An important note

Scott,

I'm already a follower on Twitter and Facebook so no changes for me there. I will miss the IPTB web site if it goes away. As always, thanks for all you do in and for the iPhone community.

Paul Spitsen

SCOTT'S REPLY: Paul, that means more to me than you know. Thank you.

Scott:

Of course I'll follow you anywhere! I hate to think that the Trib might axe your column but c'est la vie. You won't lose a single reader I'm sure. I and all of your other readers appreciate your hard work and dedication. You've been such a great help.

Jeff

SCOTT's REPLY: Jeff, that's really nice of you to say. Thank you so much.

I have busted your chops a couple times for mixing politics with iPhone news, but you have always been a valuable resource and an otherwise standup guy. I don't know the details of what's going on, but if they are messing with you they should quit-it!

Typical that they fix what is working instead of looking at the actual problems (most) newspapers have.

Good luck man....

SCOTT'S REPLY: Jerry, back at ya. You are a standup guy as well. I'm not sure what's going to happen but I do appreciate that support more than you know.

Done. Waiting for events to unfold :) Hope everything works out for the better.

Aijaz

SCOTT's REPLY: Thank you, Aijaz. I really, really appreciate that. I'll keep you posted on what happens here.

Scott, what can I say. I've enjoyed this blog so more than a year now. Everytime I do my morning iPhone checks, you're no. 2 - right after gmail and just before Facebook! It won't be the same without you. Although I enjoy getting the news and rumours from google news (sci/tech) I always depend on you to filter and sort fact from fiction - which you do so well. And you commenters add to the whole experience, too.

You've put me in a bit of a bind, however, Scott. If managed to avoid getting to grips with Twitter all this time - even though I am signed up. I've been happy to check in in your FB updates. Now it seems I'll just have to bite the Twitter bullet and download an App and get some practice!

Here goes!

See you there...

SCOTT'S REPLY: Thanks, Sidric - for all your support and for the kind words. Believe me - I'll make sure your use of Twitter is worth your while.

I just like to think of it as if I'm not talking to you through the blog that there's another way to always stay in touch.

I don't do Twitter, but I've joined the iPTIB Facebook group.

I've got friends in the newspaper biz (for now)... it's a bloodbath out there.

This is the first time I've posted, but your blog has been in my RSS for a long time. Keep up the great work.

SCOTT'S REPLY: Amber, it's a pleasure to hear from you and thank you for your kindness and kind comment.

Scott,

thank you so much for all the hard work on this blog. I have been reading it every day since you started it and really appreciate your dedication and knowledge and passion. I will miss the blog. How are you going to tell us what to do with only 140 characters???? OY!

That's a lot of twittering!

SCOTT'S REPLY: Well, the good news is that I feel like I've become good at Tweeting where i can fit what I need in that space and still have it make sense.

by the way, will the old information still be available or is it all being taken away? I still refer back to old articles on a regular basis.

I will miss this blog!

SCOTT'S REPLY: That's one of the unknowns - if I can work something out where everything stays then all this worry is for nothing. I'm just preparing just in case so I truly don't know.

talk soon

N

SCOTT'S REPLY: And thank you, Neil, for your kind words and support. Really means a lot.

This is and always has been the best place for iPhone news and analysis. Fair play to ya Scott!

SCOTT'S REPLY: Thanks, Pat - so nice of you. I'm still here until the blog stops working and even when/if it does, I'm still around for everything iPhone. So I hope you'll always remember that.

Scott,

I have posted comments numerous times, and you always answered them, and it was never with a stock answer either. It means a lot that you take the time to read AND reply to comments, even if a question is not asked.I also appreciated the real time reporting of the keynotes you did...I hope everything works out for the best for you, I'll continue to follow on Twitter and FB....I wonder if you will have your very own website at some point in the future? Hmmmmm.......(insert Dr. Evil laugh here!) Good luck my friend, and well meet again on Twitter!!!

SCOTT'S REPLY: Brian, your words are too kind. Thank you kindly for that - believe me ... if there is a way to get you iPhone information, I'll find a way. That's my personal promise.

Boya

Thanks for two great years. Your enthusiasm for Apple and the Iphone will always continue on, just via a new outlet. Good luck on Twitter my friend.

Boya

SCOTT'S REPLY: Boya, you are too kind - I like to think of myself as the Jay Leno of iPhone blogs - Jay had a big farewell show but he's just moving to a new show an hour earlier. Yeah, that's what it'll be like for me, I'll just be better looking than Jay.

Im all over it! Ive been following you on everything since you started all this. thanks for the update and best of luck in the future. I know it is tough there right now.

SCOTT'S REPLY: Sarah, I appreciate that more than you know - I promise that if I can't blog, I'll tweet. And I'll Facebook. At the end of the day, you'll still be able to get your iPhone news from me in some fashion.

Your attention to the problems us readers have is truly remarkable and will take you far, especially the time you take to respond to our thoughts... of course I love following you on Twitter and think there is a place for you online as your insight is very valuable, whatever happens with the Tribune Company, you will end up just fine.

I think I can partly blame you for my obsession with the iPhone and why I spend so much damn time on it!

SCOTT'S REPLY: Kyle, I'm happy to take the blame for that. Thank you very much for the kind words and for your support. It means more to me than I can say in a few words here.

Hello Scott. I have been out of touch with your website for a while. For one reason, I used to be obsessed with any iPhone related site because I was going to get one once the 3G was released. Well, once I was able to get out of my contract with Sprint, I was not able to convince my version of iWife (apparently not an iWife afterall) that doubling our cell phone bill to get iPhones was a good idea. Even after I upgraded my Sprint contract with a Touch Diamond (the poorman's iPhone which is more like the poorman's iPhone that really sucks), I still followed the site from my Opera Mobile browser until it stopped displaying correctly. And I don't mean it rendered it incorrectly so that it was difficult to read, I mean, it would show no text making it impossible to read. Those two facts coupled together made me unlikely to continue to follow the blog. That being said, I always respected your opinions/journalistic style because you always seemed to care about making sure you presented an honest opinion and wouldn't simply report everything on the iPhone as a "positive feature" even though you were a pro Apple/iPhone blog. All that being said, I'm curious about your thoughts on the Palm Pre. Like I said before, I am a Sprint customer and have weaseled my way into getting the Pre with a new subscriber discount when it comes out even though I upgraded last October. As a person who has been OBSESSED with the iPhone enough without ever owning one, I can say I feel the same way pre-launch of the Pre as I did about the iPhone. I'm just curious how you have honestly felt while watching news come out about the pre. For me, having wanted the iPhone and been denied, the Pre to me looks like the next best thing (and maybe even improved) on a network that I can actually have it on. Just curious what a devout iPhone lover who has some journalistic integrity (should be noted I would not send this same message to Boy Genius Report) thinks about the newest competition to the iPhone. Again, I apologize that I haven't kept up with the blog over the last year so if you have already addressed this, please feel free to make a fool of me and direct me to your previous posts.

SCOTT'S REPLY: Justin, there's always a home for you here. Thanks for writing. Good to hear from you again.

My take on the Pre is simple.

Palm actually got it - someone there actually threw out the playbook and realized what they needed to do to at least try to compete with the iPhone. They've created something that will come in a close second and surpass anything else out there that has called itself an iPhone challenger/killer in the past.

But ...Palm isn't Apple. Palm falls short on the execution. The look of the Pre software is pretty decent. It does a lot of what the iPhone doesn't and all that may change in 3.0, but it looks like someone there made a list of what the iPhone was lacking and tried to add it.

All that said, the biggest strike the Pre has going for it is the keyboard. I haven't touched a Pre yet, but I could tell from the first photos that the keyboard was going to be a challenge because the keys are way too small and close together. At least on a BlackBerry it's semi-comfortable. Doesn't appear that way at all on a Pre.

So ... be careful, Justin. The greatest bells and whistles aren't great if the ergonomic experience of using the phone isn't there and that worries me in your case. Now, I realize that you aren't choosing Pre over iPhone - you are in a contract situation and have Sprint and want to choose the best phone. In that situation, the best phone on Sprint is the Pre and I would say that you should go with it and get used to the keyboard.

But for the people out there that are considering pitting one against the other - iPhone vs. the Pre and making a decision based on that, don't do it. Don't be fooled. Having a phone that you can't type on will get old very fast.

I hope that helped, Justin.

Scott

You've been a great help and objective source of information over the past 2 years. You taught me a great deal about the mobile space in general when I was just getting involved in it and I'll always be thankful for that. Whatever happens, either way, you'll be fine because you're not only well informed but honest and thoughtful. Your well thought out responses to comments attest to that. I haven't made the Twitter leap yet mainly because none of my "older" friends are on it. Maybe this will motivate me to sign up. Regardless, all the best going forward and who knows, maybe the blog can survive this brutal media environment as well.

SCOTT'S REPLY: Brad, all I can say to those very kind words is thank you. Thank you very much.

Twitter for DUMMIES, please :) I don't have a Twitter account, am pretty busy, and am not remotely interested in updating people about what I'm doing or having people follow me, etc. But I am interested in following your iphone blog (via Twitter if that's what you recommend, or the old way, which doesn't seem to be what you recommend!) So, never having used Twitter, and being reluctant to do so, what do I do? Do I just click on the link you've provided above whenever I want to read your announcements? I tried that but I seem to be seeing a million messages from others and can't see your bigger articles. Or do I have to register/create an account? And if I register does that mean I have to "be followed?", etc? I know these are dumb questions, but it's a road that I didn't plan to go down so I've been happily ignoring the whole twitter phenomenon!!! (I have an iphone and a macbook.) THANKS.

SCOTT'S REPLY: The short answer, Lee - and thank you by the way for wanting to follow me - is to sign up at twitter.com. Then, go to twitter.com/iptib. Hit the follow button. If I'm the only person you care to follow that's all you have to do. Then, whenever I update, you'll see my post and that's all you should see - or when someone mentions me which is what you'll want to.

If you don't want to sign up for an account, there's another simple way. Go to www.search.twitter.com and enter iptib in the search window. You'll see everything I say and anytime someone mentions me.

Scott I just noticed this.... and I am bummed, in shock, all of the above! I know we won't lose touch, but your blog is amazing and it's hands down THE BEST resource for iPhone-related news and reviews. Twitter and Facebook are great, too, but your blog goes more in-depth - so I am hoping if the blog in this incarnation goes away, it will reappear somewhere else - and I will be there, immediately!

Thank you for all you do, and for all that is to come!

Talk soon,

Jeanine

SCOTT'S REPLY: Jeanine, you are too, too kind. I really appreciate those kind words. I'll never disappear - I'm just going to move around and test the waters a little bit.

Do make sure you follow me on Twitter at @iptib - and as soon as it's humanly possible to start another blog and do what I do best, trust me I will.