Written by:
Frank Sisco, 30 Mill Road, New Rochelle, NY 10804
Home office - 914.740.4422, Cell - 914.740.4422; Email – ideasmoney@aol.com
www.iphonetapper.com
Copyright 2007 Frank Sisco
"iPhone Tapper - "Kicking it Up"
By Frank Sisco, CPA, PFS
(Word count = 1,494 words plus 56 words for About the Author)
New column every other week:
During the past week, Apple sold its 1 millionth iPhone in just a few months, and lowered the price of its iPhone to $400 from $600 in an attempt to broaden the market, especially for the upcoming holiday season, It was a very good move by Apple in my opinion, especially the $100 rebate to those customers who bought early at $600. At the new price, it makes it easier for you to decide to buy one. I highly recommended before, and even more so now, that you join the ranks of iPhone Tappers. Before you know it you may become one of the iPhone owners who are tapping away on their multi-touch glass screens, and tapping easily into a wealth of features like the full internet, ipod for music, videos and photos, and of course a cell phone. And with the grace, rhythm lightness and free spirit of tap dancers. In this column (that appears every other week) are references to various internet websites in case you want to explore the material further. Of course you can always write, email or call me.
Kicking it up:
When you buy a new product, especially consumer technology, there usually sets in a series of disappointments as the actual features and benefits don't deliver on the hyped-up promises in the ads and on the media. Well, that has not been the case for me with the iPhone. In fact, the device far exceeds my expectations. I should have known better as a Mac user for 20 plus years since that fateful day I bought one at New Rochelle's CCC store on Main Street, back in, what was it, 1984? Whew! And I bought the early Mac model without even basic software, but believing Apple and the marketplace would deliver it soon, and they did. In spades. Similar situation now with this iPhone. Clever design. Reliable functioning. Easy-to-use features. Extra value in add-ons and third party stuff. Quite frankly, recently when I was in a meeting an attorney who asked how I felt that Apple had just announced a $200 price cut, I answered that I really did not care because I already felt I got thousands of dollars of value by being an early buyer. He looked at me puzzled, wondering whether I was an Apple plant or something. By the way, on the Apple website, I entered my iPhone cell number, its serial number, and then the access code that was text messaged to me, and up popped the $100 Apple Store credit with the bar code of the credit number and the PIN number. I think I will apply the credit next week to buy an iPhone for my daughter Kelly.
I was in the Apple Store in White Plains, NY the other day to check out why my right earbud had some static. I signed up from my home office for a reservation appointment at the "Genius Bar." When my turn came a few minutes after I arrived at the store, the genius checked out the earbuds and gave me a new pair. Fast and simple. While in the store I bought another David Pogue book - iPhone - The Missing Manual.," and wrote in the front of it - "Dear Kelly - Good luck. Learn about the iPhone and I'll get you one." Standing in the store watching the excitement all around me, I realized one of the best business ideas for Kelly would be to learn the iPhone and become a tutor, consultant or workshop leader or start some endeavor related to the iPhone. After all, Kelly is a brilliant learner of consumer technology and very well-spoken and self-expressed for a 23-year-old. When I wanted to learn text-messaging recently, of course I asked Kelly. Another reason to buy her an iPhone is to give her the gift of music so she can always have it handy, right there on her phone. The day after I gave her the book, she read two chapters and we called Verizon to find out the termination charge for breaking her contract, which is $140 and will decline by $5 per month. I think it is a small price to pay to join the revolution of the iPhone. Perhaps we'll get it next week, assuming she finishes the book, which is an excellent resource, and studies the video tours on apple.com. After Kelly, I'm planning for other family members to get iPhones, especially to get email and internet. After buying a new product like the iPhone, I suggest that you continue to review the coverage across the media, and, now as a user, you will learn first-hand how a revolutionary product builds its momentum, which can be valuable information as you introduce your own ideas and innovations into the world. Also, part and parcel of "kicking it up" is spreading the word, and enrolling other people in your enthusiasm about a product. The more you talk it up, the more chance you have of learning something new and useful, creating your own opportunities, and of interacting with people in a new way. Yes, using new products with enthusiasm can stretch and improve your communication skills and creative acumen.
Question from an iPhone Tapper:
I like the "Contacts" feature for the iPhone and right after I bought my iPhone I added many of my contacts. However, I use FilemakerPro database on my Mac PowerBook laptop and the iPhone does not automatically sync with it. Any suggestions?
Answer from Frank - Unfortunately, FileMakerPro is not one of the "syncable" database programs, at least not yet. I also use it and love FileMakerPro's versatility with field and layout design. What I did was to create a new database on my Mac using the syncable Mac OSX Address Book (the simplistic free database that comes with the Mac) by looking through my 5,500 records in FilemakerPro and choosing about 100 of them to copy into AddressBook. I then opened each record and copied certain basic field info from FilemakerPro and pasted it into AddressBook. I then followed the iPhone steps to sync (see Chapter 11 of David Pogue's "iPhone - The Missing Manual" for details. This process was much faster then using the smaller keypad to type in all the info, and resulted in a streamlined Contacts list on my Mac as well. Soon, I'll be adding another 100 contacts using this method. In the process I realized I should reconnect with several contacts, and I opened up the dialogue anew with them.
In the News:
1. iPod Touch - Among the new iPod products introduced by Apple recently is the iPod Touch which is just like an iPhone but without the phone features. It looks like an iPhone with the multitouch screen. The 16-gig model is priced at $350. See reference below.
2. Nokia and the N95 - Barron's Weekly Newspaper (9/17/07 edition) did a cover story about Nokia called "A Better Bet than Apple" and indicated that "Nokia doesn't get nearly as much ink, but it will be a big winner as the world goes wireless." The article compared Nokia's stock price 17.5 multiple with Apple's 37 multiple, implying Nokia stock could be a good buying opportunity. The article discussed the Nokia product line including the N95 model saying: " Nokia's flagship mobile device for 2007 and arguably the most versatile hand-held media computer on the market. It's a multimedia smartphone that does much of what an Apple iPhone can; plus, it takes digital pictures and surfs the Internet on both a 3G wireless network and Wi-Fi. About 1.5 million were sold in the second quarter alone -- at a suggested retail price of $700, nearly double that of the discounted iPhone." Following this story can be interesting.
Tip using "Favorites":
In the last column, I described how I adapted the "Favorites" function to set up "to-call / to-do " type lists.. An additional idea is to set up fake contacts such as "yet to call" or "left a message" as "markers" in the favorites list to help categorize it. Email me if you need further guidance, or to offer your own tips. Happy tapping!
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References across the media :
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For the iPhone Tapper website with this and 3 prior articles, and photos and videoclips, go to www.iphonetapper.com
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For the Apple website with tutorial videoclps , go to www.apple.com/iphone/gettingstarted/guidedtour.html
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For David Pogue's New York Times 9/13/07 article called "Making Over the iod Clan (Again)" and audio podcast, go to www.nytimes.com/pogue.
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For Barron's 9/17/07 cover article on Nokia, go to http://online.barrons.com/article/SB118981102025628157.html?mod=9_0031_b_this_weeks_magazine_main
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About the author:
Frank Sisco is a businessman who loves finding ways to enhance life through personal technology, and writing about it. You can contact Frank by email at ideasmoney@aol.com or by phone at 914.589.1013 in order to express your opinion or send in questions, comments, or videoclips. He resides in New Rochelle, NY with his wife and daughter.
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