I like Apple products. I like Microsoft products, too, but anymore it’s best to pick one software ecosystem and stick with it so all your notes and reminders and messages can work on all your devices. There are three major options: Apple, Microsoft, and Google (though Chromebooks probably aren’t strong enough yet for most people to go all Google, and Linux could possibly be added to this list).
I have to have a Mac, because I do a good bit of graphic design for my side business, and Macs have always been the designer’s top choice. To be honest, for me it comes down to aesthetics: I like to do graphic design on a beautiful machine (hardware and software). Windows machines have improved greatly in recent years, but I already bought into the Apple ecosystem before that.
But I could never go all-Apple, because I couldn’t afford an iPhone. When a used iPhone 3GS started hitting the $100-mark, I flirted with the idea. But at that time I couldn’t find an affordable plan that would fit my and my wife’s needs. The best I could do was a new T-Mobile plan that was $30/mo. with weird restrictions on minutes.
I asked several people what seemed like a simple question: “What’s the cheapest way to have an iPhone?” I wanted to go all Apple so we could sync messages and reminders and everything, but I wanted affordable iPhones and (more importantly) an affordable plan. No one had a good answer.
As of two weeks ago, I finally found the magic formula: a used iPhone 4 for my wife, a used iPhone 4S for me (both from Swappa.com) and Ting.
Republic Wireless is cheaper if you don’t care about having an iPhone and don’t need any data (in other words, you’re always on WiFi). I almost went with them. But my wife and I decided to pay a little extra to have devices that worked seamlessly with our other devices—and to have a reasonable amount of data along with them. Now any message I send her shows up on her iPhone and iPad, and any message she sends me shows up on my iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and iMac. Same with grocery list items in Reminders. These simple things have been pretty worthwhile for us. And the rates are extremely reasonable and easy to understand: you pay for what you use.
I highly recommend Ting. See button below…
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