Switching from regular to smartphones - Is it worth the price?

Not so long ago, I was not a huge proponent of smartphones. I was happy with the basic functions that my regular cell phone offered me - phone, internet, music, photos and other regular features like sms, alarms, stop-watch, timers, reminders etc. What else would you want in a phone after all? In fact, I couldn't understand the psyche of people who spend obscene amount of money on the so-called smartphone. I couldn't stop wondering what made them shell out the kind of money that I would never. I was curious, but still satisfied with my regular phone until the opportunity presented itself to do a thorough evaluation and take sides.

My regular cell-phone started having power problems. It was clear that it was going to die on me sooner than later. It had served me well for about 3 years and I was kind of happy that it provided good value for money I spent on it. So enthusiastically, I started looking out for what would be my next buy and I had to consider smartphones. Smartphones were no doubt better but the question was - Am I willing to pay the price?

My main expectations from a smartphone were

1. Better ergonomics 
• Big screen, no strain on the eyes
• Neither too big, nor too small
• Touch-enabled - easy on hands, less typing
• Good voice quality - good mike, speaker and earphone performance
• Good battery life
2. Easy to operate - Good usability, support for various standards GPRS, 3G, WiFi, CDMA, GSM etc.
3. Good value for money - It HAS to justify the price tag

When I started looking around I succumbed for an iPhone and ended up paying obscene amount. While buying iPhone I took care to ensure it was hardware unlocked and Jailbroken on which I paid extra premium. I had suddenly become the same man whose psyche I could previously not understand. I HAD to do some soul-searching and justify to myself that I had done the right thing. The thought of seeing myself as a spend-thrift sent shudders down my spine and I couldn't stop until I had answered myself convincingly. Here's taking you through that journey.

• Expense Tracking

  There are many good apps for iPhone that let you track your expenses and provide good reports such that one gets complete insights into where the money is spent. One might ask whats the big deal? Could you not do that on a PC/ laptop. Sure you can, but its not real-time and that's what counts the most. I have attempted a zillion times trying to track all my expenses by entering them into an excel sheet at the end of the day but I would still end up with deficits that I could not account for. Now, if I take a cab to my friends place, I can make an entry into the phone app while I am in the elevator and its all taken care of in reporting. Fill it-Shut it-Forget it and march to zero deficit.

• Banking / Stock Watch

  Most banks and DPs now have software for phones which let you do stuff without hassles of a call (more importantly privacy in public places). Using them I have been able to make profits or cut my losses and all I need is an internet connection. This On-the-go connectivity is alone enough to justify investments (at least for me)

• All-in-one-place

  Most smartphones offer software that allow you to add text notes, embed an image into it and add audio recordings into it. In short create your own videos but with text annotations. I recently upgraded my desktop and the technician told me a few facts about the motherboard layout. I just clicked a photo and recorded audio of his instructions. Later when I went through the user manual, I could add my own notes into it. From learning a new recipe to learning how to repair you car/bike - this is a great way to learn if you have access to the expert.

• Social Apps / News Apps

  I usually travel by public transport and recently there were couple of flash strikes by autos / taxis and once even the Meter Jam by citizen organization. The power of social media and news applications is immense in such situations. I participated in Meter Jam and  patched up with friends on strike day (thanks to Twitter) just because I got to know about them in time. All credit goes to these apps which empower you with facts and let you decide the next course of action.

• Weather Apps

  Using weather apps, have been able to plan out a few outings with good deal of success. Thanks to reliable sources these apps pick up weather data from, that you don't have to be a victim of spineless and toothless weather reporting from the Indian Met Dept whose samples include "Possibility of light to heavy rains in different parts of the city throughout the day". 

• Knowledge Apps

  Have subscribed to various Word-A-Day Apps and even downloaded an offline dictionary. So whenever I encounter a word I am not sure about, in less than a minute I am informed. Absolutely great way to improve vocabulary. Have an offline wikipedia on my cell, so a quick reference and I get to play the "expert" if others are not savvy as well. A great way to show off and win arguments :). More importantly it makes learning a lot more fun.

• eBooks and Reading Apps

  From Panchtantra tales to Sherlock Holmes, from technology reports to reviewing own documents, reading has never been a problem since smartphone. So stuck in traffic jams, waiting in the bank or at doctor's clinic or even cutting a long journey alone, I get my juices as long as am able to focus. As a result I get more free time for myself. Just a nice little positive cycle which contributes its share to my well-being. Am blessed with a good eyesight and like to read. So if you are like me, go for it !!

• Games and Maps

  This is one area where regular phones don't even make their presence felt. So if you want them, smartphone is your best buddy.

• Size does matter

  When it comes to storage size, average smartphones have GBs of memory compared to a few MB capacity on regular phones means a lot of photos, videos, documents, applications, songs and movies co-exist peacefully. Deleting items to create space is so passe. I don't have to choose between things anymore, if I like something it gets in. That's Power.

• Typing speed

  Because the touch screen smartphones are so easy on the fingers, your typing speed is guaranteed to increase. Friends who used to call me a snail when it came to typing cannot do so anymore because I can now type faster than most. This is actually an iPhone feature in my case. I will possibly be just as slow on any other smartphone, I guess. But that's just me. You will definitely gain on typing speed. Guaranteed.

I could just go on and on, but this blog has to end somewhere. But I hope I have given plenty of justification regarding why I don't feel guilty anymore. More importantly its made a positive difference to my daily chores and made me more productive. So if any of these help you cross the "Should I - Should I Not?" chasm, the blog has achieved its purpose. I will continue to explore more use cases and if any of them are more interesting they will find their way on this blog. Until then, Ciao !

Cabling for WiFi - No kidding

Cabling for WiFi - sounds much like - Dress-up to get naked, an oxymoron, but effective. If you think I am crazy, let me tell you the whole story and then you decide.

I have two WiFi-enabled network devices, a broadband connection and about half  a dozen consumer devices like computers and cell phones.My network devices were an ADSL 2 WiFi modem and a D-Link router, each with 4-port connectivity. I live in Mumbai in a 3-BHK and have at least 3 very active internet users at home. The point -- I needed my WiFi setup such that each one of us could comfortably (and reliably) access the internet from their preferred location. Needless to say the 3-bedrooms and the hall HAD to have WiFi available at all times.

I tried different combinations regarding the positions of the modem and the router, but no matter where I placed the devices, the yield just wouldn't cover the entire area. For the first and probably the only time in my life I wished the house had been a little smaller. Buying a 3rd device was not an option because even with 2 devices the connection was not very reliable because of the walls, doors and other structural factors. These constraints were something over which I had totally no control. I was convinced the 3rd device would not help. Besides, I was told by my ISP, who also is my telecom provider, that the more I parallelize the incoming line (voice + data) by using sockets in different rooms, the weaker the signal will get. This will not only affect  internet connections but also telephone conversations. Also, I was told there was no way to boost this signal. So having different devices for different locations was straight-away ruled out. Besides, even if this would have worked, it would be 3 different networks. This would just make the device-to-device communication more tedious. Am no network expert, so I ruled out the geeky options of bridging all the network devices so that  all (at least 4) computers come in the same network.

Forced to stick to 2 devices with an overwhelming urge for simplicity, I decided to live with the problem for some time only to encounter another set of funny situations. These other situations were

1. We had to cluster in one location, if the other location was occupied or was distracting enough (like TV)
2. With 3 of us clustering into one room and one port being occupied to connect to the other device, each one had to be content with a quota of of one network port each. So I could either chat on my cell phone or check emails on my laptop. The desktop would often starve for any kind of connectivity.
3. Finally, since the modem was in my room I could never close its door, since it would break the connectivity at the other end. An extreme variant of this used to happen when I would want to sleep and somebody would need to work through the night.

After a few sleepless nights, I thought of cabling up right to the other end of the house so that the modem and the router would be connected by Ethernet cable instead of being connected wirelessly like they were now. I thought it was a pretty smart move since all connectivity problems could get resolved without having to deal with the funny situations mentioned above.  When I proposed it at home, it was shot down by a huge margin and I was given a sound lecture on aesthetics since the cable would "annihilate" any sense of beauty that the walls may possess.

Not the one to give up easily and being convinced about the merit of my solution, I started thinking about how to find a golden mean that would satisfy both the parties. One night, while lying on my bed, it just struck me that somehow if I can get the Cat 5 Ethernet cable pass through the same ducts as electricity wires in the house then I could possibly get my solution implemented without others objecting. Voila, that sounded like a plan and the next thing I was doing was - talking to my electrician.

When I ran my idea through him, he said he had never wired an ethernet cable, nor had he done any concealed cabling from one end to the other in an occupied house. Doing it for electricity wires when the house is unoccupied is routine for him but not for ethernet cables; not simply because the cables are thicker than wires but also the layout for an under-construction house is known, but for an occupied house it is next to impossible if the layout is not known.

I appreciated his set of problems and the next thing we were doing is looking for the electricity duct layouts in the housing agreement and talking to the developer of the real estate. After getting a rough idea we did a small PoC (Proof of Concept). We tried laying an Ethernet cable from the electricity switch behind my computer table to the main electricity board of my room. Laying the cable through the duct itself is such a skilled task that its worth writing a separate blog on that. Long story short - the electrician was successful in getting the Cat 5 laid. This boosted his as well as my confidence.

Now the problem was how do we estimate the length of the wire that we will need to lay from one end of the house to another. Also what is the guarantee that being able to lay it for shorter distance would also mean that longer distances were possible? We didn't know the answer to either but we had to try. So we approached the cable-wallah and asked him for the longest cable that he had for which we would pay based on the actual usage. Initially, he was reluctant, but then I painted a rosy picture for for him. I explained to him, what we were doing and that if my PoC was successful more people in the locality were likely to buy cables from him. Fully aware of the WiFi issues he readily agreed and got us a 47 meter long Cat 5 cable.   

After consuming 32 meters of cable and 4 hours of 2-man laying team (excluding me), the Cat 5 cable popped out from the electricity board at the other end of the house. The cable was entirely concealed and I promptly configured the modem and the router at either ends and tested the connectivity from every corner of the house. Every corner of the house was covered for just Rs 1650/- of which Rs 800 was the cable cost. It was a perfect Diwali gift I gave myself !!!

Looking back, I feel every experience counts. Had it not been for those funny situations I would have never thought about simple solution of cabling and am so thankful to my folks at home that they raised the right objection at the right time and saved the walls from looking ugly. Had it not been for the electrician who toiled and the cable-wallah who relented, a reliable WiFi at all places would have just been an item in my wishlist and never a reality. Being practical has its own benefits.

Well then, if you have the same problems as me, would you cable-up for a WiFi?