The Unlocking of My iPhone Carrier Plan

I have an appointment tomorrow morning at my local Apple Store to purchase an iPhone 6S and investigate the new iPhone Upgrade Program.

My goal isn't to purchase a new handset every year, although I could if I wanted. What I'm more interested in is that my new iPhone will be unlocked, allowing me to use any carrier I want at home or abroad.

I once had some loyalty to AT&T. They provided me with a new state-of-the-art smartphone for $199, and I agreed to be a customer for two more years. Given how much I spend monthly for me and my family, I thought it was a reasonable deal for both parties.

But the last two times I purchased phones from them, one for each of my boys before heading off to college, they changed the rules. Essentially I was buying the device at full price and making installments over a 2 year period... and paying the same amount for my data.

AT&T said this approach is better. It is. For them.

But why should I chain myself to their service if I'm not receiving any benefit for doing so? If I'm going to purchase the phone outright, then I want it unlocked. I want to be free to use whomever I want for connectivity.

Very few business opportunities get by Apple. They saw what was going on in the marketplace with the carriers. Customers who buy iPhones tend to keep buying iPhones, so why not create a program for them?

For the time being, I'll keep using AT&T. But as better deals surface from other carriers, I'll be looking at each carefully. Not only for me, but for my family.

In all honesty, I'm tired of businesses telling me that the changes they make are in my best interests when indeed they are not. It's BS. And I seriously doubt I'm the only one that will be unlocking from my carrier.

-Derrick

Two Cans and a String

When I was a kid, there was this goofy science demonstration where you could attach two tin cans with a string. Supposedly, this showed us of how sound waves could travel on a device. 

Each person would pull the line until it had good tension, then talk into their can. The receiver should hear the voice in their tin can a short distance away. But you could hear the voice anyway because your counterpart was only a few feet away.

I thought it was one of the worst science displays ever. Fortunately things have improved greatly. 

This last weekend our family had to split in two. And we hated it. But that was the hand we were dealt.

One boy had to check in to Santa Clara College as a freshman and the other at UC Santa Barbara. This was their first move away from home. I took Max to Santa Clara and Theresa drove Zach down south. This means that each of us missed out on one of the biggest moments in our sons' lives.

The boys were focused on their move, as they should be. But Theresa and I used our iPhones to text updates, photos, and short video clips back and forth during the entire process. We had this running conversation that helped make hundreds of miles feel like next door.

As I scroll back through the notes and images now, I can't imagine getting through the weekend without these devices. I'm going to archive the conversation. It's my experience of Zach's move in, and the things that Theresa was feeling during the process.

We hear a lot about how distracted we've become because of our mobile devices. And there's truth to that. But there are moments, like this weekend when a family is trying to hang together during a big event, that I'm truly thankful for this technology.

I'll take the good with the bad in this modern age. Because if all I had were two cans and a string, I would have missed one of the biggest moments in my son's life.

-Derrick

Firmware Updates Preserve Our Investments

In large part, the digital age has been marked by parade of devices with two-year shelf lives before being shipped off to the local landfill or reseller. Based on what I see, we're upgrading hardware more frequently than necessary, when it's the brains that we should be enhancing.

The first examples that come to mind are our smartphones. Both Apple and Samsung tempt us annually with new devices that eclipse our current abilities to communicate with one another. But camera upgrades seem to be on a similar cycle. I know I spend a lot of time testing and reviewing the latest models.

But just because they're there, that doesn't mean we have to buy them. And thanks to consumer-friendly companies such as Fujifilm and Olympus, we can often enjoy new tech with older models. This seems particularly true with their flagship cameras.

Fujifilm release Firmware 4.0 for the X-T1 in June of this year. It's a substantial upgrade that once again improves an already excellent camera. Sony is in the process of bringing uncompressed 14-bit RAW to its A7 series. And Olympus just announced a mammoth firmware update for its flagship OM-D E-M1 to give it much of the same technology that was introduced for the E-M-10 Mark II.

Personally, I'm quite fond of the OM-D cameras. I have the original E-M5, the E-M5 Mark II (also getting a firmware update soon), the E-M10, and I'm testing the E-M10 Mark II. As happy I am with the updates that Olympus has released, I think they could do even more. I would add enticing features, such as silent shutter, to the original E-M10. And I don't think it's out of the question to enhance the original E-M5 with functionality that's compatible with its hardware.

Building trust with your customers promotes brand loyalty. I think Fujifilm, Sony, and Olympus are showing us glimpses the real promise of the digital age, which is better management of the earth's precious resources though intelligent software evolution.

It's a good start. Let's do more.

-Derrick

Needles Highway

I've never been to Laughlin, Nevada before.

I know many Southern Californians frequent the resorts there because it's positioned just on the other side of the California/Nevada border. So it moves legalized gambling two hours closer than a trip all the way to Las Vegas. But since I don't gamble, I never had a reason to visit.

That is, until my niece decided to get married there. Laughlin is a central meeting point for the families that live in Flagstaff, Phoenix, and parts of So. Cal. Basically it's a 3-hour drive for all of them. Me, being the odd duck in Northern California, had a 10 hour journey to the Aquarius Casino standing alongside the Colorado River.

The first part of the trip was a familiar drive south down Interstate 5. I know that route well, and even enjoy it. I tend to shoot along the way, such as my ongoing collection of highway overpass shots.

But then I had to head east instead of my normal bend to the west. And this, at the 9 hour mark, is when I was introduced to Needles Highway. The fact that a two-lane desert road with a faded yellow stripe down the middle can be called a highway is humorous. The 108 degree afternoon heat added a bit of surrealism to the adventure. Asphalt undulations up and down peppered with jack rabbits gave me the feeling of driving through a chapter of Abbey's Desert Solitaire.

Then, without warning, the road became perfectly smooth. No more potholes. The rumbling in the car cabin quieted. And the road widened. I had crossed the border from California to Nevada.

It was startling how different the two realities were. And it all had to do with funding and attention to detail. Even the searing environment of the southwest desert can be mitigated if desired.

Not long after crossing the border, I parked the Audi in a multi-story garage and rolled my suitcase and camera bag to the casino. I had a lot of work ahead of me. Weddings are complicated to photograph.

Thank goodness I had been paying attention to the details of the event. And because of that preparation, I anticipate a smooth ride.

That is, until I depart the Aquarius Casino and cross the border on Needles Highway.

-Derrick

The Cycle

I was reading a blog post on Photo Shelter about bicycles at Burning Man. There were lots of great shots of owners with their wheels. At one point the author wrote something like, "San Franciscans have an ongoing love affair with their bikes."

Yes, he made a jump there somewhere, but I just rolled with it.

I would expand that statement to all of Northern California. Practically everyone I know has at least one bike, and most of them ride regularly. I have a 2006 Marin Redwood 22 at the studio that's perfect for errands and shopping. 

Hanging upside down in the garage at home is a 2008 Cannondale Bad Boy XL that I've modified  with 700c knobby tires and comfy palm rests. Indeed I'm smitten with both vehicles. The Cannondale is one of the last models still made in the U.S. before production was moved to Asia. It has a small American flag embossed on the frame.

The fact that I know so much about each of these models speaks directly to the love affair. But why do we care so?

It's actually hard to explain. I think it has something to do with life in Northern California. The combination of beautiful weather, outstanding scenery, and mind-numbing traffic are the perfect ingredients for cycling. Once I park the car in the garage at the studio, I don't use it again other than to go home or drive to a business assignment. Everything else is on foot or by bike.

I don't shoot while riding, but recently I've mounted an Olympus Air on the handlebars of the Marin Redwood. I've done so because in the past I've missed some shots because I didn't want to retrieve a camera out of my backpack. Now, it's right there. And I anticipate that I'll be posting images on Instagram from my daily riding.

All of that being said, there's still one more aspect to this passion: freedom. When I'm riding, I only depend on my two legs to get me there. I'm not beholden to oil companies, monthly payments, expensive repairs, or rush hour traffic.

I firmly believe that people who love their bikes also love their independence. And when you get right down to it, few things feel better than that.

-Derrick