Ok folks here’s my dilemma what do you think?

Ok folks here’s my dilemma. What do you think?

Ok so that title maybe a tad bit self deceiving. I know what I want. I’ve been saying I wanted it for 3 generations of iPads now. I’ve always felt that it(this iPad that I’m blogging on )was just a little too big to be really useful as a portable device.

Now don’t get me wrong I love it. As I loved the original as well as the ipad2.

My point is the same now as its always been-it was too big. But now that the iPad mini is a reality. What do I do?

I would’ve loved to jump on it and get one when it was launched. But. Unfortunately the mini that apple released is inferior to the new iPad with retina that I currently own.

It’s basically an iPad 2 that shrunk.

Come on apple. Really now. I’m sure it was a good move business wise, but it has left me And I’m sure many other of your fans, disgruntled to say the least. I’m sure they’ll improve and eventually perfect it(retina,superior processor etc). That’s what apple does best

But in the mean while, while I wait patiently, I hope

Here’s the other part of the dilemma

Do I buy a Verizon 4g model or do I go with. Wifi only version for $130 less????

The new iPad that I currently on is a 4g LTE version. Previously I had only owned the wifi only versions.

It is nice to have the always present connection instead of having to rely on wifi, or the unreliable signal from my verizon hotspot

But the issue with that is that syncing between devices. Photo stream etc. won’t work between my iPad and iPhone as long as I’m using the ‘personal hotspot’ on my iPad as the 4g wifi hotspot.

I understand that verizon has a new 4g hotspot out called ‘jet pack’. So if any1 has any experience with that device please let me know.

Or here’s the kicker. Should I buy a wifi only ipad mini. Keep my new iPad and continue to use it as my wifi signal via its personal hotspot.

I’m starting to think that might be the winning combination. So if I can stand it. Ill wait till March of next year when hopefully the iPhone 5s comes out and see if they are bringing out an improved iPad mini. 😉

Free Wi-Fi: Should it be free or are we getting spoiled

Free wi-Fi. Should it be free or are we getting spoiled. We’ve all seen one or more of these signs advertising free Wi-Fi at restaurants, coffee shops, libraries etc. In addition if your a trucker. (If you drive a truck). I say truckers but some drivers don’t call themselves that so I clarified. If your a trucker you’ve most likely seen one or more of these signs at Iowa rest areas( I’m sure there are other states that do it too) but that was the one that came to my mind. McDonalds w/ truck parking, certain truck stops. Mostly smaller independent ones except for Sapp brothers. They offer free wi-Fi if you happen to be lucky enough to stop at one of their locations in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois or Pennsylvania. But other than that we are expected to pay,with money or points, for the wi-Fi service.

Is that really fair to ask us truckers to pay for wi-fi simply because we are truck drivers and have to park in certain places, mostly truck stops. Is it. In my humble opinion it’s not fair.

I look at it in much the same way as I look at paying for apps. As a friend once tweeted me “they have us trained wrong on apps. Music was never free. ” He was of course referring to the fact that I had no hesitation whatsoever in paying to download music from iTunes (the music was never free he was referring to was from back in the day when we would go to the record store to purchase music whether that be on vinyl, cassette or more recently CD’s )but I was reluctant to download an app,unless it was free. They used to all be free for the most part,or at least that’s my understanding of it. Again if I’m wrong feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this post.

Or maybe I’m just becoming a cheapskate, like some of my twitter buddies. Call me what you will. Agree with me or have your own opinion. That’s what the comment section down below is for. I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

This is certainly not a new thing. Pilot, Flying J, TA, Petro and Loves, they have all been charging us to use their wifi service for as long as, we’ll at least as long as I’ve been driving.

However I know that you can use your driver reward points to pay for it now instead of cash money(credit/debit cards). So that’s just as good as free. Right? Sort of. Well I guess that all depends on how you look at it and how you usually use your reward points.

Personally if I did that I would still consider myself paying for it, but at least the cash money wouldn’t be coming out of my bank account. So I guess that’s some sort of consolation. Or is it? Like I said you can and should leave me your comments down below.

The reason that I’m writing this blog is because it came to my attention earlier today. Me and the wife had driven to the Flying J in Aurora CO, after a delivery. To park and wait for our next load assignment.

I took this iPad and my iPhone, of course, into Denny’s with me. I was expecting to use their free wi-Fi to work on my blog and also I had an update available for an app on my iPhone which required wi-Fi to download,since it was over 50mb.

I really don’t like that Verizon policy(having to use wifi to download an app over 50mb) either but I see it as the lesser of two evils I certainly wouldn’t want to have to deal with the other big player who’s only claim to fame seems to be “you can talk and surf the web at the same time using your iphone on our network.”

Ooh wow excuse me if I’m not impressed. LMFAO

I could have turned on this iPads personal hotspot to use as wifi on my iPhone. But I figured if I could get it free inside why use up part of my data allowance that I pay verizon for.
Which brings another subject to mind but I’m going to save that for another post.

Like I was saying before I got off on that tangent to my dismay the only wi-fi signal available to me inside Denny’s was the flying j wifi. Which like I said we are expected to pay for. The reason I expected to get the free signal from Denny’s is that they usually offer it in their restaurant unless they are in a flying j. I suspect the reasoning for that is that Pilot, who now owns all the J’s, won’t allow it because they want to force us to pay for their wifi. I’m sure I’m correct on that point. However I have on occasion still found the Denny’s free wifi still available in some of the flying j locations. I’d share with you but at the moment memory escapes me.

Anyway I just though I’d share with you my thoughts on the subject and ask for your comments. I had another subject, a dilemma if you will that I wanted to share with you. But since I’ve recently learned it makes for a better blog if you stay on point, in other words from now on instead of writing my multi subject blogs. Ill try to stay on point and just write a separate blog post if I have something else to discuss with you or enlighten you with. LMFAO

Stay safe out there truckers. driverchrismc
Chris McFadden