Smart Phones in the Sky

I have always been geeky proud of the fact that I am an early adopter of new technology. My very first digital camera was one that did not even have a display screen on the back, it was a big and cumbersome thing, and it ran on 4 AA batteries. The images were blurry, and I do not even believe that the resolution was 640x480 to be honest. BUT, it was a digital camera, and I did take it all over the world with me, torturing my friends as I explained how it worked. It died a tragic death when my sister dropped it into a bathtub. Even drying it out would not revive it.


The next camera that I had was a Sony Mavica. It used a floppy disk as the drive, and it was a miracle to me. I was able to pop in the disk,and it had a display on the back, as well as some (primitive) special effects, a lens case, and a zoom. I took thousands of photos with this camera, and finally passed it onto a niece when I got a newer camera because my PC did not have a disk drive. The last that I spoke to her about the camera, she had gotten an adapter for it, so that the camera would take a memory stick, and then she was able to download the photos directly to the computer again. I said "How long has it been since you used it?", and she told me that it had been about 2 weeks, that she keeps it around as a back up camera.  That made me feel really good, even though I thought that the camera would have been a long gone relic by now. 

This brings me to my topic. Smart Phones. My first cell phone was one of the Nokia's that everyone seemed to have in the 1990's. The major deal with those phones was that the faceplate was changeable, and, when you removed the faceplate, there was a little smiling face looking at you. I know it had a game on it, too. It was called snake I believe. Anyway, technology changes, and one of the last Nokia's that I owned had issues with constant low battery life. That did not delight me.

Around the time that my contract was due to expire, Blackberry released a color model of its' smart phone. Color. It seemed like such a big deal at the time. I called the people with Sprint/Nextel, and I quickly signed up for the phone. It arrived by mail about 10 days later. I wanted to like it so much, I really did. The phone was too wide for my smaller hand, causing cramps, and I would have to either cut calls short, switch to speaker phone, or resort to calling back from another phone. Additionally, the phone did not have a strong battery life, and I found the motions to access features to be counter intuitive. I was very glad that Sprint took the phone back. Apparently, a lot of women were having the same problems with the phones that I was.


Since that time, I have been through a lot of phones. I have had the Razr. (Hated it. Too damn delicate) to the Krzr (Loved the one for reception. I was able to use it downstairs/underground when I worked at Disney, and Disney is notorious for the areas downstairs suffering from poor reception. But I hated it for delicateness and poor battery life) There have been many phones in between then and now. A pal of mine offered to let me use their Apple iPhone when they first came out. They were going to be out of the country for 3 weeks, and wanted me to babysit the phone for calls. I jumped at the chance to use the phone I had only seen on tv and the internet. 


I tried it and I did not like it. I explained that I liked the phone that I was using at the time (Palm Centro) because it had better reception, better battery life, and the calls did not drop like they did on the Apple, as well as the fact that making a call on the iPhone was a pain in the butt. 


Which leads me to the next part of this.


 I am not a bad person because I do not like Apple. I am happily a non Apple product user. I use the Creative Zen in place of any Apple music delivery product. I do not want to jump through all of the hoops that I saw when Apple released its' iPod. 
Having to use their software to manage my music seemed like a bother, when I could simply drag and drop to my Zen. Additionally, the battery life on my Zen is nothing short of incredible, and I have been very happy with it. I feel no need to go past 30G of music (and other media). If I need more than that, I should probably take some things off and replace them  from my player. 


I like the phone that I am using right now. I have a Palm Pre. I like this phone a good deal. I know that iPhone can do 9 zillion things that my phone cannot do, but personally for me, the small size is nice for my smaller hand, I only have to charge it about once every 24 hours (unless I am involved in a gab fest with someone. Recently, I was on the phone with a gal pal for over 3 hours, and I still had battery left.) 


Which brings me to my final point. I AM an early adopter of technology, when the technology that I am using wears out, or becomes too difficult to maintain or use. I do not jump on the bandwagon of the latest and greatest gadget just to be able to say that I have it. Sure, there are loads of things that I would like to have, and that I want, and even some that I will tell you that I need, but, being on a budget limits purchases to what I really really need. 


So here is my point. In Dallas, a man who wanted the new iPhone paid 500.00 to a kid in line who had waited all night. He stated that it was worth the money to not have to wait, and to be guaranteed a new iPhone. Seriously. I do not even know where to go with this. Obviously, he has disposable income. That is awesome. But to throw $500.00 simply for a place in line is beyond crazy. 


Coincidentally, on the same day of the new iPhone release, I had to go to Best Buy to get my Palm Pre looked at. What a horrible situation that was, but, I was happy because I was able to get my needs met, my phone serviced, and I am a happy customer. This is not the same for all of the people that were there, waiting in line for the iPhone. People were angry, shouting, yelling, and saying terrible things. What is that going to do? Each store has limited stock. That is how it is. Do you think that acting like an ass is going to get you a phone when they are sold out? No. Because they are sold out. 


Ads are being run on the internet now, creating a false embarrassment, addressing people who have "old phones". Is your phone old? The ad asks. Do you have an old cell phone? Are you embarrassed? That is absolutely ridiculous. We are in a horrible economy right now. People are jobless, and here are ads that are touting the merits of having a new phone. Give me a break. If it works, meets your needs, and is functioning the way that you need it to, then you are fine. Save your money. You don't need a new phone. 

Breaking News! Plane Makes Emergency Landing in Fargo

A Continental Airlines plane was forced to make an emergency landing when a fire occurred in the galley. Flight attendants were able to put out the fire. 

Have you ever been stuck on a plane during flight delays?

Have you ever been on a plane when they were having delays? My last flight, from Tuscon, Arizona, to Dallas, Texas was one like this. I had boarded and was sitting in my seat when an announcement came over "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking. I have stopped the boarding process because we are having some troubles with one of the systems. If you could please put down your window shade, it will keep the plane a mite cooler in case they turn off our auxiliary power, which is what is keeping us cool right now. I will let y'all know what is going on as soon as we have more information. Looks like we will delay getting into Dallas, but I am hoping that we can push once we are in the air and make our landing on time. Thanks for flying with American. We do know you have a choice, and that is why I want you to be comfortable on the trip." 

I sighed and closed the shade. No big deal, right? All that we needed to do was get some small thing fixed. 

Twenty minutes later, an new announcement came to us. "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your pilot again. Mechanics are looking us over with a fine tooth comb, they want to make sure that you are safe and comfortable.  Some of you have some connections in Dallas that you are concerned about. As of right now, you will be able to make those connections, except for those who are flying to Dublin. A flight attendant will be coming to you and talking with you. Everyone else, sit back, relax, and we will get going as soon as we can."

My seat mate was a first time flyer, and she was nervous. I explained that this was safer than a car, and that loads of people flew all over the world. No big deal. She relaxed and we chatted, talking about the weather, her school plans, and her hopes to one day be a scientist working with NASA. Very nice small talk. 

The following announcement is when things got ugly for some on the plane. 

"Ladies and Gentlemen. It is your pilot again, and it looks like we are having some serious problems with the AC, but the great mechanics down below are working hard on this problem. We should be up in the air in about a half hour.  For those of you having connections, it looks like we are going to be twenty minutes late right now. I will let you know as soon as we know, and I will be allowing folks to continue boarding in about 15 minutes. Thanks for your calmness and patience, we all appreciate it."

Suddenly, a man popped out of his seat. "I need to get off this plane. I won't make my connection!" He shouted. A flight attendant came to him, looked at his ticket, said to him "This is too close. Maybe a gate agent can help you." and he was helped off the plane. Several more people got off the plane, some not even letting the flight attendant see their tickets. People began acting very agitated, saying things about the plane. It was very chaotic. I just sat there. 

Another announcement from the cockpit came. "Hello folks. Looks like some of you have decided to make connections in other ways, and I can understand that. We will be opening boarding again, and leaving as soon as we have all on board. Even though we have had some passengers leave, this is a standby flight, so we are still sold out. If your things are in a seat, please stow them at this time. Thanks for flying American, and thanks for your continuing patience."

Passengers were loaded, and we took off. In the air, we were told that we would be arriving slightly late. We did arrive late....by less than 10 minutes. The flight was smooth, the landing was smooth, and the service was fine. I thanked the crew on the way out the door, and I was glad to be in Dallas. Others were complete morons, shaking their head at the pilots as they walked out, and uttering oaths of never flying American Airlines ever again. 

I get very irritated with bad travelers. There is no reason to treat people like that. It was in no way the crews' fault that the AC was not working. It was a good thing to get it fixed. Sometimes, people need to get over themselves. 

Virgin Air leaves passengers on plane for hours, temps soar near 100 degree mark

Due to bad weather, Virgin Air was forced to make a detour. They landed the plane at appx. 8:20 pm, but the plane was unable to get to the jetway until many hours later. 
This writer is certain that Sir Richard was not amused.  The rule that went into effect in April of this year in the United States, prohibiting passengers from being left on the tarmac for more than three hours does not somehow apply to international flights. 


Breaking news addition to this story. The pilots are claiming that they were not allowed to the jetway until customs officials arrived. The pilots are stating that they were threatened with arrest if they did not comply.  I will keep all posted on this and add news as it breaks. 

Colgan Air adds new Route To Plattsburgh

No, that is not a typo for those not in the know. Plattsburgh is the recipient of a new route, offering fares as low as $59.00. 
Colgan Air brought a 34 seater to the mix, and the plane was fuller than expected for the new roll-out of route, which is exciting.