G R O W Y O U R W I N G S

....I gave up on getting an iPhone this time around.  My Verizon contract was up and it was either switch back to AT&T *shudder* to get myself an iPhone or join the family plan and stick with Verizon for another 2 years and cross my fingers that eventually Apple will open up to other carriers (and yes I know the Verizon technology would not support the current iPhone).

The *only* reason I wanted an iPhone was to be able to get to the internet when free WiFi was not available (which is just about all the time outside of my home.)  I already had an iPod Touch and could get all those cool new applications, play movies/tv shows/videos, listen to music, audiobooks, and podcasts.  It was just not being able to connect to the internet.  I really didn't have a driving need to have my music/video gadget also be a phone.

I wavered back and forth for about a month and finally decided to be *good* and not spend the money on an iPhone that I *really* didn't need. 

So I renewed my contract with Verizon, switched to the family plan--and ended up saving $100!  I got a new phone--nothing special--just a newer version of my old Razor flip phone.  (What can I say, I still think "Star Trek" when I flip open my flip phone--so I have trouble going to one of the glider-type phones.  Although if I'd played with a Chocolate before I'd ordered, I may have gone there.  But oh well *shrugs*.

Here's the new toy, exciting-to-me part.

As an added incentive to myself, I also got a free "air card" for my laptop.  I had to subscribe to a 2 year contract for $40/month data plan, but I'm still ahead by $60.

The air card came today.  What this means is that when I'm not at home and don't have wifi access--I can get on the internet whenever I want with my laptop.  And since I take my laptop *everywhere* with me--this works out just great!

I keep telling Hubby that all I really need these days in terms of "material" possessions is a good laptop (Apple natch, 2-4 GHz, Core Dual, at least 2 gig memory, and 200 gig hard drive), a 500 gig or terabyte external hard drive, a wifi router with broadband internet access, and my iPod. 

As an added "bonus" I'd throw in my little (3x5x1.5) LaCie 160 gig portable hard drive and my AppleTV (but I'd upgrade that to the newer 400 gig)--just for fun. 

Hmmm.. I guess if I have the Apple TV I do also need a large screen, high-def, flat screen TV.  But if needed, I'd give up the TV and Apple TV.  I can get all the viewing I want on my laptop.  But the TV/Apple TV would be a nice bonus.  And the good news is that we have all that (our large screen TV is not flat screen, but that's quibbling)--so it's just a matter of getting rid of other stuff.

We could practically get rid of 98% of the rest of our "stuff".  With that setup, I have the world.  What else do I need? 

And with my little USB air card gadget (see below), I have 24x7 access where ever I want (as long as I don't go over my monthy limit--so we'll see.)




*Is Happy*