byePhone

I gave it a shot, but made it official last night. I have traded in my iPhone for a Blackberry Curve (with wifi and UMA) from T-Mobile. The primary reasons were really tied to AT&T -- lousy service in my area, insane international rates, and a poor excuse for customer service. A full rant to follow.

Airline Review (part 2): Virgin America First Class

In a continuation from the previous post, I wanted to comment on Virgin America's First Class cabin. I was lucky enough to be in 'the big seats' on the redeye home from San Francisco last night.

Impressions: Again, wow. Super comforatable seats (it was the best sleep I had ever had on a redeye) and terrific service to match. The dinner served (I had shrimp in a red sauce over rice) was pretty darn good.

As one would expect, the ala carte nature of the main cabin does *not* extend to the front of the plane. All drinks, food, and movies are complimentary. The same ammenities (110 outlets, video on demand) are found here as in coach, but there real difference maker is the seats. Plenty of room to stretch out, work and relax. I would have been asleep immediately had I not wanted to wait for the food service.

Complaints? None, really. Although I am amazed that a company that can spend so much attention to detail and style will put their flight crew (including the pilots) in uniforms that remind me of the work clothes that the janitor of my elementary school wore. Not that I am anything of a fashionista....

Airline Review: Virgin America

Virgin America launched it's cross country routes a few weeks back, and as I had to do the infamous NY to San Fran run this week, I decided to give them a try. As a frequent traveler, I am always weary of new 'low fare' airlines. I have flown on Virgin Atlantic a half dozen times, and although these two companies are officially separate entities, I was comforted by the name.

The first glance of the main cabin (read: economy) gives a real 'wow'. Nice black leather seats and funky lighting. Featured is an in seat entertainment system with movies, DISH Networks, music (of course) and games. The seatback system is also used to order the complimentary soft drinks and ala carte snacks. Make sure your credit card is handy, as they don't accept cash on board.
One of my favorite features is the 110 jack (2 per row of 3 seats in economy). It's a real live 110 jack. No adapters or converters needed. VA was also bright enough to install a RJ45 connection there as well. They don't work yet, but I assume that internet in the air will be a reality in the near future. Also in the console is a USB charger. Personally, these always scare me a little -- I'll plug the iPhone into my MacBook Pro, thank you.

The service was great, and by $7 'cheese snack' was both palatable and welcomed on the long flight.

As for gripes, I have but one. The company that gives you 110 and ethernet jacks does not give you enough room to use them. Once the gentleman in the seat in front of my reclined, my tray table was completely useless for laptop work, and marginal at best for eating.

That being said, the experience was pretty darn good, and I was able to get a few hours of work done with the laptop curiously perched on my lap at an angle.

In summary, 4 out of 5 stars. And Virgin America can earn the other one back by giving me some additional leg (and laptop) room.

Rhapsody says "Go Home"

Desperate for some background noise in my hotel room in London, I fired up Rhapsody. I was greeted with the following message:

We're sorry. We have detected that you are outside of the United States. This service is currently only available to residents within the United States.

Big sigh. I need to internationalize my music services.

AT&T Says: Welcome to Canada - Pay Up!

So, the first iPhone bill from AT&T arrived. Aside from the typical startup, usage, and Gore tax fees that I have come to expect, I was thrilled to see a usage charge of $108 for the 8 hours that I recently spent in Montreal. International roaming.
So, another thirty minutes on the phone with AT&T. They were nice enough to extend a 'one time courtesy' and wipe the charges. They also let me know about their international roaming plans. Unfortunately, the rep couldn't tell me what I got for those plans. (The details are online here). So now I know.

As expected, let down by AT&T

Sort of disappointed. I really like my iPhone, but as feared, the ATT/Cingular service is LOUSY at the house. Looking into some sort of repeater/booster. Anyone have any comments?

OK, now I have an iPhone

My boss surprised me with an iPhone this week (thanks Michael). First thoughts? Wow.
Need to get it home to check out the service. Thoughts and comments to follow.