New Phone, New Case

I ended up getting a new iPhone last week. I wasn't planning on upgrading until I had a more consistent source of income, but a visit to the Verizon website indicated that the trade-in value of my 4S was equivalent to the upfront cost of a new 5S, excluding the tax. So I ordered it up and it arrived in a couple of days.

Right after that came the padded envelope to submit my old phone for its trade-in assessment. Off it went the same day (it's nice when our mail gets delivered early enough in the day to accomplish things like that), and yesterday I got an email confirming the appraised value, which I will receive in the form of a Verizon Wireless gift card, which I can apply to my balance.

I knew that when I eventually upgraded my phone I would need to get a new case, because the 5S, like the 5 before it, is taller and slimmer than my 4S. As much as I liked my book-style case from Pad & Quill, I had decided that I didn't want another of the same thing, but I still wanted to be able to remove the phone from its case fairly quickly and easily, mainly because I'm so much in the habit of doing so.

Bumpers and molded cases are meant to stay on the phone all the time, so I knew I didn't want to go in that direction. I had bookmarked a few styles that I had seen and liked, so I started going back and evaluating them more carefully. Twelve South, the makers of the BookBook case, also have a very minimal leather cover that adheres to the phone but can be removed, and also folds back to make a stand so you can watch videos without having to hold the phone. At first I thought I was going to get this, but I realized that it would probably end up annoying me.

Ultimately I decided on a vertical sleeve style, with an opening at the top that the phone slips into. Many of the cases I saw of this type also have an opening on the bottom for connecting the charging cable, but I always remove my phone from its case to charge it in a desktop dock so I did not want or need this feature. Many cases of this type also have a pocket on the outside, or sometimes more than one. I understand the utility of this, but I didn't want that either.

After some more pondering and google searching, I chose a case I had bookmarked some time ago, from a Texas company called Castello DaVarg. They craft all their products in the US, and use only leather from US tanneries. My case arrived yesterday, and their commitment to craftsmanship and quality is evident in the finished product.

My only real objection is that they deliberately choose not to offer their products in black. The color I chose, a dark tan that features orange stitching, is quite lovely, but I would have liked the option of a black case, if for no other reason than my iPhone is black and I prefer things to be coordinated when possible.

An eBay Story

Last month I mentioned my experience with a fraudulent eBay bidder who "purchased" one of the items I had for sale but neglected to pay for it. Since then I've been more wary of the offers that buyers have submitted, and have looked at their feedback information before responding.

A couple of weekends back I got an offer on a suit that I have for sale. It was for only 40% of my asking price so I rejected it, but I also noticed that the bidder had zero feedback and his eBay user account had just been created a week or so earlier.

A couple of days later he made another offer, higher but still lower than what I was hoping for. I contacted him through eBay and told him that as a seller I was looking to protect myself, and that to be blunt, I was suspicious of him. I said that I would feel somewhat more reassured if he could confirm to me that he had a vaild Paypal account with a confirmed address.

His response was more or less "oh yes I have a paypal account," which was not at all what I had meant; I was looking for him to provide information that I could use to confirm the existence of an account. So I came up with an idea: I asked him to send me $1 via Paypal, so that I would have a transaction connected to him, with the associated verifiable details. I would then deduct the dollar from the amount I wanted for the suit, which was still higher than his second offer.

Imagine my lack of surprise when I heard nothing from him, which served to confirm my suspicions. Interestingly, he tried again this past weekend, making another offer for the same amount as his second offer. Buyers get three offers per item per auction, and as a seller I can reject any offer without having to provide an explanation, so I was able to deal with that nuisance with a click of my mouse.

eBay does protect sellers from fraud, as happened with my earlier experience, but heading off a fraud before being victimized is certainly preferable.

Privacy, Please

Public-service announcement time: those of you with Google accounts may want to read this information provided by the Electronic Frontier Foundation about clearing your Google search history, because as of Thursday it will be linked to other data Google collects on you through its other products, unless you remove it by following the instructions.

Case Closed

After some deliberation, I've chosen a case for my iPhone. As much as I liked the idea of the book-like case from Twelve South, I didn't need the wallet part of it, and the brown exterior of the "book cover" turned me off somewhat. I'd love to see this company offer more options down the road, though.

After I saw the Moleskine case, I contacted them to see if I could get an explanation about why they hadn't updated it for the iPhone 4, never mind the 4S. That was two weeks ago, and I haven't heard a word from them. You let me down, Moleskine.

Then I had the idea to look on Etsy, thinking there might be someone making something similar to either of these designs. Almost immediately I found the storefront for PadandQuill, makers of device cases for the iPhone and iPod Touch, MacBook Air, iPad, Kindle, and Nook. They had exactly what I had in mind, and at a lower cost than either of the other options I'd considered.

The cover is bonded leather, lined with book-bindery cloth:

That's a ribbon sticking out at the bottom, to help you remove the phone. One other cool thing about it is there's a cutout on the back so you can take pictures while the phone is in the case:

The tray that holds the phone is made of birch, lacquered in a satin finish. It's lightweight, and the inner corners are lined with thin strips of rubber to help grip the phone, but the overall fit is really sung and precise:

The case is slightly smaller in height and width than the Moleskine calendar book I use. Obviously this is not the most streamlined option, but that isn't what I was after. When I'm at home or at work, I remove the phone from the case; that's what I always did with my previous smartphone. I wanted to ensure the phone was protected when it's in my bag, or when I'm carrying it in a pocket.

After I received the case, I realized that it would be cool to have my initials stamped into the spine, like the logo on the back cover. I'd like to find someone who can do that for me. Ideas?

(Sorry for the shaky pictures; my camera needed to be recharged, the older one doesn't have image stabilization, and I've never been very good at keeping it still through the entire shot.)

Casing the iPhone

Now that I have an iPhone, I think I need a case for it. But I can't stand those neoprene "bumper" things, which do nothing to protect the glass anyway. I'm having a tough time figuring out what to do, because I have not seen much out there that isn't crap.

The iPhone is thinner than my Palm Pre, but it's also about half an inch taller. The Pre also had rounded edges on every side, making carrying it in my pants pocket easier, even in its case. I guess what I want is a protective case for when the phone is in my bag or pocket, but one that it's also easy to remove the phone from for when I want to use it.

I have seen a couple of things that fit these general parameters. Twelve South makes cool cases that look like antique books, for iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks. Their iPhone case also serves as a wallet, a feature I would be unlikely to use but could be handy. Overall I like the idea of this, and Twelve South's cases are made in the USA, but it might be a little too precious.

I found something similar in the guise of a Moleskine notebook, which would work nicely, but the product page says it's for the iPhone 3 and 3GS, which suggests that either they are a bit behind in development, or they decided not to proceed with making a version to fit the iPhone 4, in which case I would be out of luck.

Orvis has a rather rugged-looking leather case that's sort of like a pocket notepad with a slot large enough to slide an iPhone into. At $70 it's more expensive than either of the others, but it's distinctive (a quality I always consider when making a decision such as this one) and it's also made in the USA.

If anyone has suggestions, please send them along.

Paper or Plastic?

On Wednesday I received a letter from my bank telling me that VISA had informed them that my debit card had been "compromised," and that I should call to have it canceled and replaced. Since the card was still in my wallet, I wondered how that might have occurred.

Then I remembered the TJX data breach that was reported in January. While I'm not a particularly frequent shopper at TJ Maxx, Marshalls, or any of the company's other chains, I have bought things from them here and there, and odds are I've used my debit card in one of their stores at least once in the past several years. Since the data thefts supposedly went back as far as 2003, that would increase the likelihood that my card data was among the millions that were stolen.

This is actually the third time my personal information has been stolen or otherwise compromised, and considering that, I'm very fortunate that the outcome has not been worse. A bit over a year ago, the Boston Globe's delivery company wrapped some bundles of newspapers in printouts with customer information on them, mine included. Two years ago, I got a phone call from my credit card company because someone was attempting to make a purchase using my credit card in Japan.

Neither the card company nor I ever figured out how the crook had gotten hold of the card number, but it hardly seems to matter. It's probably going to become more prevalent, as thieves continue to try new techniques that are easier and less risky than armed robbery.

My mother refuses to shop online because she's afraid of data theft, but I bet she's used a credit or debit card at Marshalls at least once, so her personal info is therefore just as vulnerable as if she did use her card online, and in the wake of the TJX and Stop & Shop incidents, it's beginning to seem like online stores' data security may be better than that of brick-and-mortar stores.

So what's the answer? Do we return to a cash-only economy? Is that even possible? These days it's kind of difficult to live without a some sort of credit or debit card, but these episodes showed that the infrastructure--banks, credit card companies, and especially retailers--are not doing their part to make our transactions as secure as they can possibly be. To me, this is basic customer service, and should be spelled out right along with a store's return policies. The Web has entities such as VeriSign that assess and certify the security of online stores; perhaps we need something similar for their counterparts in the physical world.