Ah yes. I’m feeling like a post.

There’s something else I didn’t touch on the other day when I posted, and I thought I’d speak a little about it now.

I’m not getting an iPhone.

Most may be saying “Oh, yeah…well, welcome to the millions of others who aren’t.”. But that’s not really the point I’m getting at. I’m sure that if you’ve only made my acquaintance, you’re sure to know that I’m quite the Apple fanboy. I’m not at the point of worship, I do understand that they as a company are not infallible, and they are all human and make the same mistakes and put their pants on one leg at a time like the rest of us. But also, I’m not above telling complete strangers that they’re better off buying a safer, easier-to-use, more friendly computer.

So why no iPhone?

Cost.

To purchase an iPhone alone is $499 for a 4 GB model and $599 for an 8 GB model.

But it’ll be significantly less if you get it with a 2-year contract, right?

Wrong. The only thing you get for the 2-year contract is more costs. Namely a $36 activation fee, and your monthly usage fee, which can range from $59.99 to $120. So, after your two year plan is up, you’ll have paid at least $1974.76

Dear…sweet…Lord.

Yes, the phone does everything. Yes, it’s gorgeous. Yes, it’s made by my favorite company. But I absolutely refuse to be pushed into not only a bloated price tag to begin with, but then two years of overpaying for cell phone service. If I wanted to spend two thousand dollars on an Apple product, why wouldn’t I just buy a nice computer? Again, the phone is mind-blowing. The features are many and well executed. But the price not only pushes the iPhone right out of the reach of The General Consumer, but also into some status symbol. Whether that symbol is embarrassing amounts of disposable income or embarrassing amounts of ignorance coupled with debt, I cannot be sure.

By no means did I set out to change people’s minds with this, I just had to get it out. It’s unfair. Yes, they create a superior product, and as such would cost more, but I refuse to buy into the idea (pun intended) that I have to shell out unhealthy amounts of money to have an enjoyable cell phone experience.

I refuse.

[i/o]

Update: Contrary to what I’ve said above, I wouldn’t mind an iPhone as a gift. And also, I’m mad jealous.

As always, it’s been awhile.

I felt that today was a good day to post. Watching Saturday morning cartoons, almost at the end of a good book, and some changes on the horizon.

First things first. Saturday morning cartoons sure as shootin’ ain’t what they used to be. But at least they’re still around. One of the ones I’ve kinda taken a shine to is Viva Piñata. Yeah, it’s based on a Xbox game, but it makes up for it with good writing. After two episodes of that, two episodes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles come on. So I make out pretty good.

As far as the book goes, I’m almost at the end of Cell. I think just 30 pages left. I’d finished Everything’s Eventual before that, and afterwards I’ve decided to read Skeleton Crew. I’ve really been looking for some really good horror, but it seems that Mr. Kings newer works aren’t as spine-tingling as I’d like. So I’m forced to rifle through his backlog. Luckily, he’s got quite the stash.

As far as changes on the horizon, the first one may be considered as…treason.

I’ve been somewhat proficient in my ability to withstand the siren song of other next-gen consoles. The Wii has good 3rd party support (with what seems to be even better support on the horizon), a great backlog of older games, and if the developers take their time, it has the ability to have even better accuracy and control when it comes to things like FPS’s and things like that.

But now I just can’t turn my ear away from it’s formidable set of AAA titles, as well as the well-polished Xbox-Live.

That’s right. I’m on the lookout for an Xbox 360.

It’s been a constant barrage of information about it’s great games, great add-ons, and great future. Granted that the Wii has almost matched the amount of consoles sold by Microsoft, even with the Xbox’s one-year head start, but it’s becoming harder and harder to plug my ears and hum while the obvious things that the console does right is paraded right in front of me. I’d really not like to spend 500 dollars to get all the extras of an Xbox 360 Elite, but I sure would like one. It may be down to me settling for the Core system, and then getting add-ons from there to reach the level I’d enjoy.

By that point, though, I’d have spent more than an upgraded version anyway, so, technically, it would be more cost effective to buy the better one up front…and I’m all kinds of sold on that logic, but I’m not the hard sell when it comes to games (see: “Wife”).

Also, speaking of the wife, Alaina and I had a talk the other day about how much games cost, and their replay value. I looked over at my formidable rack of games, and realized I don’t even play 2/3 of them anymore. And since Xbox 360 games cost about $10 more on average than the typical Wii game, something had to be done.

The solution? GameFly. Assuming I were to originally purchase one game per month, the GameFly solution would, believe it or not, save us more than $400 dollars. And if you like the game so much, you can just say “Buy It”, and not only does it come for a severely discounted price, but they’ll also send you the original box and manual to boot! Pretty fantastic.

And now, I’ve been in contact with a company called Rampid Interactive (mainly the GM), about a position. Yeah, I know, pretty bonkers: a job making games. It was nice to hear him say I was talented, I just hope all goes well. We’ll see.

Anyway, I think I’m gonna wash up, and try out the new RE4. We’ll see how it fares. Also, let’s all say a prayer for Manhunt 2.

[i/o]