Focus is difficult.

But I see a great opportunity. BestBuy has the infrastructure in place be an acomadating host for visitors and a source of wisdom. BestBuy has the chance to be Sony’s focus. It could be HP’s, Dell’s, Asus’, Acer’s focus too. While we’re waiting for all those manufuactering companies to catch up with the world and focus, BestBuy could focus for them – for us.

BestBuy could discard their place as just another electronics retailer. They could assert there physical presence with supplemented experience with electronics and actually be helpful for regular people. Instead of having more, they could have less.

BestBuy has the chance be the arbiter and not just another conduit.

Pay for what you use. No penalties. No waste.

Select you plans based on how many minutes, text messages and megabytes you think you will use. That’s what we bill you. Next month you will be credited or charged the difference based on your actual usage. Watch a video to see how it works.

These plans are no-contract, so it’s monthly. So for someone who makes very few calls, no data but sends 2000 texts a month, this would be a great deal as it’s only $17. You can click on the price points for the usages and it’ll show you the cost + surcharges (tax). Data is a little expensive, and the irony in this is that some phones sold via Ting are 4G so your data will drain even faster, if your battery doesn’t first. Honestly, my 3G usage isn’t ever above 500 and rarely above 200 megabytes per month. In fact, in the last 30 days, I have used about 30 megabytes. And I’m a heavy user.

But I think the bigger story here is in the actual handsets. These are top-tier phones. Obviously, you have to pay the price of a contract phone so these aren’t exactly cheap. The Motorola Photon, announced last year at the same time as the Triumph, is their crown jewel. The phone is great, it has a nice screen, well reviewed stability, half way decent UI (blur) and probably other goodies. Oh, and it’s fast. So it’s worth it, right? But is it worth $545? Up-front and on the spot? I couldn’t afford a coffee this morning and I will not be able to afford a ~$600 when it’s a year old. Few people buy iPhones at the unlocked price, and this isn’t even an iPhone, it’s just a Photon, and those are bombarding me right now through the Mechanical Engineering windows. Anyway, Ting has less expensive while still impressive phones as well. Excluding the Photon, there are two other 4G options that will range from $300-$400 depending on the screen size and processing power you’re after, or if you prefer HTC to Samsung. For a more reasonable price, you can forgo the 4G, cling to the outdated 3G and embrace your inner WiFi and prepare to wait with a 800 MHz processor in the Samsung Transform. It’s probably fast enough for normal people but I don’t think I could tolerate the speed on that device. And it’s so tiny. Ting has again copied the de-facto standard in low end models, that being the Optimus series, specifically the Sprint-branded Optimus S (lest it be a T, T for Ting, not another Mobile), which is mostly identical to the Optimus V, except more yellow. Finally, they have a $100 Sanyo for those who want Android but don’t want hair.

Ting is offering a couple feature phones that nobody wants and some data-access devices, and I surmise for a relatively good price.

At the bottom of the pages on the Ting website, it has a great disclaimer that I think will answer the question many people are probably asking: “Are you somehow owned by Sprint? Like those other guys?” And the answer would be, “Although Sprint provides access to its network, Ting is entirely responsible for the service.” Or, in short, no. That’s great. Because Sprint needs to compete with Virgin Mobile specifically. Boost is too gangster.

You can tell someone was thinking when they design the Ting website, because I can link to this directly. Let’s say you’re having a huge surge in phone usage one month, and then you stop using it so much. You’re billing is not insane, you’re not overcharged. Instead, you get to pay for more you used than your existing plan, and if you go under your existing plan usage, you can get credited that amount back. So you’re pay for what you used. (Except that $6 automatic fee for being on the service, presumably.) Revolutionary? I think not. Finally? Yes. I never use 500 minutes. I hardly use 100 minutes. It’s a pity there is no in-between to match up to Virgin Mobile’s talking time tier.

So, overall? I like the idea Ting is bringing to the pre-paid no-contract market. The site is full of quips that make me smile, “Paying for extra for tethering? That’s like charging for the soup spoon. We only charge for the soup.” And another good one is, “Select one of the very small computers below. (Most of these can also make phone calls.)” Things like that are very hard to come by in a corporate culture company. It’s refreshing. Don’t think it ends there either, how about their support number? 1-855-TING-FTW Oh yes, for the win, indeed. I want Virgin Mobile to evolve faster too, so perhaps this will encourage the growth I want to see. It’s the oddest thing to see Ting on the network that serves the competition though. Stranger things have happened, I suppose.

So, great job, Ting, on entering the market. I wish you well.

In 2001, was 8 years old and just starting third grade. Since it was a Tuesday, it was the second of week of school.

I woke up at 8am to get ready to catch the bus to get to school by 9am. I remember walking into my living room, my dad was sitting on the couch and my mom was behind him. He was watching CNN I think, and on the screen, there was a building that was smoking. I had never heard of The Twin Towers, the World Trade Center, before that. I knew planes could crash, though crashing into a ridiculously tall building is probably easier than it was to crash into a smaller one, it was unlikely.

My cumulating vision of what happened that day - from 8 years old

I didn’t feel to too concerned. It didn’t feel like it was affecting me in the morning that day. I was just standing behind the couch watching the news about how a plane hit a building. As my parents explained though, I might have began to understand the purpose of the Trade Center.

The moment when I knew it didn’t just happen randomly was when I witnessed the second plane hit the other tower. The news was regularly discussing some pointless thing, as they always do even now, and the second plane comes into the view. There were about two seconds between entering the frame and colliding. At that moment, I knew. I knew it was on purpose. Nobody can not-miss a giant building twice. It’s impossible. It was a moment of realization that it was not an accident, it was not chance, it was clearly orchestrated. Even as an 8 year old, turning 9 in November, I knew these things to be true and I clearly remember thinking these things.

I went to school that morning. Nobody was really talking about it on the bus, or if they were, they weren’t talking to me. Maybe kids didn’t watch the news in those days. At school, in the class, with Mr. Young, I’m sure we heard about it though. I was early so I was watching with him, on the continuing coverage. Maybe it was there that I heard about the other planes.

Later that day, around lunch time and our normal recess, someone began talking over the PA-system. They explained what had happened to the towers briefly, but they also canceled our recess because it was unsafe. Unsafe? I know I thought this too, if a plane was going to hit a school, like those hitting the towers, it wouldn’t matter.

I remember feeling absolutely comfortable at school. When I was younger, I couldn’t figure out how it was possible. Why? 9/11 happened on Tuesday in what is likely the second week of school, so I would have already gone to school five days prior to the event. Was I able to be accustomed to my grade, teacher, room and new friends that fast? Apparently I was. I look back on that day and I don’t remember feeling out of place or feeling trepidation.

I don’t remember when the Towers fell. Maybe it was when I got back home at 4:15pm that day. Or at least, that’s when I saw it happen. I’m not sure. After that, I start to forgo certainty that I remember anything. In the following days, I’m sure I heard coverage on the events, on the Pentagon, the other crash and the entire attack. In fact, that’s probably when I heard it being called an attack.

In writing, this isn’t my very best description of my recollection of events. But it suffices, I think, to illuminate my place in 9/11. In my mind, I replay the scenes in better detail and clarity. I remember things that are not fitting towards a short narrative. These memories were of an 8 year old too, after all. Whatever I knew to be true then has changed by the colored perspective of who I am now.

Once I came up with this idea. When I think back on memories, I end up cauterizing them making them impotent. Maybe this happened with these memories too. Who knows?

Everyone says they have a memory of the biggest catastrophic event in their lives. So that, so far, is mine. But not really. As far as I am concerned, my life was relatively unchanged. Sure, I had to take my shoes off when I went to California four years later. Sure, I couldn’t wave my dad off at the Airport’s terminal when he had to attend his father’s funeral. So security changed. That’s not the impact I think everyone else claims they experience and feel.

Do I feel less free? Do I feel more proud?

Age has made me feel more free than ever before. I’m in college and I’m making course altering decisions every waking moment and I recognize them and their significance as well as I can when I make those choices. Do I feel more proud? Of the United States? Of our unwavering patriotism? Maybe. I like having flags. It’s the least I can do. There is no better place to live, but even with 9/11 as a catalyst for a paradigm shift, where history was before and after, it amounted to too little too late, perhaps, ten years out.

Have a great day, and a good week.

I had choices: find a computer, use my computer, use the browser on my phone or just ask someone. Going in order, finding a computer is easy since there’s a lab in Coffman but I didn’t need to check in just for that. Using my laptop wasn’t an option because I didn’t bring it to Welcome Week. I figured I’d be, you know, busy. Asking someone? No way.

Using the browser on my phone was the solution. My epiphany came from this moment. I attempted to look up my bus schedule. Here’s how it went down.

1. Make two swipes to slide the unlock bar on the lockscreen; the first one didn’t register right.
2. On the Audible control screen (where the scrobbler, pause, play, fast forward and so on are), hit home key
3. On the homescreen, hit the tiny browser icon in the lower right corner
4. Wait for it to launch
5. Tap into the address bar, wait for the keyboard to come back up
6. Very slowly and deliberately type metrotransit.org, make a few mistakes, retype and so on
7. Wait patiently for the slow Wifi-G speeds to deliver my page
8. Tap the Trip Planner, target the text fields, type the proper addresses
9. Attempt to scroll down the page
10. Read the schedule information
11. Sigh, because it took forever to do all this

Really, it’s not so many steps. But that’s when you don’t feel the bad stutters for transitions, the slow keyboard input and annoying short interface freezes. These things add up.

I wanted to write about this on Wednesday. I realized why people like these Apple products so much. In the basement at Coffman, I realized I wanted to reach for my MacBook Air and write. Just write. I wanted to reach for my phone and just look up that transit schedule, get it done and get back to listening to my audio book.

Android works well. I love using it and it’s just fine. But you know that moment when you’re doing something you enjoy and the next moment you need to actually get something done? I had that moment and I felt like my phone was getting in the way. So it’s a small epiphany. The way I would use the iPhone is probably the way Microsoft intends with their system, get in, get out, and get back to life (or a completely fictional futuristic science fiction audio book). The phone shouldn’t, at the very least, get in the way of doing something on the phone. Android is simple; there isn’t an endless amount of configuration, there is no secret about:config in Android that allows me to tweak everything. I don’t need that either. I just need the speed to get things done.

Get back to life.

When I wrote that report, I was looking at it from today’s perspective as an outsider. I was looking at it as, “Yeah, more companies all trying to get ahead, offering the best deals, the better services. Better, better, better.” That was true to a degree of course, one company has no competition and no real reason to lower prices until it truely has a technology advantage to do so. The government pressured the price drops instead by splitting AT&T into bits.

Recently I heard a different take on the split. This is paraphrased from a guy in the know, or at the very least with a view from those days.

Back then as one company, Bell Labs, they made everything. You know, Unix, can’t do anything without that now. Oh, they made the transistor. Really can’t do anything without that now. They were innovating back then because they had the money. Now we just buy technology because we don’t have enough money to innovate. And as one company, there was one technology that no matter where, everything used it so was easier to work with, now we have all these different technologies.

That’s true. Back then, Bell Labs made amazing things. They kind of made Unix, they essentially made the transistor and I’m sure they made other equally amazing and profounds things I use everyday and I simply don’t know about. It’s also true that different companies use different wires, jacks and thinga-ma-jigs.

After the big split, smaller regional bells bought neighboring bells and grew up. One of those was UsWest, which later turned into Qwest (hence the west in the name) and now CenturyLink. Companies change: merging and splitting. It’s the nature of the game, isn’t it? Look at Southwestern Bell, then SBC Communications, they bought their way into the AT&T name. Verizon is constructed by majority of baby bells descendants.

From AT&T we learn they want to buy T-mobile, a major competitor. Fine, but why? Because with T-mobile’s network, AT&T could expand their 3G and 4G services to all of the United States. Fine – but they forgot to mention that they could do it without buying T-mobile too. It would be only a tenth of the price to expand their own current coverage, $40 billion to buy T-mobile or $4 billion to expand it on their own. Withholdings like that cast a suspicious light on the situation.

Not enough money to innovate? I realize it’s still expensive to operate telecommunications. Fewer people do. It might as well be magic to most people, it’s still mostly scientific magic to me, but nonetheless, magic. Not enough standards? Well, pick the best one and then make everyone use it. That’s the idea of standards after all. One company’s standard isn’t a standard if there is only one company to agree to it.

The fight for land ranges on.