More so here in Asia than in the U.S., I notice many more mom & pop electronics repair shops.  I even see plenty of watch repair shops.  It’s still a culture of fix, than replace.  Need a new hard disk for your laptop, no problem.  Need a replacement keyboard, got it.  Anything can be fixed, and you’ll get more life out of your electronics.  Love that about Asia.  I remember a relative in the states whose Honda Accord was reaching 75,000 miles, and told me it’s old and he’s ready to get a new car.   Dude!!??

Why not mobile phones?  Wouldn’t it be great if we can have a custom chop shop (like for motorcycles) that had access to parts, and the know-how to not only replace OEM parts, but upgrade them as well?  Not everyone wants the newest 5.5″ monster phone, and phones that are 2 years old can feel obsolete.  Take my Nokia N8, my geek friends have to retain their smugness when they see my two year old, 3.5″ screened “mini” phone (heck, even Samsung is making Galaxy minis with 4.3″ screens!), running Symbian Belle (add puzzled look…).

Hey, I like my phone, okay?  Why should I follow the smart phone industry’s planned obsolescence, where every 6 months it seems our flagship phones feel outdated?  I’m sure many feel like I do, who like the older hardware, but reluctantly get the newer phones for the sake of the software and keeping up with the Wongs.

Here’s my crazy business idea, or fantasy.  Create a custom phone shop, where we can do crazy upgrades with older model phones.  Have a menu of available parts spec’d out, and a customer can go through the menu and choose what items they want.  Even a bump in RAM would be nice, but can you do that now?  NO!  How about customized apps?  Yes, I’m aware of custom firmware, but I’m thinking BIGGER!

Here’s what I would want for my Nokia N8 (no, a new paint job not necessary- but custom paint?  There’s an idea!):

• Improved screen – Screen size is fixed, but I’d like to upgrade it to a super-duper bright AMOLED with higher DPI a la retina screens, say 350dpi or above.  Whatever, just better!
• Higher capacity battery- Since the N8 has the cursed sealed battery design, let’s shove in a 2,200mAh battery – which should keep it going for a couple of days at least…
• Let’s got for Android Jelly Bean, just for kicks.  Or, just upgrade it to Belle FP2, like it’s flagship, the 808 PV. Windows?  I’ll have to think about that one.  Or even swypee Meego, that would be sweet, but with all the apps I want!
• Upgrade the processor – Any core, 1.5GHz processor would do.  Just fast.
• Upgrade memory – How about 1GB RAM, 1GB ROM to eliminate any memory issues..
• Upgrade to Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, Wireless charging.
• Throw in 4G LTE for fun.
• Camera software interface from the Galaxy Camera.
• Add a laser pointer.  Fine, I teach online, not in a classroom, but still that would be awesome.

Of course I know there are real world, practical limitations to this – size, compatibility of parts, etc., but I’m sure a group of brilliant laid off Nokia engineers can figure it out.  That’s why I called it a ‘crazy’ idea, remember?

I think you get the drift.  If you had/have a favorite (older) phone, what would you do to update it if you could?  Be the first to comment on my dusty ol’ blog, and you’ll win…. a virtual sweaty hug for the ol’ geek garage captain!

Happy un-birthday to you, and I’m guessing my birthday wish won’t come true, but you never know…

I’ve been following Nokia for the past 2-3 years now, and own an N8 as my daily phone.  There’s no questioning that the Finnish company has the engineering to make great phones, but when it comes to product announcements, they always leave me dumbfounded.

Even if I wasn’t a Psychologist, you don’t need a social science background to know that a product launch is your best exposure for your new products.  Just look at Google news, and you’ll see all the tech blogs, business sites, covering the launch, and commenting about the new 820 & 920 Windows phones announced on Sept. 5th.

I watched the product announcement live, eagerly awaiting to see if Nokia/MS can exceed my expectations.  However, like product launches in past years, Nokia left out essential information that would help the consumer to make the decision to move to a Windows Nokia smart phone (as noted in the WSJ article below).  They can learn a thing or to by watching the Apple events, where key information for the press, and the consumer is announced.  When you don’t announce them, it gives the impression that you are not ready, disorganized, and makes it very difficult for a consumer to plan a purchase (what carrier, cost, shall I upgrade, etc.).

Here’s a summary of my review of the Nokia product launch (not about the phones, I’m focusing on the presentation):

The Good:

• Nice quality intro video with 3D effects.
• Provided general specs of both phones
• Showed off accessories that uses NFC technology, from headphones to JBL portable speakers
• Wireless charging capability & accessories, and corporate partnerships where wireless charging will be available.
• Pureview camera technology with image stabilization displayed.

• No launch date announced.
• No US carriers announced.
• No prices announced (subsidized or unlocked)
• Country availability not announced.
• Spent much more time on 920 then 820.  Should have introduced the 820, then dazzle the audience with the better 920, and highlight the differences (screen, camera, battery, etc).
• No mention of special promotion for existing Lumia 800 and 900 owners (who are stuck with WP7.8, not upgradeable to 8.0), who should be rewarded for being early adopters and get free or deeply discounted upgrades to either phone.
• No “Where to buy” information (carrier stores, Nokia or Microsoft stores, Amazon or any other online outlets).
• Demos were long and tiring.  CEOs and Engineers don’t always make the best engaging speakers.  Suggest they use more pre-produced videos, and keep show and tell to a minimum.  Video glitch during presentation didn’t help.
• Avoid saying, “..will announce at a later date.”  It’s like having spinach in your teeth on a blind date…
• If videos contain simulated material, say so up front – as it was not mentioned in the presentation, and only in fine print in their blog.  As a company you’re skating on thin ice, so give NO reason for bad publicity.
• Venue felt small and cheap.  With a larger audience, you create more buzz (see 2011 Nokia World as an example).  You can hear a crowd clapping with enthusiasm, not just a few distant noises as in this one.
• Give away freebies to the developers, like free phones and accessories. Give them something to cheer about. Most importantly, you’re doing something unexpected.

Nokia Conversations – Nokia 820 & 920

What Nokia Didn’t Tell Us About the New Lumia – Digits – WSJ.

For those of us who follow the mobile phone industry, Sept. 5th is going to be an interesting day.  Nokia and MIcrosoft are slated to unveil the new Windows Phone 8 smart phones today, and most analysts are calling this the ‘make or break’ event for Nokia.   Actually, it seems that every Nokia product unveiling has been labelled “make or break.”

I like following the tech saga – it’s our geek version of the Korean Soap operas, we just have to follow and see what happens, and who comes out on top.

The next 2 months should be fun – Amazon is slated to announce (a set) the new Kindles, Apple with it’s new iPhone and iPad mini (rumored).  It’s like the beginning of the NFL season, which happens to be today as well.  Both football fans and techies can certainly have their fanboys and brand loyalties.  I just enjoy watching as an observer, and see who rises, and who falls.

Webcast – Nokia.

So, what am I going to post about?

Who knows, how about”whatever I feel like posting?” for starters…

Like these cool classic cars I saw at the auto repair shop yesterday… a Lotus & a Citroen.  I don’t feel the need to spread the word about my Thai mechanic’s shop, as he’s got plenty of business… but there’s always something cool being worked on there.

Later!

Disclaimer: This is my personal reflection upon the past few years of tech blogging and my hobby, not designed to be a prescription or commentary about anyone else’s habits or preferences.

~~~~

After messing around here with my WP blog (which changed URLs several times so I’m not what it’s called now), as well as on Twitter (from @Jackventures, @JGotpassport, @callingbubba then @Nokia_Ninja), I’ve come to the conclusion that this ‘hobby’ of mine has become quite a distraction-at first a welcome one-but ultimately one that served little purpose other than to kill my time.

That’s why I’ve decided to shut down my Twitter account, @Nokia_Ninja (yes, you may grab it after it expires), and will close this blog, by allowing the URL to expire.   The Facebook group will remain, as it’s small, and a fun place to chat with friends.

My obsession with gadgetries, mostly mobile/smart phones, replaced my obsession with cars back in the states, fueled by the folks at Nokia Connects, who first contacted me via Twitter & sent me a trial phone from their marketing program a couple of years back (No, I don’t blame you guys, like an alcoholic shouldn’t blame the breweries).  I wasn’t much of a mobile phone enthusiast until I started tinkering with the free Nokias.  As a Psychologist, I can see clearly that smart phones are extremely reinforcing, with bright colorful screens, 24/7 connections to the web, endless apps to search from and play with, not to mention FB and Twitter streams; so the tinkering never ends really.  I was basically a lab rat in a very enticing Skinner Box.

I found that my tinkering and obsession served little productive purpose in the end (Fine, I did meet and chat with interesting people in the industry, and the FB group is fun…).  It did not land me a job at Tech Crunch or CNET to replace my day job, but a little attention and glee from getting tweets from fellow independent tech bloggers, and a free T-shirt from Nokia.  I’m a consumer of the product, not a product maker, developer, or engineer.  So what I am doing really, other than taking valuable time away from my ‘day job’ of teaching ,and from my family?

So, as of today, my Nokia N8 is on the shelf.  I put my SIM card into our ‘backup’ Asia dual band phone, a Nokia x1-01, a phone that’s as simple as it gets.  No wifi, no 3G, no Edge, no web browser, not even a camera. Just a dual SIM phone with a loud ass speaker and Kindle-like battery life.

I can tell you that after a few days, it was quite refreshing to not have a phone in my hand at all times.  I kept it in my pocket, or Thai “man bag,” and it was out of sight while we were out and about and being with people. I didn’t have to worry about plugging my smartphone with the car charger, swiping at the touch screen for no reason, or using the GPS when I knew my way around anyway (yeah, you do it, too).  My phone is now a basic communication device. No more wasted Bahts on apps, and on the occasional data connection just to check in on Foursquare or non-urgent emails.  Even my wife A has noticed that I’m much more focused and less distracted.  I pay more attention to the person I’m speaking with.  I am eating meals or doing basic things without the constant swiping on a screen. I feel I’m a better role model for M, who won’t have a lasting image of her childhood with her Daddy constantly playing on a phone.

I’m sure withdrawal symptoms will kick in after a while, so I need to keep an eye out for the itch… I know kicking the smart phone habit isn’t easy.  Again, I’m not prescribing this for everyone, nor am I saying using a smart phone is BAD, only that it has been BAD for ME.

I’ve always preached a life of simplicity, but with my smartphone obsession, it became less so.  I would read incessantly about mobile industry news, via Twitter, or Google Reader, then save them to Read it Later, watch new phone announcements from MacWorld or Mobile World Congress, or Nokia World; and listen to endless tech podcasts.  And for what ends? Just entertainment. But like any habit, it can become too much and take the place of other important things in life.

If I were a single guy in college, with tons of free time, then yeah, doing unboxing videos and detailed reviews of the latest free SMS app might be a productive pursuit.  I might end up without a girlfriend, but have multiple tech blogging gigs, and be one of the fresh faces of tech.

I’m a middle aged (exactly 45, a good mid life point I assume) guy, with wife, child and many responsibilities, and I need to put an end to the obsessing.  I’m not saying a guy my age should NOT have a career in tech.  I would like to think I can just turn down the volume knob, but I know myself too well: as long as I have a smartphone that is connected to the web, I’ll be using Twitter, Facebook, and search for apps anywhere I go, to no end.  I literally go to bed with it, because I had the really nice ‘night clock’ app and customized alarm chime.  Oh brother.

Well, we’ll see how this cold turkey experiment will turn out.  I do know from my Psychology background, that it’s not easy to cease any behavior, especially one as reinforcing as this one.  Smart phones are a great time waster, for idle moments to fill your hands with something to do.  So the key is not to “not” do it, but to replace that idle time with something else.  Behavior “replacement” is a better fitting term than behavior “modification.”

So, I think I would be better off obsessing about my child’s education, focusing on our long term finances, and travel goals.  Focusing on doing chores around the house, and also some fun things, like reading books again, or doing tai chi and playing sports. I could use my time to more actively pursue contract work, which would bring in extra income, compared to tweeting about Nokias.

For me, today’s smart phones do too much, too easily.  So, my beloved N8 is now for sale. If you’re in Thailand, shoot me an email (gotpassport2atgmail) and it can easily be dropped off or mailed to you.  If not sold I will post it on Ebay this summer back in the states.

Basically, here’s what I want to ‘replace’ my smart phone and habits with:  A basic phone with the wonderful Nokia navigation.  That’s one smart phone tool that has come in handy and would not want to lose all the points of interest I’ve saved over the years (locations are synced to my Nokia account in the cloud, so they’re not lost).  So, when the summer rolls around, I will use the N8 funds for a simpler, cheaper phone with navigation, and replace A’s phone (terrible HTC touch pro2, sigh) also with a simple messaging phone.  Neither of us want a true, always connected smart phone.  We both do enough work online as it is, and we both want our non-work pursuits to be more active and offline if possible.

Wait, what about the awesome N8 camera?  Will I miss it?  Of course, but taking random shots out of boredom only created a mass of photos that I could never manage.  So, if I take pictures, it will be with my Canon SX200, a wonderful portable camera with a nice zoom lens.  I won’t shoot and upload anymore, which is a good thing.  Hey, if I were a warzone correspondent then I’d definitely have a smart phone with a full time data connection.  But I’m not, so I don’t need it.  I think a basic photography class is in order.. See what I can do with my time now?

Well, there you have it.  It was fun playing around with my personal tech blog.  Now that I don’t tweet about tech anymore, I’ve ‘replaced’ it with a psychology related Twitter account, following education and psychology related information.  If that floats your boat, find me at @GotPsych (yeah, it was available, couldn’t believe it), or at @GotPassport of course.  I dont’ tweet much, but use it to tweet out my psychology related podcasts from cinch.fm/dr_c.  If you like my psych lectures, you can find them via iTunes (search cinch feed for dr. c), or Cinch app on iOS – iphone or ipod/ipad.

No more Bubba, Ninja, or Jay, it’s now just me, Jack.

Here’s a photo of a water lilly, in a beautiful nursery. Amazing what you can do on an N8, with macro mode, and onboard editing tools.  This photo was edited entirely on the phone, including the watermark.  Then uploaded from the phone to smugmug (no app, just use a special smugmug email), then I can share it from there.  Or, I can post it directly using cutepress app to wordpress as well, as I’ve done in previous posts.

With all the attention focused on iOS, Android, and even Windows Phone, I’m finding plenty of quality apps for Symbian Belle.
In any case, the photo was edited on the phone, with tools like cropping, color adjustment, and various effects such as adding text.
By the way, writing short posts is not bad with swype keyboard.
You can also read more about the novice ceremony in Thailand, a male rite of passage celebration, on our family blog, gotpassport.org

After renting for one month, we made the decision to buy a car of our own.  To me, it was more stressful in a way to drive a rental (owned by an individual, not a company) than to drive a car I own.

After searching a bit through online classifieds, I stumbled upon an ad for an older BMW, under our budget, and seemingly well kept.  It’s a 1986 BMW 316, 5 speed manual with 1.8L carb engine.  Of course the age of the car concerned me, as it was nearly 10 years older than the rental. Another factor is that I’ve always owned Hondas, so getting a bimmer would be outside of my comfort zone.  After talking to the owner, a British ex-pat, who is an engineer and seemed to know his way around Beemers, and then driving the car, I felt it was a good enough gamble to take on a well-kept older car, than to pay double for a mid 90s economy car (resale values for older Hondas and Toyotas were quite high).

Through the owner, I now have access to a shop that specializes in Euro cars, places to get parts, and even a place to get recycled tires if needed. Given that the purchase price was so low, I was okay with the possibility of paying a little more for parts & service.

Anyway, here is my first set of pictures, taken with my Nokia N8, of course, and edited on Picasa (yes, I know I went crazy with the editing tools..).  I will, given the time, post updates on how the Bimmer is doing.

Enjoy, geeks!

Click here to view the photo slideshow!