Throw Back Thursday – Old School Computing

UW owned this computer in the 1970s called a Xerox Sigma 7. It had 0.5 megabytes of memory and ran at a little less than 0.5 MIPS. Just for comparison, the average file size now for a picture is 3.3 megabytes.  If you have a 10 GB smartphone, that has more than 20,000 times the storage, and you can fit it in your pocket.

I Want an iPhone, What Do I Do?

I Want an iPhone, what do I do?

With the recent release by the guy not named Steve Jobs, that is now the CEO of Apple, Inc. of the Apple iPhone 4s, there maybe some questions on which iPhone to get for UW students, especially the college students who are broke, similar to my time in college.  This blog entry is my take on the two phones.

Like anything else in mobile devices, when people ask me for advice, I ask them one thing.  What do you want to use your phone for?  Seems simple, really, but for me I use my phone for email, texting, Facebook, Twitter, Browsing and music.  Some people like to watch movies and video, other’s simply want access to the internet and could care less about texting or social media.  So with this being said, if you are seriously considering purchasing an iPhone, think directly what you want to use the phone for.

The iPhone 4s, or the “new one,” looks the same as the iPhone 4, or the “old one.”  Anyway, the new features are underneath the hood, so to speak, and they really are impressive.  The iPhone 4s first of all comes with an 8 Mega Pixel camera, whereas the old one has a 5 Mega Pixel camera.  So if the clarity of photos is important to your phone usage, than by all means go for the 4s.  However, if you decide photos from your phone aren’t a big deal you may be all right with old one.  Both phones offer HD video recording, however the iPhone 4s, the new one, has 1080p HD recording which is much better quality.  I have 2 kids, and they are wonderful to record their moments on the phone, so I really like the idea of having that clarity on my phone.  Some people may just be recording their friends at a party, and maybe that friend prefers the less clarity the better.  Again, it is your choice.  Think how important the clarity of videos you record with your phone are, when you are making the decision.

Aside from the camera aspect, the iPhone 4s, has the same processor chip that the iPad2 has.  This means the response from the phone when using apps, should be really fast for a phone.  The ability to process multiple apps at the same time quickly and at the touch of  a finger is impressive.  The old iPhone 4 has less processing speed than the new one.  Ask yourself if you need this speed.  It goes back to want you want on your phone.  Is the speed of which your phone opens Facebook important to you?  Ultimately, the speed is great, but a lot depends on the 3G network or wireless network you are connected to in determining the content being seen.  Facebook, as an example, may open quickly, but then are you waiting for network resources to feed that content.  Then, is that boost of speed important to what you do with your device, something to consider.

Next, the highlight of the iPhone 4s is a computer-generated intelligence that allows you to communicate with your phone for tasks, voice recognition, searching, etc.  Basically you can communicate with your phone using your voice and it deciphers what you say and returns with voice and results on your phone.  The concept, I have to admit is really, really cool.  Interacting with a mobile device by voice and having the device recognize what you are saying is just wild.  This is something that only comes on the iPhone 4s.  The old one you cannot do any of this.  So again, when you use your phone, do you wish you had the ability to say, “Hello phone, what time is it?” and to have your phone answer the question?  Is this something you need with your device?

So, visually the phones look exactly the same.  I have discussed the main differences in the two phones that would be the decision makers in choosing which phone is right for you.

On Verizon, you can purchase the iPhone 4s for $199.99 for the 16GB, $299.99 for the 32GB and $399.99 for the 64GB, with a new contract of course.

For the iPhone 4, you can purchase the phone for $99.99 for the 8GB, $149.99 for the 16GB, or  $199.99 for the 32GB.

Cost is important and when choosing really think about what you are after.  For me I use my phone for email, texting, Facebook, Twitter, Browsing and music.  If I do take pictures, they are typically to upload to Facebook or Twitter, and I figure a 5 Mega Pixel camera is good enough for me, and to get 32GB of space for my music for $100 less, now I am actually saving money.  For me the old iPhone 4 would be sufficient and I am sure I would be plenty happy with it.

However, the new iPhone 4s does have some cool stuff, so if you can afford it, that may be the route for you, just look at what is most important for you.

Brett Williams, Help Desk Manager From Laramie, WY