Verizon users finally get the iPhone!

http://www.cultofmac.com/verizon-iphone-costs-199-for-16gb-299-for-32gb-with-tethering/76605

So the news of the Verizon iPhone is probably what everyone will be talking about today. It seems that they are confident that their network can hold up to the abuse of thousands of people jumping ship from AT&T to Verizon. We all know that iPhone users are heavy abusers of bandwidth, but Verizon has been touting for months now that their network can handle extremely heavy use. It will be interesting to see what Verizon will be saying after a few months of these data hungry, 3g abusing, tethering-loving have their way with the network.

The free tethering and unlimited data make me want to switch right now, but I'm going to wait and see what AT&T does to compete with Verizon and try to retain some of their customer base. I'm hoping they bring back the Unlimited Data plan or at least lower some plan prices.

I also found this link if people are interesting in switching their phone providers but don't want to pay the early termination fee. Enjoy!

http://www.cultofmac.com/wanna-switch-carriers-avoid-paying-your-early-termination-fee-how-to/76570

IT'S ALIIIIIVE!

http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2011/01/mac-app-store-hands-on-many-nits-to-pick-but-off-to-a-good-start.ars

If anybody has been following the Apple news lately, they finally launched the Mac App Store this morning at 12:01AM. Some of you may be thinking: "Doesn't Apple already have an App Store?". Why, yes, yes they do. This Mac App Store is essentially going to be a Digital Delivery Service for Macintosh software much like Steam is a digital delivery service for PC games.

I think this is a step in the right direction for pretty much all software-based purchases. The faster our broadband gets and the more connected we are, the more feasible this idea becomes. We already have Hulu, Netflix, Steam, Xbox Live, Playstation Network, iTunes and more. The idea of a physical store will most likely not pertain to any kind of software anymore.

Let's just hope we can improve our internet infrastructure exponentially within the next 10 years. The recent fights going on in Congress and Senate about Net Neutrality are not filling me with much confidence. On one side of the argument we have the government yelling about how terrible the telecom corporations are for wanting to divide their service into smaller "pipelines" and charge based on what sites/services you are using. On the other hand we have the corporations yelling that they don't want the government to mess with their business, because we all know that the government is pretty much incapable of doing anything right. They have spread themselves too thin already.

We do need more ISPs to provide more competition in some of the less populous states. In Iowa we have either Mediacom Cable, or Qwest DSL for broadband. Unless you are one of the lucky people near a fast DSL node your connection will be terrible and cable is almost always the better, faster, more reliable option. So, essentially, we have a broadband cable monopoly here. If what I learned in high school was right, then a monopoly is unlawful. I have a hard time trusting that a government maintained internet service would be anywhere near as good as many other advanced countries in the world (Japan).

Anyways, enjoy your new Mac App Store and hope for more awesome in the future!