My Thoughts

August 15, 2010

The iPhone Experience

Sometime around January I had decided that I would upgrade to the next iPhone model once it was released. I wasn't really concerned as to what it was as I'm sure it would be better than the previous model which was already great. I had toyed with the idea of upgrading last year, but the timing and contract plans weren't quite right. But this time around, everything was aligning, my contract was nearly up and plans that met my criteria were available. So with that decision already made I carefully watched the news for anything on the upcoming iPhone model. It slowly trickled out until Apple made the official announcement of the iPhone 4. It was a little disappointing that Canada would be in the second wave of deliveries, but what is another few weeks when I've been waiting months. Rogers soon put up the new iPhone teaser on their webpage with a form to sign up to receive more information as soon as it was available. I obviously put my name down right away. As time ticked along, the first wave of deliveries went out in the US and the news started floating in. Apple shipped large quantities of the phones, but still wasn't able to keep up with demand, nearly instantly selling out. And then came the antenna issues. That was a little of a downer to have an imperfection already identified, but not too bad of an issue really, when analyzed. Time continued to pass and still no information was available about the Canadian release. Rogers sends out an email to all those that signed up: We have no information, stop calling us. Apple holds a press conference to address the Antenna issues, announce free cases and the Canadian date: July 30.

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July 06, 2010

Eyeglasses Online

I haven't considered shopping online for glasses until just recently. So far I felt it was worth it to pay any mark up and be able to shop in person and ensure I was getting the absolute best since I wear glasses all day every day. But a couple things changed my mind recently. When I went shopping for glasses at the doctors office, they didn't really have that great a selection and they weren't really all the interested in selling me some. Since I didn't really find anything I wanted and nothing else was forth coming there, I decided to leave without buying anything. When I got home, it started to occur to me that I could actually shop online. But this was only because of a few circumstances that hadn't been true before. While browsing for frames the ones I ended up picking were nearly identical in shape and size to what I was currently wearing and when I got home, I searched through my old frames to find my last pair were also nearly identical as well. Furthermore most of my previous frames were of the same size. That narrowed it right now, it would be easy to find frames of the same shape and size online instead of having to try them on in person. And secondly I now had an up to date prescription in hand. So I browsed a few places online and could generally find a suitable frame at each one. From past experience I know that my prescription and lens requirements won't work with the advertised prices on most sites but still I found the prices to be vastly cheaper. To the point where I would save hundreds of dollars.

I looked around a few of the bigger sites online and there were lots of comparable options. I had it narrowed down to just a handful based on who had the best prices for the top end lenses I need/want, namely Zenni Optical, 39DollarGlasses.com and EyeBuyDirect.com. I ended up settling on clearlycontacts.ca. They are the only one really setup especially for Canada, and offer a 100% refund on returns. The coupon code I found at RFD for 20% off pushed their prices in line with the others from the US. The only gotcha I found so far with is the handling and insurance fee tacked on at the very end...not quite free shipping after all. Some interesting things I noticed while shopping, almost every place I looked at a fairly limited set of frame options although I was able to find a couple I liked at each place, but none of them really had any of the same frames. The prices for everything from frames to lenses to coatings varied quite dramatically between the different vendors. Several places have a virtual try on feature where you can upload a picture and overlay the frames on top of it, which can be quite handy. Picking out frames still proved to be quite challenging even with the very limited parameters I was using. Even when looking very closely at all the pictures and options for viewing the frames, subtle differences were easy to miss sometimes. But in the end I got something I'm quite satisfied with for around $400 less than the alternative. I'm looking to try another location to buy some prescription sunglasses as well.

Update: About a month after receiving my glasses from Clearly Contacts I managed to trip and fall into a rock face first. There was a little damage to the glasses as a result, some scrapped paint and a bent nose piece. I emailed Clearly Contacts asking how I could buy a replacement frame. But instead I simply got an email back telling me to send the glasses in and they would swap out the frames. A short time later and they sent me a brand new set of frames and lenses for no charge.

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May 16, 2010

Mirrored

I think I've aimed my side mirrors in the "traditional" sense since I got my driver's license. That is, they point so you can just see the side of the car. Although over time I've pushed them out a little bit more. But recently I decided I would try the other method of setting my mirrors so the sides cover the blind spots and there is continuous coverage through all three mirrors.

At first it was a bit tricky as I constantly caught sight of cars in my peripheral vision and it was disconcerting, but now I've adapted and have found there are both advantages and disadvantages. First off, it is a great help in displaying the blind spots and making lane changing easier. I think thats the only advantage though. For me I've found a couple disadvantages. My car came with tint on the 3 rear windows so I've come to rely on the side mirrors to help with visibility while backing up, especially at night. In dark conditions that blind spot behind me just got a whole lot bigger. The other disadvantage I've noticed is that I can no longer look behind and beside me. This is useful when merging, changing from a slower to faster lane or monitoring turn signals of cars behind.

I'm not sure which alignment I'll end up sticking with, for now it's easier to leave them set as is. Ideally there is a case for both positions. I know there are some cars which will move mirrors between two positions depending on the circumstance. For example, when equipped a certain way, my car can be had with a feature that tips the mirrors in and down when in reverse. I would guess at some point someone has come up with a feature to flip the mirrors out when you put on a turn signal while in motion. The blind spot monitoring systems might also be an idea, although the one car I tried with it, never seemed to work.

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