.C. had a line around the block just before launch, but it didn't get started until lunchtime on Friday.
(Credit: Anne Broache)
At the five AT&T stores I visited downtown, the lines I encountered never numbered more than 50 or so people, even within a half hour of the launch. But the scene was more than a little different when I descended upon an Apple store in Arlington, Va. At least two hundred people, some with now-folded camp chairs slung on their shoulders, snaked from the store's entrance around the well-manicured outdoor shopping center in which it is situated. About 20 minutes before the store reopened its doors, at least half a dozen video cameras manned by local and international news outlets encircled the entrance.
Cheers and applause greet the opening of the doors at 6 p.m. EST at an Apple store in a Washington suburb.
(Credit: Anne Broache)
The final seconds to launch brought a chanted countdown from the front of the line and sporting event-like cheers of "i-Phone! i-Phone!" Within a few minutes of the doors' reopening, a silver-haired man named Stephen Easley--who did, in fact, set up camp outside the store at around 10 p.m. Thursday to be the first in line--emerged to cheers with a pair of iPhones nestled in special black shopping bags, which he displayed for the photographers.
A bit later, I crossed paths with someone who hadn't just staked out a spot because of unbridled Apple love. Glenn Sparico, an enterprising 25-year-old consultant with a finance degree, said he wasn't content to arrive at 9:30 a.m. Friday to procure his two-iPhone quota. He had also paid $50 each to two guys found through Craigslist. They'd ostensibly agreed to buy two apiece and fork them over to Sparico, leaving him with one to keep and five to list on eBay tonight.
"Tonight's going to be a free-for-all," he said with a grin. He glanced around, perhaps with a tinge of apprehension, to see if he could pick out his line-standers. But when I left him to his gadgets, there was no word yet on whether they had come through or, well, simply run off with the goods.
George Ou stirred up a lot of controversy over on ZDNet recently when he said something I've been thinking for years: who cares, in these days of cheap storage, if an application has "too many" features? You can read his opinion at http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=479.
Some folks said George's grocery store analogy wasn't valid; I disagree. Those who say they aren't having to pay for all the stuff in the grocery store don't understand how business works. Built into the price of those items that are bought frequently is overhead for the ones that sell less well or have lower margins, as well as the cost of housing all those items you never use.
For years and years and years, I went to the grocery store and never once bought Ambesol (toothache medicine). I could have called that whole section of the store "bloatware" -- but then one day I got a toothache and I was glad it was there. I didn't have to trek off to a different store to find it while I was in pain. Same way with some of the Office features. I might never use them -- until one day when I have a special case and I suddenly need that feature, and when I do, it'll probably be when I'm up against a deadline and it's really nice to have it right there and not have to go download/pay for a separate program to do what I need to do.
Bottom line: software customers don't realize how well off they are. If you pay for commercial software like Office, you get a lot for your money. If you don't want to pay, there are free options out there, like Open Office, that work pretty well. If you don't use all the programs, there are a number of editions to choose from that have fewer apps. If all you use are Word and Outlook, just buy those programs individually instead of the entire Office package. If you don't want all the features, you can do a custom installation and reduce what gets installed.
But when you talk about software "bloat," don't compare just the file sizes of today's programs with the file sizes of those fifteen years ago. Also compare the relative percentage of space today's program takes on a $300 hard disk, vs. the percentage that program of fifteen years ago took up on a hard disk that cost $300 back then. I think you'd find that today's programs, which give you so many more features and options and so much more functionality, aren't really bloated at all.
You've gotta be someone special to get an iPhone early. How special? You have to either be Walt Mossberg or David Pogue, of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times,
respectively. So while the rest of us writers wait like baby birds for
mommy to come back to the nest with a little bit of pre-chewed worm in
the form of a reviewable iPhone, we get to see what the big guns have
to say about the thing, officially and on the record. The verdict:
Since the discussions of Web 2.0 and SaaS at the Microsoft IT Pro Town Hall Meeting last week, I've been giving a lot of thought to the idea of Software as a Service and whether it will ever really catch on. The benefits for some business customers are obvious: a fixed monthly cost with no worries about software maintenance and upgrading sounds like a pretty good deal to company managers who are spending big bucks for productivity programs and the IT personnel to maintain them.
But don't expect those IT professionals themselves to get behind the idea anytime soon. If the reactions at the meeting were any indication, IT people see SaaS as a threat to their very existence - much the same way factory workers viewed automation a few decades ago (and those fears turned out to be pretty well founded).
Based on what I've heard from home users, they aren't too enthralled with the idea of paying a monthly or annual fee to lease their software, either. This is true even if you tell them it may cost them less and even though most of them know that they don't really "own" the software they buy anyway under current licensing agreements.
What it all boils down to, I think, is an issue of control. IT administrators are, by their very nature, control freaks. Tom and I certainly are. We could pay someone to host our web servers and our Exchange server and maybe we'd save a little money (and we'd almost certainly save a certain amount of hassle), but having those servers somewhere across the Internet and not under our control is not an attractive proposition. Being at the mercy of some stranger hundreds or thousands of miles away to fix things when there's a problem is more than a little scary. Trusting someone else with your web sites and your email isn't easy, not for us control freaks.
Of course, the SaaS concept will probably fly with a lot of people. Our society seems to be becoming more and more willing to give over control to big government, more eager to have someone else take care of us, less determined to take responsiblity for our own lives. Why not abdicate control of our software, too?
I don't expect to go easily into that good night myself, but I have to reluctantly admit that SaaS probably is what the future of computing looks like. 'Til then, a few diehards will continue to embrace the DIY philosophy.
Well, it's been over 24 hours that I've had a fully activated iPhone, and I'm really liking it a lot. This despite all the well-publicized quibbles (slower AT&T data network, no Java and Flash on browser, no movies with camera, no physical keyboard, no replaceable battery, non-expandable memory, etc.)
And despite the fact that AT&T/Cingular dropped the first call I got on the device.
Networks will be networks. What can you do?
I still get better coverage in my area on the AT&T/Cingular network, than on T-Mobile, which is the carrier for my Blackberry pearl, my OTHER back-up cell-phone. (Good rationalization, don't you think?)
At this point I'm going through the practical issues of how to integrate the thing in my daily routine. It's especially tricky for me since there doesn't seem to be an easy way, YET, to download my contact and calendar info from my Outlook over a Microsoft Exchange server.
Syncing Outlook data is no problem if you have a desktop version of your Outlook info.
I'm going to try and sort that out with my Exchange hosting service next week.
I'll post more on the whole iPhone experience after I've had it all set up and working.
I'm very cognizant that even with Outlook sync via Microsoft's Activesync, which Apple is supposed to be licensing imminently, the iPhone still won't deliver a Blackberry-like "push email" experience in the current version of the hardware and software.
And especially, no OTA (over-the-air) syncing of my contact, and calendar info for now.
But using the iPhone for the last day or so, I can totally see making this my primary phone/PDA once those features are available via Apple and/or third parties, in future versions.
It's the user-interface and experience going that's really captivating in the long-term. (Engadget has a good HD video walk-through of the complete interface here, and a user
AT&T is the exclusive iPhone carrier for the United States, which means you can expect every AT&T store in the country to overflow with customers at 6:00 PM local time on June 29. Demand is expected to be so high that AT&T stores 
