How I got early upgrades for the iPhone

Ok, so since yesterday, a bunch of people have been asking me how I managed to upgrade my phone early. It goes back several years.

We have 2 phones on our account, and they don't come up for renewal at the same time. One was always ahead of the other one.  So 2 years ago when the iPhone 4 came out I looked at our plan and low and behold Jessica's phone was eligilbe for the upgrade discount. So I went out and bought her the iPhone 4.  I had the 3GS at the time. A few months went by and I was insanely jealous of how amazing the iPhone 4 retina screen looked, so I went to our local AT&T store and asked about upgrading my phone. I wasn't eligible for the discount, and I didn't want to spend an extra $250 to upgrade without the discount.  Now, at the same time I was seriously interested in switching our home internet/cable provider from Comcast to AT&T Uverse. Mostly because I just really liked the features and interface that Uverse offered. So I said to the guy at the AT&T store, "What if I decide to switch to Uverse?"  At this point he went and got another guy, who clearly had the authority to swing deals, and we were talking!  After a few minutes of negotiating, I switched our home internet/cable provider to Uverse (which I wanted to do anyway), and I got a 32gb iPhone 4 for the fully discounted price.

So that's how I got the iPhone 4.  Then the iPhone 4s came out 10 months later.  So I checked our upgrade availalbility online again. By now, Jessica was eligible for the upgrade, again, but I wasn't. So I bought a 4S for Jessica and then had AT&T switch out the SIM cards so that I got the 4S and Jessica still had the iPhone 4.  She isn't as tech obsessed as I am (understatement).

A year after that (last week), the iPhone 5 comes out, and now my line is eligible for the discounted upgrade, so bam I get myself a iPhone 5.

All the while, I'm selling the old iPhones to friends or on ebay, and basically making back most of the cost of dicounted iPhones.

So, a year from now, Jessica's line will be eligible, and we can do it all again.

When will the new iPhone come out?

Tons of people ask me this question each week.  So here you go, below are links to websites and specific stories that I read to be in the know.  You too can be an internet geek by reading these sites daily. Or you can actually do productive things with your life and talk to real people.

This is when one group thinks it will happen. Link.

When AT&T tells employees they can't go on vacation, that's a good bet as to when the new iPhone will come out. Link.

The People who build iPhone's are reporting a big jump in business, that's always a good sign too. Link 

The books I read in 2011 and how I read them

If you're into reading it's always interesting to see what other people are reading.  Goodreads is a great website for this. I joined it last year (it's free) and I really like it. It's in the links to the left of this post if you want to check it out.

I set a goal to read 30 books in 2011. I didn't reach that goal, I never do. I did read 25 books (mostly because I was on sabbatical for a good chunk of time). Below are the books I read, a brief blurb about them, and on what medium I read them(Kindle app for iPad or iPhone, Paper copy, iBooks app). I'm including how I read them because so many people are discovering the joys of reading on a digital device.  I like it so much I don't even consider buying books made of paper anymore. These are the 25 books I read. You can buy all of them at amazon.com or on the ibookstore on your iDevice. 

I've included links to all of them to their goodreads pages, you can get a link to Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, etc from there.

1. Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game Is Wrong by Baseball Prospectus - this is a series of essays by super baseball statisticians that prove that many of the statistics baseball fans rely on are very flawed, and how many of the adages and strategies that baseball people believe in do more to lose games than win them. If you like baseball this is fascinating, regardless if you're a stat junky or not. Read it on the Kindle app for my iPhone, yes the whole thing on my phone! This is what helped me become a digital reader.

Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game Is Wrong

2. Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God - by Francis Chan  - this book is great! Very challenging, and will spur you on to examine and change your life and how you think about your life. In a good way. Don't be afraid, read it. You'll be glad you did. Found it for $5 at a used bookstore, so read it in paper.

Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God

3. Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need by Blake Snyder - a friend of mine who is a screenwriter turned me on to this book as a way to understand movies, and storytelling. Since I'm essentially a professional storyteller I read it and really enjoyed it.  Started it on the Kindle app for my phone, finished it on the Kindle app for  iPad, thank God, it was formatted terribly on the iPhone, and looked much better on the iPad. This is the only book that I have ever had formatting problems with.

Save the Cat!: The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need

4. The End of Reason: A Response to the New Atheists by Ravi Zacharias  - the author takes on some of the arguements of Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins in this very short book. I love Ravi, and really enjoy his speaking and writing. I'd love to see him and Dawkins actually debate face to face. Read the paper version from a used bookstore.

The End of Reason: A Response to the New Atheists

5. Identity Theft: Reclaiming your Freedom in Christ by Ken White - The author is a friend of mine and a fellow Young Life staffer. I really enjoyed his book. He did a fantastic job. I read it on iBooks for my iPad.

Identity Theft: Reclaiming Your Freedom in Christ

6. Infinitely More by Alex Krutov - Alex was abondoned by his mother in a dumpster in the winter in Russia when he was 3 days old!  This is basically his autobiography, it's amazing. My friend Kit Sublett publisehd this book (as wll as Identity Theft by Ken White) and I've been promoting it all year, because it's a great story that needs to be shared. I've met Alex and his ministry to orphans in Russia is phenomenal. Read on iBooks for iPhone.

Infinitely More

7. Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell - his newest book (Love Wins) caused a bit of a controversy this past spring, so I thought I would check out the book that made him famous before I read that one.  I never got to Love Wins, but I really enjoyed this book. There wasn't too much revolutionary thinking in it, but he does subscribe to some great ideas about how to live out the Christian faith in modern times. Borrowed the paper copy from a freind.

Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith

8. Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will - by Kevin DeYoung - One of my favorite books of the year. Very short. Very to the point. He expressed very clearly what I believe about "finding God's will for your life". Everyone under the age of 40 should read this!!!!!!!!!!!  I read it on the iPad and iPhone.

Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will

9. Torches of Joy by John Dekker - Jon Dekker's son is a christian horror author who lives in Austin. Weird. Long before his son was a writer though, Jon Dekker and his wife were missionaries in New Guinea and have an amazing story!  These are amazing people and their lives of faith are a testimony to how awesome God is.  Their story is incredibly ecxiting, filled with danger and turmoil, but with incredibly rewards. Read the book, I bought it a few years ago before I went digital.

Torches of Joy

10. Which Real Jesus?: Jonathan Edwards, Benjamin Franklin, adn te arly American Roots of the Current Debate by Steve Bateman  - The title is a bit intimidating. A friend of mine gave me this book and it sat on my "to read" pile for over a year. I didn't think I would like it until I read the first chapter, then I was hooked and I really enjoyed it. He does a fantastic job of comparing the debate about the nature and existence of God and Jesus in Jonathan Edwards and Ben Franklin's era to the debate about the same topic in our own time. It's amazing to see that people are essentially still debating the same topics 300 years later regarding Jesus. His research was impressive and enlightening, and he does a great job of creating a list of Founding Fathers who were serious Christians and which were more on the Deisitic end of the spectrum. Highly recommended.  I read it on paper.

Which "Real" Jesus?: Jonathan Edwards, Benjamin Franklin, and the Early American Roots of the Current Debate

11. The Book of Harold, the Illegitmate Son of God by Owen Egerton - Owen is one of my very good friends from college. He and I agree on very little, which is highly entertaining. He is a very gifted writer. This is the first novel I read last year, and I had a very strong emotional reaction to it. Mostly because I knew the author. It's a very interesting book that will make you think, and evoke an emotional response. Would also make for some good discussions.  I read it on the Kindle app for my iPad.

The Book of Harold, the Illegitimate Son of God

12. A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer - I've read almost all of his novels. I needed something fun and relatively mindless to read over the summer. His stories are always really enjoyable but at this point in his career he has become totally formulaic.  It's a good formula, but after reading 10 or more of his novels, the act is kinda wearing thin. Any big time offer like Archer is making so much money cranking out books, that they probably don't care if it's formulaic any more, because the money is obscene. If you want to read a great, fun Jeffrey Archer book from his early days, check out Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less. If you have never read any of his books, you'll enjoy this one thoroughly. I read it on the Kindle app for iPhone and iPad.

A Prisoner of Birth

13. The Classic: How Everett Case and His Tournament Brought Big Time Basketball to the South by Bethany Bradsher - Bethany is another friend of mine who writes books. This is a fascinating story that you probably know nothing about unless you are over 50 or from North Carolina. If you like basketball or good regional history, you'll love this!

The Classic: How Everett Case and His Tournament Brought Big-Time Basketball to the South 

14. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson - I'm an Apple zealout, so I had to read this book. I blew through it. It's fascinating stuff and you get all sides of Steve Jobs, the good and the bad. Of course I read this on my iPhone and iPad wih the Kindle app.

Steve Jobs

15. Wired by Douglas Richards - This is a high tech thriller with a little bit of philosophy and quasi religion thrown in. It's entertaining. You'll read it in less than 48 hours, it's fast-paced to say the least. The reason I bought it is because it's only available digitally and the price fluctuates wildly. Basically the author sells it for super cheap (I bought if for 79 cents!) until it gets in the top 10 books on the Kindle store, then he raises the price to $2.99, sells a ton of copies at that price until it falls out of the top 10, and then starts the whole thing again. Pretty cool way to make a couple of hundred thousand dollars a year. Obviously I read it on my iPhone and iPad Kindle app.

Wired

16. - 18. The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - This Young Adult Trilogy is all the rage, and there is a movie coming out in a few months. I read them for a couple of reasons: 1. to get my book count up before the end of the year, they're short and fast 2. Because I try to keep up with what the young people are reading so I can be relevant (I drew the line at Twilight though, won't go there). 3. I like to read the book before I see the movie.  They are exciting, and the movie should be fun. Read on the Kindle app for iPhone and iPad. Strangely they weren't available on the iBookstore.

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)

Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)

Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)

19. Why Men Hate Going To Church by David Murrow - I read it in one day. Couldnt' put it down. Spot on. Amazing, I loved it!!!!!!! Everybody should read this book immediately. Seriously, this dude nails so much about why guys aren't terribly comfortable or excited about church. He also provides good, doable solutions! Read it on iBooks for iPad. Got if for free from www.booksneeze.com  

Why Men Hate Going to Church

20. Heaven if for Real by Todd Burpo - Huge bestseller, really short, totally crazy, a great read that will make you think about Heaven and will also get you really excited to go there. I loved it. Read it on my iPhone Kindle App. Yep, the whole book on the phone.

Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back

21. Scream Free Marriage by Hal Edward Runkel  Another one of my college roommates who turned into an author. Hal is very successful, and this book is his followup to ScreamFree Parenting. I loved this book, and Jessica (my wife) can attest to its effectiveness. Get it. Read it. Live it. Read it on the Kindle for iPad.

ScreamFree Marriage

22. A Feast for Crows by George RR Martin - this is the 4th book in the Song of Fire and Ice Series. HBO made this series into a very successful TV show (Game of Thrones). The first 3 books were amazing, some of the best fantasy ever. The story was derailed quite a bit in the 4th book, but little did I know how bad it would get, read below. Read on iPad/iPhone Kindle app.

A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, #4)

23. A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin - book five in the series.  It took him 5+ years to write this book, and it basically sucked.  The 4th book dragged, this one came to a screaching halt, and took 1,000+ pages to do so. I'll keep reading the series, but this dude needs and editor, badly. Read it on the iPad and iPhone.

A Dance With Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire, #5)

24. The Case for the Real Jesus: A Journalist Investigates Current Attacks on the Identity of Christ by Lee Strobel - this was my favorite book of the year. Lee investigates common arguements that are raised by people on the web all the time, who quote "scholars" for their proof. He dives in deep with experts in each field, and it's very enlightening. I learned a ton about the New Testament and the study of ancient documents. If you're into apologetics, or have questions about who Jesus really was, this is a great book for you! Read it on Kindle for iPad.

The Case for the Real Jesus: A Journalist Investigates Current Attacks on the Identity of Christ

25. Wholehearted by Roger Wernette - Roger is an old friend of mine. A very funny guy, and a very gifted communicator, both in speech and in the written word. This book was a great encouragement for me in my walk with Christ, and I've given it to about 30 people this year. Read it on iBooks for iPad. I believe it was the first book I read on the iPad.

Wholehearted

How to always have the newest iPhone

I love finding deals, and sharing them with others.

Here is a gift for you iPhone junkies.  This is how to always have the newest, freshest iPhone availalbe, without wasting a bunch of money. In fact, it will barely cost you any extra money at all. Of course, just by owning an iPhone you are paying a wireless company a ridiculous amount of money.

1. Check your availability for upgrade.  Check it often.  Get all OCD about it.  Here's why: you will be eligible for a phone upgrade well before your 2 year contract is over.  The cell phone compaines (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint) want you to remain a perpetual customer, so they will offer you an upgrade before your contract is up. When you excercise the option to upgrade your phone, it extends your contract for another 2 years.

2. Buy the new iPhone as soon as it comes out.  Be an early adopter. I know you don't need the newest iPhone, but buying it immediately will payoff for you in just a few days. Here is how. This of course assumes you are getting it at the discounted price, because you were eligible for an early upgrade. If you aren't eligible, keep checking, because they don't tell you you're eligible right away. Let's say you go top of the line, and get the biggest and best iPhone, with the subsidized price, you'll spend $300.

3. Once you get the new iPhone and activate it, your old iPhone is now contract free! This means you can sell it to someone as an "unlockable" iPhone.  This is a big deal. A new, non contract iPhone costs about what it costs to actually make an iPhone. A lot.  $600+, depending on which country you live in.  So if you have a relatively new (less than 2 years old) iPhone in good shape for sale, you can get $300-$400 for it.  That's roughly the same amount you spent in step 2 to get a brand new subsidized phone.  BAM! You just upgraded your phone for $100 or less.  

4. If you sell it on ebay or craigslist, be careful and make sure you know what you're doing so you don't get screwed over. 

I've done this numerous times, and have several friends who have as well. That's how you keep with the latest and greatest without spending irresponibly.

Apple, TV, Cable and the future

The one major mainstream technical industry that Apple hasn’t turned on its head yet is television.  Before his death Steve Jobs was expressed his frustration with the gatekeepers of the television networks (aka, the content providers). These guys, the networks and the cable companies, have had a stranglehold on the industry and don’t want to see Apple steal their business like Apple did with the record labels. Therefore they’ve been loathe to deal with Apple. The second big problem is that these same people, cable companies, control most of the bandwidth for broadband consumer internet services in the U.S..  So if anyone starts to threaten their stranglehold on programming (Netflix) then they can throttle the internet traffic to that specific service. Just ask Netflix how this is going for them.

Before he passed away Steve Jobs told his biographer, Walter Isaacson, that he had finally cracked the TV issue. So now, the predictions of a true Apple TV are coming fast and furious. What most people think is that Apple has come up with a new simple way to make a TV work. Something like Siri for your TV. I’m sure this is true to some degree, but really, how complicated is a TV.  You point and click a remote, most people are already pretty good at this.  Will Apple improve on it, of course, that’s what they do.

The real problem with TV is this….cable. Or satellite, depending on who you are.  Anyone who has some sort of pay TV service is paying for a couple of hundred channels that they don’t want.  The thing about TV that needs to change is the system of delivery.  The whole idea of a television channel is antiquated and unnecessary. No one cares (except TV execs) what channel a show appears on. Consumers are only interested in the actual program, movie, game show, whatever, not the people who broadcast it. Do you really care who publishes the books you enjoy? No, you just buy the book. You probably don’t even know who published your favorite book, you’re just glad they did. I know this is true for me.

So what will Apple do?  I have no idea, but here is my prediction, which may be WAY OFF, but it’s fun to speculate.

Apple will cut a deal with a major Cable subscription service (Comcast, ATT Uverse, Time Warner). Apple will pay this cable company some ridiculous sum per user to get all the bandwidth they want.  Then Apple will charge the consumer slightly more than that rate to pick and choose what shows they want to watch. As much of it as they want. When and where they want to watch it, all seamlessly organized and presented through Apple products.  

The chosen cable company will continue to pay the content producers (TV networks) the same amount they pay them now, so they remain happy. Now users don’t have to browse through 600 channels, memorize what network the tv shows they like come on, or pay for crap they don’t want (Home Shopping Network).  They can watch the shows they want to and everybody still gets paid.

I’m sure there are massive flaws in this plan. I’m not an expert when it comes to these industries, but I think this is in the same ballpark as what may happen in the future, because no one in the TV game right now is going to let Apple take over their industry, and this method will allow all the current players to make money.  Apple doesn’t need to make money on the service, because they make money selling you the hardware you use to consume all the content.  The iTunes store didn’t make much money in the beginning either, but Apple sold a few hundred million iPods and became the most valuable company on earth

Thoughts?