BELLAMYBUDIMAN

“Why?”

That is probably the first question in hand, because in people’s eyes, having a postpaid cellular card could lead to unwanted bills, it’s inability to be limited, and so forth, and so forth. And using a prepaid number is cheaper and easier to the wallet. Well to a certain extent, that’s probably true, but I have good reasons why I chose to stick with a postpaid number.

Reason #1: Convenience
The first and foremost reason for me is convenience. No matter what you do (unless you limit your credits, certain telcos have this feature), you will still have the ability to make a phone call when you need to. Imagine having a low credit on a prepaid phone and you’re stuck in an emergency. Believe me, you don’t want to be caught in that situation. With postpaid numbers, I can also register that to my credit card for auto billing each month. It saves my time and I don’t have to worry that I forgot to pay my bills anymore.

Reason #2: It’s Actually Cheaper
Unless things have changed I didn’t realize, I found using a postpaid number to be a lot cheaper. Back in the days when I was still using a prepaid number, I usually shell out around 200-250k each month for my phone bill. After I switched to postpaid, it’s around 150k. Now, my bill is around 250-275k already with an internet subscription that costs 125k alone. One other thing that I find interesting is how you calculate your rates. Here’s an example of a postpaid rate:

And here’s an example of a prepaid rate:

It’s clear that postpaid numbers have much simpler rate calculations. Personally, I don’t want to waste my time on constantly calculating the best rate for my phone calls. It’s just dreadful, and not to mention unnecessary. Why do we have to have different rates at different times, and at different regions? It’s just simply pointless.

Reason #3: No Fear of Deactivation
While you can also be deactivated by your service provider when using a postpaid number, you don’t have to hassle with different active periods when using different top up vouchers with different nominals. Add that to the rate calculation you already have before, and you’ll have a lifetime’s worth of mathematical problems.

So if your concern is to save money, it’s not the case of whether you should choose prepaid numbers over postpaid numbers. It is a control that you have to achieve for yourself. It’s as simple as making phone calls, texting, or browsing as you need.

Note:
Rates were taken from Indosat. I found other telcos use methods that are more or less the same.

Since we just bought the new Mac Mini for the office, I am selling my old iMac G5 20-inch (ALS). I bought it on September 2005, and it have served me well for the past few years. Asking price is IDR 7.200.000, call me (+62 813 16201888) for details if you’re interested.

Either you want to pick this up yourself at my place, or you want to pay cash on delivery, it’s your choice. However, I won’t be shipping this to other towns other than Jabodetabek, because of distance issues and there is no way that I’m going to ship this with a cargo service.

If you need to know the specs, it is available to see here: http://support.apple.com/kb/SP45. See the specs for the order number M9845.

As you can see from the photos below, everything is still in an almost-perfect condition and white as new. All the accessories, software, packaging, documentation books and cables are also still intact and complete. It has been upgraded to the maximum 2GB of RAM, and I’m giving away a free Mini-DVI to VGA adapter, as well as the silicone keyboard protector.

Microsoft just (finally) released its latest iteration of their mobile phone OS, the Windows Phone 7 Series. I don’t know how it would feel on a real smartphone, as all of their previous mobile OS feels astoundingly crappy on any kind of hardware, high end or low end. Yes, I know that although partially it’s the hardware’s and their agonizing touchscreens fault, Windows Mobile 6.5 is still not only a painstaking software to use, but a complete garbage at the same time.

Judging from the video above, I must say that the interface design is impressive. It looks like that it isn’t just pure eye candy but no go like Vista, and it’s probably something that is really usable. Like Surface, perhaps, although I’m not too sure about their built-in browser here, they seem to exclude it from the videos I see. But it’s been ages since Microsoft made me to actually want to try something from them, it doesn’t mean at all that I’m ditching my iPhone, but I’m looking forward to try how this OS feels. Maybe, just like Windows 7, this is what Windows Mobile 6 should’ve been all along.

So where have you been, Microsoft? You should’ve pulled this off years ago. You have the money, resources, and practically everything you need to produce something real good and classy, so what took you so long and dumb enough to keep that ill-fated version 6 torturing people?

A recent mishap with my friend’s iPhone led me to write this post. Since smartphone users are sprouting everywhere not — whether they need it or simply bought it for the sake of style — I think I’d like to tell a few things to note before you decide to jump into the smartphone bandwagon.

Why a Smartphone?
Actually the first question that you must answer is whether you need a smartphone or not. Do you use your mobile phone only to make phone calls, text messages, or dead simple amateur photos? Or do you use it extensively to cater your daily technological needs? If deep down there you feel that the former is the answer, then you should stop here. Don’t ever think about buying a smartphone, just stick with your current dumbphone and off with your life. Trust me, you’ll save everyone the effort, including yours.

What Can I Do with a Smartphone?
After you decided that you have more to do with your cellphone besides calling people and texting, there is a plethora of things that you can do with a smartphone, be it an iPhone, an Android phone, a BlackBerry, or for-the-love-of-God-why-the-hell-did-you-buy-it-are-you-insane, a Windows Mobile phone. Just in case you didn’t know, you can, for instance, stay connected throughout the time with online messengers, check emails on the go, connect to social networking sites, browse the internet, or play better games. Note that, some of these functions are also readily available on regular dumbphones, so I can’t stress enough that if you don’t need the experience, then stick with your current dumbphone and off with your life.

What to Prepare
Assuming that you have decided that, okay, you needed a smartphone, well that means you will need to successfully add another bill to your tertiary needs. And that is a postpaid cellular plan. Why not prepaid? Well, in my opinion, I’d rather not have a credit-less phone in a middle of an important task. And wouldn’t it be silly when this happens:

A: “I just knew that your iPhone has Shazam on it. Can I try it?”
B: “You can’t. I haven’t topped up my credits.”

That’s just straight lame. Okay, I’m pushing it, but you get the idea. If this is the case, again, you’d be better off with a dumbphone where you can less worry about your cellular credits. Additionally, you will also need a fully functional computer within your possession. The reason is on the next subject.

Why Do I Need to Sync?
This is probably the most important subject of all. When you have a smartphone, then YOU WILL NEED TO REGULARLY SYNC with your computer. Hell, even if you have a sync-capable dumbphone, you should regularly sync as well. This ensures that you will always have a backup should something happened to your phone and you lost all your data, your contacts, important text messages, and so forth. And this is also why you should sync it only to a computer that you have access to at any given time and preferably yours.

You Will Need a Bit of Technical Consciousness
When you’re using a dumbphone, you could probably survive with a single operating system version throughout the entire life of that phone. But not with smartphones. Technologies evolve as well as smartphone operating systems, and every smartphone manufacturer would most probably recommend that you keep your phone updated to the latest software version to get the latest bug fixes, improved battery life, or new features. So if you’re getting a smartphone, keep this in mind and make sure that the least you can do is to make upgrades yourself, and not to nag to others if they can help you do this for free. Otherwise, for the fourth time, you’d be better off with a dumbphone. I’ve seen numerous people who bought iPhones just because they wanted to stay “up-to-date”, but give friends headaches when it comes to upgrading its software, especially with unlocked iPhones.

In a nutshell, having a smartphone doesn’t mean that it’ll take care of itself. It needs you to take care of it so that it functions properly, and can help you with your tasks. A smartphone is an improvement to your mobile life, and not an obstacle. If you see it as a potential problem in the future, then it’s simple. Just don’t buy one.

Some people occasionally asked what tools I used on my daily job, so I figured that I write this post just to keep an archive of my current set of tools that I depended the most on:

24″ iMac 2.4 GHz
Except when I’m not in town, perhaps there isn’t a day go by without me using my trusty workstation. It’s an upgrade to the previous 20″ iMac G5 (which is still being used by Disti on the next desk), and it has proven to be worthy for almost 2 years now. It is paired with a Samsung SyncMaster 2033SW as a secondary display, Altec Lansing ATP3 speakers, and a pair of 1TB WD MyBook Studio Edition for a redundant backup system, which is highly important in my line of work. Why not the Mac Pro? The answer to that for me is simply that it is an overkill.

12″ iBook G4
Up to this day, despite of those numerous upgrades Apple has done with the MacBook, I’m still using the last generation iBook when I have to work outside of the office or out of town. But since it’s a G4, and it’s nearing its own end of days, I seldom use it now except for checking emails or browsing.

iPhone 3GS
When I’m outside, this is my next best thing after the iMac, serves the purpose for me entirely. And if you’re wondering why I’m not using that ever-popular BlackBerry, read here.

Canon PowerShot G10
Because I’m not a photographer by occupation, I rarely needed a full-size SLR. That’s why this is my camera of choice, smaller than a DSLR, more powerful than your average joe pocket camera.