Bond. James Bond. It’s that kind of cool.

Have you ever wanted to spy on your own website? Just to see where users are clicking on your site. Well now you can.  Do you know where people spend the most time on your website? Now you can collect data about it. We recently obtained the ability to use heat mapping technology to track exactly where users click (and where they don’t). This allows you to see which elements on your website are attracting the most eyes- and the most clicks. This data can help you test what works and what doesn’t in converting website traffic to actual paying customers.

The way it works is simple. Like Bond going to Q for cuff link lasers, we would put the technology on your site for a month and you’ll find out more about your traffic during that period than you would in months of looking at analytics. A color coded screen shows where people are moving around your site and where they are coming from to get to your site. It shows where they move the mouse (red for well traveled parts, blue for not so much). This gives you feedback about the parts of your website that are literally left out in the cold, shown no love, (insert your own cliché here). It’s kind of like measuring the Feng Shui of your website- although that sounds like an enemy of 007. Regardless, that kind of information is powerful in terms of marketing your business online. It can help you answer a lot of questions such as “Are people seeing what I want them to see?”; “Are they reading my text?” or “Are they clicking on my contact form?” Now you can find out as if you’re looking over their shoulder while they surf. To find out more, give us a call or email us. Of course, it’s our website, we know where you’ve been.

There’s a ton of chatter and speculation about all the changes that Google has made to their algorithm this year, and there’s a lot of reason for that. Google has announced that they made 52 changes in April (2012). As a small business owner, you need to know which of these changes are relevant to your website rankings and how to react to these changes. We thought we’d try to help you clarify some things.

Which changes are relevant to your web page rankings?

The following changes have the biggest impact on the position of your web pages on Google's search result pages:

§  Improvements to how search terms are scored in ranking. One of the most fundamental signals used in search is whether your search terms appear on the pages you’re searching. If they appear on the site, it’s also to consider how. This change improves the way those terms are scored. For many sites, this simply means we need to go back and do more advanced keyword research and optimize for different keywords. Keep in mind, many sites took a hit because they were over optimized for too many keywords. Without a lot of unique text on the page, having too many keywords confuses the search engines and will result in a drop in rankings.

§  Keyword stuffing classifier improvement. We have classifiers designed to detect when a website is keyword stuffing- putting too many keywords on the page just to rank. This change made the keyword stuffing classifier better. The “fix” is to place keywords on the page in a relevant, natural way.

§  More authoritative results. We’ve tweaked a signal we use to surface more authoritative content. This means they are striving to give users relevant content for the keywords they search. Unfortunately, the results are mixed on this which means more algorithm adjustments are on the way.

§  More domain diversity. Sometimes search returns too many results from the same domain. This change helps surface content from a more diverse set of domains.

These first two items probably refer to the Penguin and Panda updates that Google released last month. Other items in the update list referred to site links. Some search results might get two layers of site links instead of a text snippet. Google also updated the algorithm for local searches and the way titles are displayed for some pages.

What to do?

Whenever you see a drop in rankings, it’s natural to want to panic. Keep in mind, Google makes mistakes as well. Some of the adjustments they make to their algorithm is to fix these mistakes which means results will “bobble” up and down. Getting good rankings will always depend upon good keyword research (are we focusing on what the customers are typing into the search box?), proper usage of these keywords and a diverse backlink strategy which includes conversations about your business in social media outlets.

A website audit can often identify some of the issues the search engines may be having with your site. If you have concerns, feel free to give us a call. We’ll see how we can help.

It's the end of summer, but surf's up at Google! So, hold onto your (key)boards and enjoy the ride. Today, we learned that they changed their search algorithm again. This time they’re focusing on websites with domain names that have hyphens in them. They’re considered “spammy”.  So, www.your-site-name-atlanta.com gets de-indexed. That’s right. Tossed out of the search results altogether while www.yoursitename.com/atlanta hangs ten (that's my surfer dude lingo for "does well"). It’s just another major change in the rules that most people didn’t see coming. As a result, hundreds of thousands if not millions of legitimate, non-spammy sites just got tossed into a major time out. We have no idea right now if this is a permanent change to Google’s search algorithm or if this is a preview of a coming attraction. We’ll have to wait and see.

The reality is that many business owners are completely confused about what Google is doing with their search algorithm. Truthfully, so are many SEO experts, but the good news is that we’ve had enough time to test out a few things and a pattern is starting to emerge. It might be helpful if we shared a brief bit about the biggest changes Google has tossed at us recently.

Panda Update

First, a lot of people find all this stuff very technical, so it’s easy to get lost. Simply put, Google used a panel of quality raters to look at hundreds of websites in order to determine “user friendliness”. Issues like user navigation, content credibility, trustworthiness of information, etc were rated. They asked questions to the raters like “Would you trust this site with your credit card? Or, would you trust the medical information on this site to use with your kids? User metrics like time spent on the site, number of pages looked at, how diverse the traffic is to the site, etc were also looked at to help determine which sites seemed to be quality and which ones weren’t. Sites of quality were given higher ratings and the others dropped rankings. This was a complete change in the algorithm and changed the game for SEO. It didn’t matter how good your content was, or how much you had, or how good your backlinks were. The overall user friendliness of the site and the user metrics were what mattered. Suddenly, SEO experts were forced into a different paradigm. They were forced into being web strategists because now, everything about the site matters. Google has issued numerous tweaks to this update since it came out in April of last year.

Penguin Update

The Google Penguin update also changed the way we do SEO. While Panda was about the user experience and feel of the site, Penguin was about spam. Just as your email most likely has a spam filter that sifts through what’s important and what’s not. Google placed a spam filter on its search results and sites that have backlinks that they don’t like lost rank as a penalty. What used to be common and acceptable SEO practice in backlinking techniques is now considered spam and will hurt the site rankings. It was a major change in the rules. We now realize that backlinking is still important. It’s just that the links need to be more diverse and involve more social media elements. This update went into effect in late April of this year and we are just now getting enough data together to know what adjustments will work and which ones won’t. In fact, Google announced that they made 52 changes in the algorithm in April alone!

It’s a fair comparison to think of a change in the search algorithm like a wave on the ocean. Each one shapes the beach in some slight manner while others hit so hard, they change the shape of the continent.

The main point is that we are adjusting along with the search engines and will continue to find appropriate, acceptable ways to get our clients higher in the rankings, increased traffic and more business. We love to make your phone ring.

In this day and age, there are larger companies swallowing up smaller companies left and right.  Wal-Mart builds a store, and the small businesses flee to higher ground, to take cover from the econo-box onslaught of lower prices.  And in this day and age, with the cost of goods--  all goods, at a premium, you can't blame the average consumer or business owner for watching their expenses.  So how is a small business owner to compete against the big boys?

There are lots of ways.  Here's Make It Loud's list...

1. Provide a kind of service that others cannot provide.  Your service does not even have to be unique, because people don't normally mind spending the extra dollar if they can get an education or good service at the same time.  Let me give you an example.  I would rather drive the extra mile to go to a hardware store where someone can help me to find the product I need, and tell me how to use it.  I can certainly go into Home Depot or Lowes to buy it cheaper--  a little--  BUT, what good is a nail if you don't know how to use it?  That's where the little guy comes in.  Most Home Depot associates are reasonably unhelpful when it comes to installation, or knowing about the product.  They're quite good at telling you what aisle the product resides on, but beyond that--  negative.  For the record, the writer of this blog post things that the big box store that will win the contest is the one where EVERYTHING is in the same place in EACH store.  That means that if I walked into a Wal-Mart in Idaho, or one in France, I'd find everything in the same place.  Think of the expense it would save each store in the manpower required to answer this simple question, "Where can I find...  (insert your widget or discount store item here)."  At least Wal Mart stores have a few designs you can easily memorize to find the items you need.  Lowes and Home Depot? Forget it.  
2. Proivide as much relationship as you do a product or a service.  One of the great things about life is that you always want your friends to "win," and they want you to win too.  If you offer good relationship to your clients (as well as a good product or service) and build a friendship with them even if it's built around business, they'll recommend you to others.  Why?  Because they want their friends to win.  
3. Have a Great Web Presence.  I call a website the great equalizer.  Most every business on the web can afford a good website.  Small or large, medium or other, a good web presence is affordable, available to all, and easy to have created for your company.  It is the yellow page book of our day, allowing people to window-shop from afar, as they peer into the electronic window that is your website.  Can most small business owners afford the hundreds of thousands of pages that Wal-Mart or Home Depot has?  No.  Do you need a site of that magnitude to do business effectively?  Also, a resounding no.  You can be just as effective in your environment as anyone else can be on the web.  The great thing about a website is that it fits into the screen of your monitor one page at a time, and your business, big or small, can occupy that same page on that same monitor screen.  Many people would rather do business with a small business too, which might even give you a leg up.  If by some stretch of the imagination you don't have a website by now...  get on board-- your business' survival likely depends on it.  Not only that, but search engine optimization services are also affordable for small business owners, giving them opportunities in niche environments and in local marketing geographic areas.  Many small business owners ignore such SEO possibilities because they think they're too expensive.  This is absolutely not true-- in fact, most small business owners, when they investigate and run the actual numbers, find that they can significantly improve their bottom line by optimizing their website, and make great money at it.  Even with the recent changes in Google, if your optimization is done well, you weather those storms on the 'net without much difficulty.  
4. Pray. Yah, we've found that it actually works, and what have you got to lose???  Little known story--  Make It Loud's owner lived in the downtown area of a very small town.  In came Wal Mart, Lowes, and a nice mall.  Everyone was scared.  A few businesses closed on Main Street.  10 years later?  Main Street was flourishing and the mall was empty.  It can happen.

If you need a consultation about SEO or Web Design, by all means our company, Make It Loud, can at the very least help you to discover if SEO or a good website fits into your budget.  It doesn't cost anything to find out--  and we'd be honored to serve you, face to face--  when geographically possible.  Feel free to conact us by email at:  info@makeitloud.net, visit our website at: www.makeitloud.net, or call us at: 678.325.4007.  Even if you're not local to Gwinnett or Atlanta, we'd be happy to do an assessment by Skype or phone.

With the advent of the iPhone, the iPad, and the Android operating system (which operates both on tablet and cell phone), our world has changed.  Apps are cheap--  so much so that Yahoo is already declaring the demise of $60 video games, especially with the death of the Wii.  More than that, it's the end of traditional search as we know it, with computing becoming more and more mobile as technology has forged ahead.  About 3 years ago, it was declared "the year of the laptop," and this past year, some have called "the year of the smartphone."  With all the smartphones being sold out there, and Apple getting in bed with both Sprint and Verizon, no wonder.  Data speeds on cell phone networks have never been better with the advent of 4g LTE, and let's face it, the world is using these things. 

The most recent statistics I saw said that in the smartphone market, iPhone had a whopping 34% of that market with Android right on it's tail at 33%--  and this was before iPhone was released on Verizon and Sprint.  We don't honestly expect for Blackberry to last.  Sorry "brick" fans with your nice touchable querty keyboards, which honestly, I miss so I could text and drive at the same time while my eyes were still on the road.  Peripherally speaking, this author is VERY SURPRISED that the DOT of most states hasn't come after smartphone makers, as automotive accidents have got to be increased since the advent of the smartphone--  because it requires you to look at the keyboard while you're driving--  thus, sharing the attention of your eyes on the road with your pretty smartphone screen.  Back to my original thought though--  there are lots of these mobile devices out there, and the statistics don't even include tablet computing which uses a mobile OS as it's platform.  With mobile computing devices now becoming commonplace, it is inevitable that search is now moving in the direction of these new mobile computing platforms.  Simply put, if you don't have a mobile website for your company, you're missing out--  already. 

Late last year, the prediction was that 1 in 4 searches in 2012 would be done through a mobile device--  either a tablet or a smartphone.  The reality is that most people have these devices now, and yes, they're using them to search.  Our findings show that people are using their iPhones and Androids to search even more than that.

If your website is not mobile friendly, when a prospective client comes to visit your site, you'll be left out in the cold.  Why?  Because the text on your site is likely created to look optimal on a desktop machine or a laptop, and not a mobile device.  This means that when someone does find you on the 'net, the text and images on your site will be *really small*  and generally unreadable without enlarging the images on the screen via a series of finger motions. 

Mobile websites are generally easy to add, and reasonably priced.  What we recommend is that at minimum, each of our clients at the very least have a mobile landing page for their business websites.  With that, you want the telephone number prominently placed front and center on the site, and in text, because these smartphones can identify a telephone number printed in text, so that when someone simply clicks it, it auto-dials the number.  Pretty cool, huh? 

So it's time.  If you've not touched your website in 2-3 years, it's time to redesign it anyways, and you want to be sure that when you redesign, you add a mobile page.  If you're a Make It Loud client, your website supports mobile computing, however the page still needs to be created and enabled, which you can do by alerting the folks at MIL who will create a page for you and enable it for a modest fee. 

So go search, but on your smartphone.

Peace,

John Lehmberg
Owner
Make It Loud, Inc.

 

When I was in middle school I can remember reading George Orwell's 1984.  At the time, the book seemed far fetched, with the whole idea that "Big Brother" was watching you at all times.  Star Trek seemed to be more comfortable with the idea, as video could be extracted from any place at any time, absent seemingly of cameras and the like, although there didn't seem to be this overbearing sense that people's personal freedoms were violated.  Even Star Trek graduated in this however, when the pins on their uniform became communcators, and anyone could be found at any time--  but again, no effort was placed on tracking a person's everyday movements unless it pertained specifically to the mission.

Years have passed since the writing of George Orwell's book, and 1984 itself has come and gone--  in fact it was the year I graduated high school, with, at the time, no real press towards a Big Brother society.  But along came the late 90's and the internet, social media, and google, and I have to say, that although Orwell was wrong about the year, conceptually he was right in that your movements are able to be tracked.  I don't mean to be sensationalist about this, but here are the facts:

1. Your cell phone has a GPS in it that can identify your whereabouts with reasonable accuracy.  Smartphones already tag most photographs you take automatically with GPS information and sometimes address information so you can see exactly where and when a photograph or video has been taken.  One of the guys from Mythbusters, Jamie Heineman made the mistake of posting one of these pictures to the web in the last year and people were able to find exactly where he lived by the information stored in the picture file.
2. Every time you use your credit card, there is a record of where you have been.  
3. Most big box stores have video cameras that track your whereabouts in the store, and many have cameras in the parking lot as well.
4. Many interstates in larger cities like Atlanta have cameras all the way down the interestate to monitor traffic, not to mention the red light cameras that track every vehicle going through an intersection.
5. Facebook also has a "check-in" feature as do other social networking sites, that sense your location with the GPS and give you the opportunity to report your whereabouts at any given time.  Facebook has already started to use facial recognition technology to automatically tag people.  This technology will only get better, and eventually it will be able to identify you immediately once the photograph, video or the like (hologram, someday?) is shot.
6. Your IP address is kind of like a "phone number" on the internet.  An IP address is assigned to your DSL Modem, Cable Modem, or the like and this number can be used to trace/track everything you do on the internet.  IP addresses are also assigned to your cell phone when you surf the web.
7. Your car, if newer may have a GPS tracking feature built into it, particularly those with OnStar or the like.
8. And Google, perhaps the biggest offender of privacy, tracks every search you make, specific to your gmail account, if you are logged in, and uses this search history for its own purposes.  On top of that, with their "Streetview" feature, Google has sought to LITERALLY photograph the ENTIRE WORLD so that it can give you an actual 360 degree view of any roadway in the world.  Their trucks/cars are photographing the world now, as we speak.  

And these are just the things I can think of, off the top of my head.  Now I don't say this to cause a stir, or a panic.  These are just facts, and they've entered our society rather quietly, so quietly in fact that many don't know that their privacy is no longer.  When I was in high school, if I got in my car or went to the store, it would be difficult to find me if someone wanted.  This is no longer the case.  It's not video tape of exactly what you're doing like in Star Trek, but it's also not far from that.  I can hear the objections already, "but John, if you've got nothing to hide then who cares?"  That's true, assuming that the person tracking you has good intentions, like in Star Trek.  These devices were used to help people, not to track their every move for their own unknown purposes.  

So now that you've been educated on all of this, what should you do about it?  Well, that depends on you.  But know these things:

1)  I read something a few weeks back that bears saying, with respect to Google, Facebook, and the like.  YOU ARE NOT THEIR CLIENT.  Google's purpose is not simply to provide the best search possible. Facebook does not give you a profile just because they're "nice."  Google and Facebook both have clients, you're just not one. Their advertisers are their clients, and let's be clear:  these are for profit companies, that would cease to exist without money.  They are in the business to make money, and their advertisers are their clients.  Your information can and will be used to satisfy the need to make money.  More specifically, your personal information will be leveraged to bring them the next dollar.  So know this, it's true.  Every time you search Google, whether you are logged into your google/gmail account or not, they are tracking your IP address and know what you search.  Their intent is to make money, and not necessarily to make the world a better place.

2) There are things that you can do to protect your privacy.  Google is rolling out new privacy measures this week.  You can opt of some of their data collecting.  I recommend it.  Facebook also has recently updated it's privacy policy.  I recommend you go in and check the privacy of your account to see what your privacy settings are.  You can also turn off the GPS feature of picture tagging on your phone as well, and opt out of checking in on Facebook if you don't want people to know where you are.  Keep in mind that other people can check you in for you as well, if you opt in on this feature--  which means any friend can tell the world that you're not home.  That last one is at least worth some thought.  Yahoo wrote a good article on what you can to do protect your privacy here--  http://news.yahoo.com/how-to-remove-your-google-web-data-history.html 

Many of you may be thinking, "John, what do you do?"

Here are my strategies for protecting my privacy online and in life:

1. I don't ever give out my bank number to anyone.
2. I do not do online banking.  If someone is smart enough to encrypt something, someone else is smart enough to decrypt it.  There have been too many banks who have been hacked for you to believe your information and money is safe like that, so I don't do online banking.
3. You won't find my social security number or any of my businesses tax numbers stored anywhere on any of our computers.  Anything I store on my computer, I assume is public information and is at risk.
4. I make sure that I stay logged out of my gmail/google account at all times.  This keeps my history from being recorded site by site (not that I have anything to hide, but where I go is my business, not theirs).  You also have to know that Google manipulates search engine results based on this search if you are logged in as well, so I stay logged out of my account so my search engine results are not manipulated.
5. Know that I do check-in from time to time on Facebook.  Normally, this is not so much because I want to alert someone to my presence so much as it is for the benefit of the business or organization I'm attending.  They get free press when I check in.
6. I do turn off, from time to time the location feature on my phone so that it's not automatically tagging my photos.  Sometimes I think it's more of value to have it, so I probably leave it on more than not.

Mostly folks, I'm aware...  yah, Big Brother has become a part of our society, and I have to live with it.  I can no longer take a drive in complete obscurity.  Some of that is good.  Some of that is not so good, but at the very least, I understand it, know it and am aware of it, and I am aware that every shred of my personal information can be used to leverage someone else's business gain.

"Be Excellent to Each Other."  -"Ted" Theodore Preston, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.

John Lehmberg

***  Added in a comment by my friend Steven Sandler, who is also an I.T. Professional and has forgotten more about internet security than I'll ever know...

Steven Sandler There is something more: While Google was driving down all those neighborhood streets, they were allegedly sniffing for WI-FI packets and recording network IDs. I'm no expert on this, but in-theory, that network ID could be detected by Google while you are browsing. Google could therefore determine your identity by cross-referencing that ID with the house address, also recorded during the drive-by.

Every competitive business in the 21^st century has a marketing budget (at least you should, penny pincher). The problem is that some of those budgets are being used incorrectly. While the technology for businesses to thrive has leapt forward into the internet age, marketing strategies often hesitate to follow suit. With every market turn, uncertainties arise that keep cash for marketing development in the bank or in other marketing avenues that may become obsolete. We can see the negative effects of that in the plights of Blockbuster and Borders Books, who are being run into bankruptcy by the surpassing technology of competitors like Netflix and the Amazon Kindle (respectively).

 

I try to never be a fire and brimstone businessman, but for regions like Metro Atlanta with populations knocking at the door of 6 million, you’re going to be facing an increasingly competitive and saturated market for your industry. When businesses miss the market turn, they generally suffer.

 

I also don’t want to give you the impression that if you don’t stay on top of every piece of cutting edge technology that you can throw cash at, you’re going to go out of business. There is a healthy balance of organic and marketing-driven business that you should pursue, and there is some marketing strategies that is much cheaper that others; but they are also not as comprehensive nor do they land on every target. For instance, word of mouth is always a strong tool to utilize for new business, but it can only go so far without a drive from your company itself to propel it to new prospective clients. There is a point where you need to break out the checkbook and start exploring new ways to gain more business.

 

With the latest turn bringing us into a more comprehensive internet market, we’re seeing things like Yellow Pages, TV ads (unless it’s the Super Bowl), and print ads (unless handed out in a crowd) all falling in effectiveness and, consequentially, in value. Traditional marketing is simply no longer trustworthy to bring in new business in a constant and stable manner as it once did. This is because in the last 5 years, we’ve seen the introduction of new generations of smart phones, computers, cable services, billboards, search engines, social media, and websites that have created new and more comprehensive ways to market businesses.

 

(Granted I’m writing as an SEO specialist, you can probably guess what I’m going to say next.)

 

I think that the two most important avenues of marketing that have risen over the past 5 years are new standards for websites, and their subsequent interaction in search engines. I believe that these two are the most important because the other avenues are largely dependent on them.

 

The design and format standards of websites along with the integration and functionality of search engines has dictated the types of software and functionality in our smart phones, the integration of our cable services (that now work off of internet, and can surf the web), the design and integration of new digital billboards, the software and functionality of our computers and new tablet PCs, and the depth and breadth of involvement on social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter. Internet technology is setting the bar for the rest of consumer tech.

 

Knowing this, you can see the importance of having a presence on the internet. If you are established on the web, the rest of technology will change to accommodate you, rather than leave you behind.

 

The moral of the story is that in a 21^st century market, you’re not just competing against other companies in your industry; you’re competing against the trends of the market and the psychology of consumers. The most effective way to market your business is to establish your business on the internet and let technology work for you. Evaluate your marketing, establish a budget, and consult a professional (Me!) about how you can start making the market work for you by establishing your presence on the web.

Android Vs. The iPhone 4

I Switched from an iPhone 4 to an Android.  In my last blog post, I spoke about how I drank the Kook-Aid and upgraded my iPhone 3g to an iPhone 4.  I must say, that I don't regret that decision--  the iPhone is very cool, and works very well--  however, it violates a very basic principle, core to my character--  I'm cheap. 

So when MetroPCS launched their new program, which now covers 90% of the United States for $50/month, I had to pause.  The MetroPCS service includes:  unlimited calls, unlimited texting, and unlimited internet on a CDMA network (the same technology Verizon uses--  At&t is a GSM network along with T-Mobile). For the record, I was paying between $160 and $175 a month on my iPhone, which included internet (up to 2gb), internet tethering, and up to 200 text messages per month (which I pretty routinely exceeded). 

So just before Christmas, I took the plunge, once one of my new co-workers, Ben McDaniel, did it first.  I bought the LG Optimus phone, one of two Androids that MetroPCS offers, and it is running Android V. 2.2.  So I had a bit of time to play with the thing, and then purchased one.  Here's my conclusion:

The Android is 99% as good as an iPhone...
And better than the iPhone in some areas. 

There are a few features that the iPhone comes with that the particular Android phone I have does:

• Visual voicemail:  Visual voicemail is not a standard feature on the Android, however there is an app that creates it for free.
• Facetime:  While I can say that the one time I used it in the past 6 months on my iPhone, it was cool--  it's not all that practical, more because it is only available in a wifi setting.  Most of my calling is done in a car--  which makes Facetime impossible, so I have to say, that losing this feature was not a big deal to me.
• Battery Life:  As stated in an earlier blog post, the iPhone 4's battery life is unsurpassed, and although my Android battery is good, it still does not rival my iPhone 4's.
• Keyboard:  The keyboard is easier to type on then my Android, however type correction BLOWS on the iPhone (see below).

There are also some things that the Android does BETTER than my iPhone:

• Voice Searching, voice navigation, and Voice to Text:  The voice to text features are completely integrated on my Android, and the ability to translate voice to text is more accurate on my Android. 
• On my Android, with no other apps installed I can: 
  • Voice the address I want to go to in maps and auto navigate to a location I dictate to the maps app.
  • Voice any text message I want to and have it immediately translate that into a text message.  Huge bonus considering the new "no texting while driving" laws.
  • Search for anything by voice on the 'net and also on my Androind phone.
  • These things may sound insignificant, but I gotta tell you, they're immensely practical, and voice recognition accuracy on the Android far supersedes that on the iPhone 4.  If I had a dime for every time my fingers whiffed typing in an address on my iPhone I'd be rich.
• Controlling my desktop and customizations.  Are all far better on my Android. 
• Playing Media is way easier, and downloading it to my phone is easier.  Amazon.mp3 integrates as well with the Android as iTunes does with the iPhone, and better yet, there is no DRM (Digital Rights Management) on any of the songs I download from them--  meaning that I can play those songs on ANY DEVICE, without Big Brother Apple telling me when and where I can use them, and without the necessity of iTunes.  BTW... for the record...  iTunes sucks.  What a terrible program.  If I had a dime for every time it erased my playlists when I upgraded to the newer version (which comes out every other week), or every time it automatically duplicated songs/entries (or deleted songs/entries), I'd be a rich man.  Again, iTunes stinks.
• Spell Correction:  While the keyboard is not necessarily easier to type on in my Droid, I will see it's not a whole lot more difficult than the iPhone either.  My guess is on Androids with bigger screens than mine, typing is better.  The real win though, is in the spell correct on the Android.  It's awesome, and it works real well.  It gives you options on which words to choose, and I love it.
• And the real biggy--  *I've Only Dropped ONE CALL on my Android with MetroPCS in the last 4 weeks*.  That has NEVER HAPPENED with my iPhone.  I moved from a Verizon phone to At&t when I first purchased my iPhone 3g, and started dropping calls immediately.  The difference between At&t's service and Verizon's was night and day.  I would literally drop at least 2 calls per day on my iPhone with At&t service. I had forgotten what good cell phone service was like. With the launching of the Verizon iPhone, I guess we'll finally find out if it's the phone or the service with At&t.  As an almost 3 year iPhone user my hunch is this:  I suspect both are a problem, and do not expect the iPhone's call dropping issues to just vanish with the migration to Verizon.  Certainly my Android does not have these issues.  I will say, in complete honesty that the 3g internet surfing is faster on my iPhone than it is on my Android.  This, I'm sure is a function of the network.
• Cost:  Now in defense of At&t's nationwide network, there is no roaming at all in the U.S.  While Metro covers most major cities with no roaming, and a sizeable portion of the U.S., particularly east of the Mississippi, you can occasionally find yourself in a roaming area at a flat rate of .19 cents per minute.  So far, this hasn't been an issue, and I'd have to do a heck of a lot of out-of-area calling monthly to make up the $125 per month difference between the two services.  THAT'S A CAR PAYMENT. 

As for apps, I'll say this.  There are NO business apps on my iPhone that I couldn't find for my Android.  The ONLY apps that were missing were, quite frankly, games--  and I rarely game with my phone.  So the lack of gaming apps for my Android is not an issue for me either.  With Android holding 23% of the smarphone market, and iPhone holding 24% of the smartphone market, I expect Android gaming to catch up quickly.  The few games I did have that were not available for my Android, when I checked for them, most of the companies said that an Android version was currently under development.  So... I'd consider this inconsequential. 

So, All in all I'll say this:  I Don't Miss My iPhone.

BTW.... I have an iPhone 4 in immaculate condition for sale.  It has no scratches, and has never been used outside of it's screen protector or its case.  Contact me if you're interested!

Peace,

John Lehmberg

So I did it, I took the plunge.  I bought the new iPhone.  I've had it for about 2 weeks now, and I've got to admit, despite the fact that many of you know I have no real great love for Apple products, *I Really Like The iPhone 4. 

Here's what I like and don't like.  Remember I upgraded from an iPhone 3g (not 3gs)....

Likes:

1. The phone is *fast.  The old one dragged through applications, and through downloading simple pages from the 'net.  This one is super fast, and my lag time on everything is way less.
2. Battery life is incredible!  I can't believe there isn't more press about this feature!  With the 3g, I'd be lucky to get a day out of a charge with better than average use on the phone.  By the day's end, it was sitting in a cradle, or attached to the wall.  If I tethered for even a little bit, it subtracted an hour off my day with the 3g.  With the iPhone 4, I can go all day and be at 60% by day's end.   I actually went two days without a charge this past week. That has NEVER happened before with my previous iPhone.  I've not heard anyone put this in print to date, but I've got to say--  battery life is a huge improvement.  Kudos to you, Steve Jobs for letting me be able to tether, surf, and talk all day long.
3. Tethering works well.  Now I was a jailbreaker on my iPhone 3g, so I've been tethering for a year.  This works just as well. 
4. Voice Dialing/Commands works well.  I can launch my ipod and pick a song by voice, call a friend and do lots of other stuff.  Pretty cool.
5. The Form Factor Feels Better In Your Hand.  Was I the only one that thought the 3g and 3gs was awkward to hold?  The 4 is a bit narrower, doesn't feel any heavier than the old one, and fits much better in your hand.
6. FaceTalk is the first practical video chat program around.  Now I've been Skype-ing for years, so I'm no stranger to video chat.  I talk to my cousin Jurgen Lehmberg in Germany over Skype every now and then.  But Skype and the others are a pain.  I have to set up the cam, be sitting in front of my pc, stationary, and it's just not as simple as dialing a number.  FaceTalk is.  It's portable.  I called my dad on it--  he was at my sisters house and the video clarity was really good.  I found him panning around to show me my nephews/nieces, and them trying to get around it to see us.  Really, I think FaceTalk is the first really practical video chat program out there.  It's dynamite.  Yes you need to be in a place where there's wifi, but that's available free in most places now.  Just be sure you're dressed now before you answer the phone. 
7. Multitasking Is Cool and works.  Easy to use, it opens up the programs you just used in a flash.  It's not real clear however what's really running in the background or not, but I've not found that to be an issue. 
8. It Still Fits In my Car iPhone Dock and the other docks I have.  This was important.  At more than $50 a pop, I use them all the time.  This one fits right where my 3g used to, and better yet, I bought a case from Celaris at the mall, and it even works in both places with the case on. 
9. I could not make the phone drop calls by holding it wrong like the press says.  I tried, even before I got the case.  I couldn't make it happen.  So from my perspective, all the negative press on this is just crap. 

Dislikes:

1. It seems to spontaneously dial calls from time to time.  It's done this to me twice today.  Not sure how it's happening, but it is.  I don't know whether the screen is more sensitive and I'm brushing up against it, but I found I've made calls to people I didn't intend to make.  I walked up to my friend Josh's car this evening--  I had been on my phone with someone else, the minute before, put my phone in my pocket, and he picked up his Blackberry and said, "you're calling me."  Random.
2. The feature that causes the screen to shut off and make it so that your face can't push buttons on the phone is far less sensitive than the other phone.  Yes, you can even dial numbers with your face accidentally, and I've also hit mute with my face more than once.  I could never accomplish this on the 3g. This, I have to admit, is one of the phone's most annoying features.  It's not unworkable, but it will surprise you from time to time.  NOw, people can't hear you not just because At&t sucks, but also because your tongue accidentally hit mute and you're carrying on a conversation with yourself without your own knowledge.
3. Reception is not quite as good.  Marginally worse, but noticeable.
4. Yes, this iPhone still drops calls like the other.  Man I wish they'd fix this one.  Of course they blame At&t--  (whom I can't stand), and At&t blames them.  They should blame At&t.  They have such terrible customer service, I'm sure they're responsible for all kinds of catastrophes in this world, and global warming.  All those infuriated customers has to raise the temperature on this planet for sure.  I have friends with At&t phones that are not iPhones and they don't drop calls like me.  Steve Jobs and the guy who left his phone at the bar--  FIX THIS PLEASE (if you still work for Apple, you awesome technician).  Yes, it's a great PDA, but we need to talk on it too without dropping calls. 
5. Call Quality seems to have dropped just a hair.  Barely noticeable, but I think definitely present, especially when the person you are talking to is either on speaker or a bluetooth headset.

That's really it.  I don't dislike anything else about it.  It seems to be a great phone, and despite the fact that it's an Apple product, I have to say--  I recommend it!  Just don't tell Bill Gates, Okay??

John