So, it’s been a few months since iPhone 3G came out, and a little over a year that the original jesus revealed itself.
After using the phone from the day of launch, here are my thoughts on where Apple can focus on, to make my life easier.

1. Wireless Syncing: Seriously, AppleTV has it, why not the iPhone? I’d like to be able to keep the phone next to my
   bed as an alarm, charging via the supplied wall charger, and still have the phone update my music, my new TV shows, and
   podcasts automatically. I don’t want to go back to the office to connect to my laptop. What’s the point of the wall charger otherwise?
2. Dashboard Sync: Here’s another thing which would help me and others considerably. I already have my dashboard configured with my weather applets, my clocks, and my stocks. Why do I have to renter them into the phone? Granted, it’s a one time thing usually, but if I make a change to the cities I want to check the weather for, I have to do it in two places, same for the hot new stock my friend just told me about.
3. Legitimate Tethering: I love my phone, I am happy with AT&T’s 3G service, I want to use it with me whenever I need to, why do I need to have two separate plans? This is the most customer unfriendly thing Apple has ever done in my opinion. Apart from greed, I have not come across any other reason for not allowing this. AT&T and Apple have shown complete and utter disregard, and contempt for their users here. I bought the iPhone because I thought it would be a converging device, so I wouldn’t have to have a cell phone and an mp3 player when I travel. Now, I have a cell phone/mp3 player + 3G data card, with software that sucks for it. AT&T offers users of their 3G unlimited plan, basic access to their wifi hotspots, but they have no way of getting this access via a mac. Plus, the option GT ultra card software, is horrible, it crashes randomly. It makes no sense that these two companies can’t work with each other and make sure the products they peddle work with each other out of the box.

That’s my list, how would you change things? Not that Apple is listening over here, but it’s always nice to dream eh? I purposely left out the copy/paste thing, as it’s a given, it would be nice to have, I personally have never needed it on ANY phone, maybe I’m not a power user after all?

Computer World has an article about Telecommuting . So, I thought I’d chip in my inflated $0.02. Telecommuting, doesn’t mean working from home. This is one of the biggest myths, and truths people will realize over time. What makes me such an expert? I’ve been telecommuting for the past 3 years, straight, full time. I’m not talking about moonlighting, and doing part time work for companies who post on craigslist. I’m talking multi million dollar projects. I haven’t been fired, I haven’t left the company, and I’ve been rewarded with a raise, and more importantly, I haven’t missed deadlines.

You still have a job, act like it. (The Ugly)

Telecommuting, is not that hard. But, it’s not the holy grail for workers either. You’re not going to become productive because you work from home, you’re not going to save a lot of gas, and you’re definitely not going to “make your own hours”. The last part is true, if you want to be a telecommuter.
Just because you work from home, or remotely, doesn’t mean your responsibilities to other people go away. Deadlines are deadlines, people need to know what you’re up to, and what the status is. The only time they can get this information is when they’re working. So therefore, you’re still working when they are. Sure, you can actually do the work later, but you better be awake and available to answer phone calls during the 9-5. Your client is being nice enough to let you make your own hours and work remotely, but they can only do so much, you must extend the favor back to them, by being available when they need you.

Working from home isn’t so awesome after all (The Bad)

You’re not going to work from home, if you itch to telecommute, you itch not because you love your home, it’s because you hate the monotony of your cubicle, and your office. You’ll hate your house soon enough. I’ve found that if I work from my house for more than a week, I go crazy, and productivity drops. I’ve found many cool coffee shops and bars that I work from. Yes, I said bar. No, I don’t drink while I work. Get yourself a good pair of headphones, a 3g card, and a good laptop. You’re finally free to work from where you want to, don’t waste it at home.

And the commute shall set you free! (The Good)

I’ve found that I’m more creative, I get more done, and more importantly I’m happier. I don’t have to worry about the morning traffic report, and I don’t have to worry about inclement weather. I make sure I’m available during the day, even if I’m not working, I can answer a phone call from the pool, if the call requires me to get on the computer, I can very quickly. It’s a type of freedom, that can only be experienced once you understand your new responsibility.

Considering the few posts made recently, regarding Telecommuting, I thought I’d put in my $0.02, adjusted for inflation.
See Cal’s Post and this awesome job opportunity.
I want to discuss the various tools and options available to the telecommuter in 2008.

Disclaimer: I don’t want to make this another post on the benefits of Telecommuting, as I strongly believe there is no silver bullet for the problems an individual or a company faces. There are many drawbacks to telecommuting, and the positives don’t always neutralize the drawbacks.

Background: I’ve been telecommuting since 2003, that’s when I decided to quit working for the ‘man’. I chose a laptop to give myself mobility. This mobility also came in the form of being single, unattached, and my willingness to drive. I drove from New Jersey to San Antonio, to Corpus Christi, TX, back to San Antonio, to San Francicso, to Los Angeles, to Boca Raton, FL, to Alexandria, VA, Birmingham, AL, to Herndon, VA to San Antonio TX.

All of this traveling was done between January 2003 and October 2005. So, for almost two years I lived in hotels, and everything I owned, fit in my Nissan Sentra. This was telecommuting 1.0, I call it telecommuting because quite often, I could work from my hotel room, they just wanted me close by, in case of meetings.

As much as I loved driving and finding new places, hotel life does get a bit tiring. So, in 2005 I decided to settle down in San Antonio. I’m sure a lot of you will wonder why I chose Texas of all places, to which I can only say ‘try it’.

Here are some tools I use to help keep my sanity, and my contract.

1. Laptop: I use a macbook pro as my one and only machine, the laptop is my primary means of income. My laptop is almost 1.5 yrs old, and it’s still more than what I need. My only gripes are:

   1. Glossy Screens: I chose the glossy screen from Apple, it’s a great looking screen, but it’s not the best in all situations (outdoors).
   2. Resolution: 1680×1050 is nice, but I think I’d prefer 1920×1200, so I want to buy the new MacBook Pro’s, but I don’t know what to do with this laptop first. I can’t logically, or fiscally justify two laptops.

   Since OS X has unix at the core, I have a local development environment for all my projects. I’ve tried out things like MAMP, MAMP Pro, but I keep going back to my old Linux roots. I have the default Apache, and a customized PHP installation, along with MySQL.

   I use subversion for my source control, though I am thinking of switching to GIT. But, whether you use GIT or SVN, it doesn’t matter as long as you use something it’s good. Basically, the use of SVN, Apache, PHP and MySQL allows me to have a full local dev environment. I can write new code, make bug fixes, document, whatever, all from the comfort of my laptop. And I never have to say
   “oh, I can’t get to that file it’s at home, or at the office”.

   The laptop alone gives me the freedom to work from home, or any other place with internet. As much as I love my laptop, I stronly urge you to learn to live without it as well. I’m a strong believer in the no laptop per meeting initiative (there should be one if there isn’t already).

   You don’t have to use a mac, or install Linux. I know people who are very happy with Windows as their primary OS/Development environment, this is development so performance is not your primary concern here.

2. Mobile Data Cards (EVDO/HSDPA): These things are awesome, and worth it if you telecommute. Now, I’m sure you’re going to ask.. but if I work from home, isn’t my cable/dsl faster and more reliable than Sprint/Verizon/ATT? Why yes it is, but telecommuting doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be in the comfort of your home all the time, nor does it mean that you’ll want to be. I spend more time at Starbucks, Coffee houses, and other places where the weather is nice, and the view is even nicer. None of these places have reliable Wifi, or wifi at all. But, my Sprint EVDO card works. Plus, for what I do, it’s awesome. I don’t upload massive files, I don’t download massive files, I upload incremental changes, ssh into remote machines, and I read the news with my RSS reader. I really don’t need a 10mbps internet connection. I need a stable connection, that lets me work anywhere. These card work all the time, and work every where I have been.
3. Good headphones: I use the V-Moda head phones, they are good enough for my ears. They sound great, and fit perfectly. They’re so comfortable that sometimes I get up with the phones still in my ears, only to be yanked down by the laptop. I’m interested in bluetooth headphones, if someone has any opinions, please share them. Anyway, the reason for headphones is because they help you concentrate. They drown out the ambient noise of the environment you’re in, OR you can turn up your music as loud as you like then. I can’t work in silence, nor can I work when other people are talking. I love listening to music when I work, it helps me concentrate.
4. An extra power cord: I have two power cords for my laptop. One is stationary and never leaves the house. The other is always in my laptop bag. This is just a peace of mind/convenience thing. I used to land in a different city, or get to the airport and find out I left my powercord at home, or at the client’s site, but no more. Part of it is due to better discipline, part of it is the intangible comfort I have when I travel, that there is always a cord at home.
5. A good laptop bag: Like a man or a woman, is hard to find. Everyone has their own preferences, I prefer to use bags that can carry things besides my laptop. I like to take pictures, and since I normally find myself in places I find interesting, the ability to have my camera with me is a huge plus. But, sometimes I want to travel light, I want the ability to take the camera out, as well as the compartments for the laptop and lenses. The bag should transform from a large laptop bearing bag, to a smaller version of it self.
   I prefer the use of back packs, but I like the style of messenger/brief case bags. So, I’m still trying to find the perfect fit, but for now I use a Targus back pack. I’ve tried Brenthaven, Tumi, Timbuk2, and InCase bags, the Targus has been with me the longest, due to it’s simplicty, and my ability to pack my camera bag in it, when I need to.
6. A portable hard drive: I have a Maxtor 160GB USB only drive, I bought it on sale for $80. I now have a constant backup of everything on my laptop. If I’m traveling, I just start the rsync before I go to bed. In case the events of the day cause me to lose my hard drive, drop my laptop, or I become a victim of the burning battery, my work is backed up. I am looking at Truecrypt, to see how I can make my backups a little bit more secure. If I lose/forget my drive, then my work becomes the property of Joe H4×0r, which is bad. I’d love to hear your opinions on this. I’m trying to find a balance between encrypting everything, and only encrypting the things I need encrypted.

I believe these 6 items, will help you, because they have helped me. I don’t want to talk too much in detail about how you should
live your day, or how you prioritize your tasks. There are plenty of sites out there to help you with GTD, Focusing, Time Tracking/management. Those same rules still apply, whether you work from home, or the office, you will still need to prioritize. You will still need to keep track of your hours, and you’ll still need to make time for the wife, kids, dogs, and most importantly, yourself.

A while back, I had talked about the issues I had with my
EVDO express card purchase and my macbook pro, a lot of you asked me to sum up my experiences with the card, and to comment on whether the speeds are worthy of being a primary connection or not, so here’s my answer.

Definitely, maybe.

I know, such definitive answers make me sound like a politician don’t they? Well.. politicians would probably skirt the question completely..
Here are my experiences with the Sprint USB card since late June 2007.

EVDO/3G data cards and plans are the most liberating technology ever sold. Seriously.

I am no longer confined to the house. I am no longer confined to starbucks and other places with stable wifi (Panera) (usually).
I can work, or play anywhere (more on that later). This technology allows one to connect to the internet from anywhere, with connections much faster than some DSL connections I’ve seen. The advertised speeds of “average download speeds of 600 kbps - 1.4 Mbps and average upload speeds of 350 - 500 kbps.” are not false. If you happen to be in an EVDO Rev A area, you will be close to advertised speeds. I’ve downloaded software at about 300K/sec before, and I’ve uploaded photos to flickr at about 80-100K/sec.

Nothing earth shattering, but I was in a hotel in McAllen, TX where the wifi of the hotel was $9.99/day and only worked in the lobby.

If you know me personally, you know I work remotely. I “tele-commute”, if you know me well, you know I’m rarely at my house. It’s not because
I’m on location or “on site”, but because I have this sprint card, and I can work from anywhere. Example:

I was one of the crazies that stood/sat in line for the iPhone, I got in line at 7:30AM, but I took my laptop and power cord with me, while waiting for the phone to be ‘released’, I actually got about 6 hours of billable time in. Work was happy, as they didn’t lose me for a day, I was happy as I could bill, while I was in line.

.

Without the card, I would’ve had to call in sick, and I wouldn’t have been able to make money that day. So, enough of the “anecdotal ad” for the EVDO cards.

So, how does the card fare up to travel and regions? Well.. since I bought the card, here is a table of places I’ve been, and what a standard wifi connection would’ve cost me.

Since I use a MacBook Pro, my development environment goes with me. I have PHP 5, Python, Apache and MySQL all installed
and with test data on my laptop. I wrote my PHP Gallery script and uploaded it to my server in McAllen, TX. Yes, I’m a nerd.
This also helps from a non nerdy perspective, I’ve been able to look up things to do, movie times, and alternate routes via google maps, though with the iphone, I don’t need the laptop to do any of those tasks, except maps when I need to get birds eye view of the city I’m in.

I’ll be in NJ first week of November, Vegas in December, El Paso in January, I no longer have to worry about connectivity anymore, I can choose to be as connected as I want to be.

For those who think this is just encroaching more and more into my life, or their lives, the technology isn’t bad, it’s your lifestyle. I have no problem defining when and where I do not want to be contacted, and the people I work with respect the boundaries I set. The card doesn’t make you a slave to your job, it doesn’t force you to check and respond to emails, it’s you.

Also, the reason why I said definitely maybe earlier, is that this connection as fast as it is for work, is not ideal for gaming, and is no where near as fast as the fiber running to my home, downloading songs and shows off iTunes is not the fastest thing on these cards, I can download songs from iTunes in about 3 seconds, on the card, it takes me about 2 minutes.. not terribly slow, but 1:57 .. I could’ve heard an entire song in that time.. :).

A thing to note about Wifi hotspots, sometimes they do not allow you to establish PPTP VPN tunnels (Panera), so working from these places is impossible if you need to connect to the corporate VPN.