I barely seem to have sat down today!
So here’s a quick stream of consciousness post about the main launch event for Three’s MumsOnTheGo yesterday, before I lose it all. I’ll probably miss lots out, and no doubt come back to pontificate further at various points, but here’s a first try anyway.
First and foremost, it was great to go to an event where children had been considered. It was aimed at mums, and there was a creche laid on, activities for mums with kids and finally a celebrity for the children. Sadly my poor deprived child doesn’t actually watch CBeebies, so we had no idea who the lovely lady was, but the puppet monkey was cute 😉
Secondly, I’d like to again extend proper thanks to the team at Jojomamanbebe for helping me out with clothing. No disclosure required as this wasn’t a freebie (apart from transport 😉 ), all it was was I’d ordered dresses, they were the wrong size, and I left it too late to get the replacement sent out in time to reach home before I left iyswim. But they got in touch via twitter and arranged for my replacement to be sent to the event, meaning that when I turned up drenched in apple juice after a toddler style train drink disaster, I could swoop into the loos, baby wipes in hand and come out dressed to impress. And I love the dress too – so pleased I went bold and chose the plum instead of going for my standard black. (Apparently it was the founder who brought my dress over, so a big thanks for that too.)
And then, to the nitty gritty. Great fun, lots of gadgets to play with, and loads of stuff to learn. I think I’m pretty savvy when it comes to tech, but I’ve only actually been fiddling with smartphones on and off since November ish last year, so I know I’m still learning. I currently run an HTC Wildfire and have an HTC Desire HD on loan from Three. I don’t quite get the apple interest – I did have another play with one yesterday, but I’m still not seeing it. If you think you can enlighten me, there’s a lovely comment box below 😉
It was good to hear about apps that ppl like – no one else mentioned Swype or WordPress though, which surprised me a little. And while there was lots of discussion of shopping and money saving websites/apps like likebees and VoucherCloud, no mention of cashback sites like TopCashback (which I prefer to Quidco as you get all the cashback with TopCashback, and yes it’s a referral link, once you’ve signed up you get one too, and then you get extra money when you refer your mates. Win win).
And there was lots of chats about getting mums online to save them time and money, and what social networking can do for you. It’s a lifeline for lots of ppl, and I do wonder why more ppl aren’t using it, be it twitter, or blogs or facebook or forums. (And yes, I know I’m preaching to the converted here 😉 ) One thing I think could be helpful though is a budget smartphone package to get ppl started. I know that such things exist – but if you are just starting out, it’s bewildering trying to work out what you really need, and what is just bells and whistles. I’d love to see an absolute basic smartphone package, maybe featuring something like the HTC Wildfire or the Samsung Galaxy Apollo that dp has, that costs around £15 a month, but allows a sensible amount of internet usage, and comes with hints and tips on how to use the phone to save the cost of it, if that makes any sense. Perhaps one to punt to the marketing dept at Three 😉
Other than that, the person whose brains I’d have liked to pick most would have to be the one who chooses which phones they are going to stock. What a great job! Go and explore all the beautiful bits of gadgetry and choose a line up. Followed closely by whoever has most expertise in apps – I will get back in to programming one of these days, and Android could well be my way in.
But it’s late, and tomorrow is a horribly busy day, with appts left right and centre, so I’d best be off to bed. Whether you went or not, I’d love to hear what you think of this initiative – drop me a line, or ping me on twitter, use the #MumsOnThree hashtag because I’m keeping an eye on that. And like I said, more to come soon.
Disclosure. I was given expenses to attend this event. Opinions nevertheless are my own.
I agree about the beginners package. I consider myself quite competent with technology but finding the time to sort out an affordable plan and phone was the one thing putting me off buying a smartphone. Eventually someone else advised me and I got an HTC Wildfire and pay as you go for ¡ò10 a month which I am very pleased with and I can definitely see a market for advertising that to people like me.
Yes, it’s not that we can’t do it, it’s that the range is so utterly bewildering and the prices so varied that it’s hard to know where to start. I quite like my Wildfire as well, and for 10gbp a month it’s an absolute bargain.
I was thinking of you as I rarely came across you on twitter these days. Imprresed with Jojo Maman Bebe’s customer service 🙂
I don’t seem to be getting on to twitter nearly as much as I used to sadly 🙁
I was impressed with their service too. Excellent all round.
My first foray into the smart phones arena is with my current iPhone 4, however Hubs uses the Samsung Galaxy and previously a host of varying android based smart phones. I do really really like all the things I can do on the iphone, browsing, email etc, and have found that it works a great deal smoother than the Android versions.
The navigation seems to be slightly different in how it’s set up, but i suspect that bit is just getting used to it.
And while I thoroughly enjoy using my phone for it’s countless abilities, it frustrates me no end that Apple continues to pick this bone with Flash. gggrrr….
Similarly the iPad is an amazing intuitive piece of kit, but the lack of Flash support for browsers (there’s paid for browser that does the videos) makes me mad because it would otherwise be such an amazing amazing learning tool -with all those free learning websites eg http://www.starfall.com
So, final word from me (sorry long comment ;)) I do like my iPhone but i would love it if it supported flash.
Thanks, that’s a really thoughtful contribution. How weird that Apple still doesn’t support Flash, must have been something personal going on there 😉
Budget smartphone: it’s my birthday on Saturday, and, inspired by one of your earlier blogs, I have decided to treat myself to a smartphone. I think I started with carphonewarehouse, looking at Samsung Galaxy Apollo (your suggestion) and HTC Wildfire (my dh’s suggestion); googled for reviews, watched youtube unboxing vids, and have settled on the Wildfire S. I used moneysavingexpert.com advice which sent me to comparison sites and cashback sites to pick the best deal. I’m just about place the order, which should work out after cashback etc at effectively ¡ò7.69 per month for a 24 month Orange contract with a free handset, 100 mins, unlimited texts and 250MB data (I’m not going to be a heavy user – I will mostly be using it to look up info on the go, and in the past 2.5 years, I’ve only sent 251 texts and used under 500 mins total). I didn’t find it that difficult. On the other hand, if I wasn’t comfortable with googling and poking about (ie if I was my mother, who can’t even work out how to read a text on the phone she’s had for several years!), I guess I would find it harder.
My work here is done 🙂
Seriously, I’m glad that we’ve been of some help. As I understand it the Wildfire S is that little step up and should be on a par with the Apollo. I hope you are very happy with it – and that’s an excellent price!