PeterB

What if Steve Jobs Hadn’t Returned to Apple in 1997?

What if? Maybe NeXT would have become a major successful company, and my NeXT stock (ex option) would have gone to $200, instead of merely becoming worth $10. And I could easily loan my daughter the money to buy a house...

Adobe Blinks First in Flash Battle with Apple

Curious. The NeXT computer used a form of Adobe's PDF for the display, and the current MAC operating system is largely derived from the operating system used on that machine (a Unix variant). Old allies fall apart!

Can AT&T Handle the iPhone?

T-Mobile picking up the iPhone would only require a small phone fix (since they are also GSM), and maybe the rush from unhappy AT&T customers would help pay to upgrade their service. I cannot imagine buying a GSM phone without a SIM card (for cheap calls when visiting relatives etc. in Europe), but my T-Mobile service would presumably be better....

AT&T, Apple Can't Win Fight Against VoIP

I have not used Truphone, but Tel3 provides a VOIP service that we use for all international calls on both my cell phone (T-Mobile) and my wife's cell phone (Verizon), as well as our landline, and get rates about the same as Skype, and pretty good service. Our phone bill totals about 1/3 of what it did before. Namibia is not on our frequent-call list, but Canada, the UK, Czech Republic, Spain and Germany are.

Apple Can Keep Secrets Even Without Steve Jobs

When Steve Jobs (and I) worked at NeXT the joke around the company was that the ship leaked from the top. So I laughed at your headline.

Key Telecom Trends: VoIP and Shift to Prepaid Wireless Plans

Why do articles on VOIP never mention companies offering VOIP service via a local number. We use Tel3 for such a service, call a local number from our landline for anything outside our free local zone, and get Skype-equivalent rates (or better: US 1.9c/min Ireland 1.5c/min, UK 2.5c/min, France 2c, Germany 1.5 to 3c, Italy 2 to 3c, Spain 3.3c/min etc. (Mobiles usual are significantly more). We no longer have any long-distance service on our landline, so that is cheap. From our mobile phones, we use the account for international calls at the same rates. I even used it from a pay phone at a State park (though the pay phone fee was heavy, the call itself was cheap). No monthly fee (unlike Vonage), no broadband connection needed (unlike Skype), no computer needed (except maybe to set up and check the account). Our total phone bill has dropped to about 1/4 what it was before (we were already using long-distance and international carriers cheaper than POTS), and we have many relatives and friends in Europe. Only problem is it does not do us much good from abroad, though I have used it by calling a US access number from one country to call another, saving one of the two roaming charges on the cell phone. Normally it is better to buy a local SIM card (what, you don't have a GSM phone, or it's an iPhone?) for such calls, though it took my ex-daughter-in-law, who now works for a Czech mobile company, to start me on that.

How Soon Can Apple's Market Cap Surpass Microsoft's?

Additional note re the operating system: I think the original Mac operating system was quite different from the recent ones. I doubt if the interconnection of computers was much thought about when it was developed. I worked at NeXT Computer (during Steve Job's absence from Apple), though on hardware, not software, but that computer, one of the first to include Ethernet connections, originally 10Base-2 and later 10Base-T, ran a Unix version, which I believe became the basis for the later Mac software.

And my NeXT stock option is still around, making me long on Apple, and enjoying the major rise on that logarithmic chart!

How Soon Can Apple's Market Cap Surpass Microsoft's?

Au contraire; thank you for using a logarithmic scale, since the ratio between the values plotted is much better represented on such a scale (a constant distance is a constant ratio), especially on values that scan a factor of about 100. I rescued a logarithmic chart of the Dow Jones index from my stockbroker, because it was the first one I had seen. Anyone dealing with financial matters had better understand Napier's invention, just as physicists, engineers, sound experts, and many others do.


On Apr 24 04:06 PM User 401648 wrote:

> Why on earth would you make the graph Y-axis logarithmic? There is
> no logical reason to do so. People who did not notice or do not understand
> log scale will completely misinterpret the data. Perhaps that is
> what you intended?

Skype for iPhone: Beginning of the End For Mobile Phone Revenue Growth?

I get VOIP service on all our cell phones as well as our landline through a service called Tel3 (tel3advantage.com), where I dial a local number, it recognizes the callerID, (or I can log in via our primary number and a password), and I get Skype-like rates to any phone anywhere. From the landline, I use it for everything beyond local calls (so my POST is local only; NB 911 works as normal), and for the cell phones all international calls. Only problem is that it is from US only, though I have called it from abroad, to call another international number, only paying the semi-exhorbitant roaming rate + Tel3, rather than the full exhorbitant rate. Quality is usually very good, and they have a try-again routine that reroutes the occasional bad one.

AT&T Tops Verizon - But Which Customers Are More Satisfied?

The AT&T iPhone works in most international locations because it is a GSM phone. T-Mobile offers the same capability with most of their phones, and has worked for me in Hong Kong, and everywhere in Europe. And one can buy a local SIM card for use in most places in Europe and save the roaming charges, which cannot be done with the iPhone (the equivalent is built in). Only in Nepal did my T-Mobile phone not work.


On Jan 29 10:49 AM brewer wrote:

> iPhone makes AT&T the clear winner. Plus, if you go on an international
> trip, the iPhone with AT&T will work anywhere, no additional
> charges. Try that with any other service.

iPhone Versus the Rest: More Evidence Smartphone Makers Are in Trouble

Maybe you could use the argument by which my wife and I have different cell phone service providers (I use T-Mobile, she now uses Verizon, having used the older AT&T phone technology till Cingular dropped it): Even though both of our services have significant service holes, most often one of the two will work, wherever we are!