The excitement over the $199 iPhone has so far masked an important fact: apparently, the data plan for the 3G iPhone will be $30 USD per month (plus $5 for text messages), rather than the $20 that current iPhone users are paying. Doing the math:

• A first-generation 8GB iPhone costs $399. Two years of data service at $20 costs $480, for a total of $879 (not including voice service).
• An 8GB 3G iPhone costs $199. Two years of data service at $30 $35 costs $720 $840, for a total of $919 $1039.

In other words, a 3G iPhone will cost you $40 $160 more than a first-generation iPhone over two years. (Over one year, it’s $20 cheaper.) Of course, as a colleague of mine pointed out, when our existing iPhone contracts expire AT&T may jack up the rates on us anyway, so this argument may be moot. On the other hand, if the prices had remained constant the resale value of first-generation iPhones would be much higher and upgrading users would save money that way. In the end, it all comes down to how much faster Internet is worth.

Update: It appears to be even worse. The new $30 data plan doesn’t include SMS text messages. To get the 200 included in the older $20 plan, you pay an additional $5. I’ve revised the numbers above.

Interesting how most of the things I have to rant about concern driving. I imagine it�s related to the unpleasantly large amount of time I spend sitting in my car every week. If you live in or drive through Massachusetts, you are familiar with FAST LANE. It�s the Bay State�s version of what everyone else in the Northeast quadrant of the United States knows as EZ Pass, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority�s electronic toll collection system. The purpose of this rant is to discuss how the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority has failed to use electronic toll collection to make traveling on the state�s highways as safe and efficient as it could be through the poor design, ineffective signage and inconsistent positioning of toll plazas on the state�s highways. (more…)

Mac users are often criticized for their smug, superior attitudes, and for their zealotry. I’m no fan of zealotry myself, but am nonetheless guilty of these attitudes from time to time. I’d like to explain why, in as humble and balanced a manner as I can.
Suppose you own a car. Any car will do…let’s say a Honda Civic. Like any car, it’s not perfect. From time to time, it needs maintenance or repair. The vast majority of the time, it works: You can get into it and drive places at reasonable speed. You expect as much from your car.
Now, you look around and realize other people’s cars are different. (more…)

Having contentedly lived the first 23 years of my life in States adjacent to Massachusetts, I grew up hearing about Massachusetts drivers. During my childhood in Connecticut, every vacation seemed to feature a daring and dangerous trip up I-91, I-95 or I-93 that provided me with a first-hand look at these infamous creatures and the opportunity to hear my father complain about their careless and aggressive driving habits. I learned that Boston was a place that one should avoid at all costs, an automotive jungle where barbarians and savages reign.

(more…)