Dreamer's World July 5 2016

     After a rather uneventful holiday, I am looking forward to another day of vacation today. With luck, Hal (person) and I will be able to get out and enjoy some time together without the holiday traffic getting in our way.

     This is a beautiful day compared to the rain and gloomy weather we had all day yesterday. I hope that we can enjoy it peacefully. 

     Google Project Fi continues to impress me each day. I am falling more and more in love with their service. It is only a matter of time until I cut the cord to my current cellular provider, and I am going to try and make that as soon as possible. When Hal and I were out today, I had no trouble making and receiving calls and my internet connection remained solid.

     One of our friends who visited yesterday was asking me about Project Fi and my Nexus 5X. He sounded interested until I told him that the service is not available on iPhone. At that point, he completely lost interest. He isn't the most tech savvy person in the world and fits squarely into the cubicle that Apple has mapped out for him. He is hesitant to change anything at all in his life, although he is fond of constantly complaining about how miserable he is. I can't help him with most of his numerous problems, but I did try to tell him all I could about Project Fi. THe other friend sounded more interested, but he was noncommittal about things. I don't expect him to make the switch anytime soon either.

     For me, I used Android in the past and the adjustment is not that difficult. I have enjoyed my time with the iPhone, it is a great device, but it isn't worth the exorbitant price that Apple wants to charge everyone each year when they release another iPhone. I checked with my current provider about an upgrade and found out that to upgrade to the newest (6S Plus) would cost me $300 up front with the remaining $600+ spread out over 2 years. That is completely nuts! What will Apple demand for the next iPhone? The mind boggles. As much as I appreciate the quality of Apple products, the company continues to march away from what made them great, and that is the bond between users and the company. Now, we are nothing more than customers and bank accounts. The old "Freaks and Geeks" from Apple's early days are long gone only to be replaced by sterile, interchangeable automatons in Apple t shirts at the stores who are programmed to get you to buy, buy, and buy some more.

     When my company provided me with a Surface Pro 4, I didn't object because that was the company's decision for an upgrade. I have found it to be an extremely reliable device. In fact, earlier this year I took some of my tax refund and purchased one for myself. As my antipathy towards Apple grows, I realize that I am actually talking myself into switching away altogether in favor of the SP4 or of course, the Chromebooks that I already have. The Apple ecosystem seems to be constricting inwards on itself and appears to be burning the oxygen (customers) needed to sustain it at a faster rate than the oxygen (customers) can be replenished, but this is strictly a personal opinion. As I said, I would have no problem switching from iOS to Android, so that concern that my friend expressed really fell on deaf ears.

     One last thing worth mentioning. Hal The Cat experienced his first real visitors yesterday when our company arrived. Hal The Cat has been with us for 7 months now and we weren't quite sure what to expect from him when new people were around. I am pleased to day that he was jst as friendly with our guests as he always is with us. We would never allow anyone near The Stooges if we thought that there was any chance of a conflict. I personally believe that animals are a great judge of human character. In this case, Hal The Cat validated our friends without any trouble at all. There was talk of the guests cat-napping Hal, but we put a quick stop to that!