Farewell, AT&T

We’ve had a good run, AT&T, but I’m afraid our time is through. It’s not me, it’s you. Ever since 2008, I’ve been a loyal customer of yours. I told everyone that your service wasn’t terrible and that getting an iPhone was worth it, even if they had to get you alongside it.

Even when I was tempted with other options, I stuck by your side. And you stuck by mine, allowing me to keep my unlimited data plan. It is, ironically, what you have done with that unlimited plan that is why I am leaving you.

You see, I am sick of being throttled and am sick of the alerts telling me that I am using too much of my unlimited data. And I sure as hell don’t want to pay for FaceTime over a cellular network. It’s a new feature in iOS6, why prohibit its growth and how many people will be able to use it?

I haven’t changed, AT&T, you have. And that is why, come Friday, my number will be switching to Verizon. I hope Verizon takes better care of me and appreciates my service. We’ve had our good times, but now, that’s all they are.

Do well for yourself, AT&T, and don’t lose hope. Maybe if you clean up your act, we can be friends again someday.

Sincerely,

Tyler Bell

Don’t Buy Another Stylus

“God gave us ten styluses … Let’s not invent another.” — Steve Jobs

Let’s face it, Steve Jobs was right, using your finger to interact with the touch interface of an iOS device is intuitive and extremely easy to do. In most cases.

A counter-example: I take my iPad to almost every lecture with me and use it to annotate my PDF textbooks, write down assignments, and take hand-written notes. Use cases such as these is where the finger begins to fail in regards to the touch interface, especially with larger fingers such as mine.

To solve this issue in the past, I have purchased styluses from different retailers, and these have usually gotten the job done. The stylus isn’t used as my primary interaction device, but comes out when something needs to be written, drawn, or sketched.

Rubber-tipped styluses, however, have a tendency to wear out: the tip begins to turn soft and can even tear in places. The cost of replacing a stylus isn’t much (usually $15 for a decent pen), but that can quickly add up.

My new solution? Creating one for myself. A few years ago I watched a tutorial on how to make your own stylus, but I could never come across all of the appropriate materials to MacGyver myself a workable pen. If you can find the materials, here’s what you’ll need to make your own:

• Empty ball-point pen casing
• Copper wiring
• (Electrical) tape
• Conductive foam

The material that always eluded me was the conductive foam, but I was lucky enough to randomly come into some at my internship this last summer. Creating a stylus, once you have the basic materials, is extremely easy to do. It saves money and is a fun, hands-on chance to create something practical.

The first stylus I made:

The second one I made got a little cleaner:

Follow this tutorial to see how it’s done:

If you end up creating one of your own, send me a picture of it, I’d love to see your creation!