iphones and innkeeping ... is this the wave of the future?

[EmptyNest]

What I want to know is....HOW MUCH DOES ALL OF THIS STUFF COST?
I know the new phones are about $200..but what about the cost of all those minutes to text, gps, web surf, email...etc That can't be cheap ..why do parents pay for their kids to chatand text endlessly...where are priorities these days...and WHY in heavens name have we let ourselves get to glued to these things.
I personally think it is one of the worst things ever to happen to our society!!!! Sorry. Boy have I gotten to be an old fogey
I have one..but only for emergencies and the rare long distance calls I make to my family that is it. I do not want to be in touch 24/7!!!.

There you have it - you are an old fogey!

I still don't text message, but it is great to have a cell phone with web abilities so that I can do emails and reservations away from the inn without having to fire up a laptop and find a free wireless connection. I am just waiting for my contract to run out so I can get an iphone. My Treo is good for email but not nearly as good as the iphone for doing web stuff. I would like to be able to handle Webervations processing from my phone.
.

How about the new Blackberry???? As if listening to all the rude people talking away isn't enough......now we get to here the "CLICK CLICK's" as they use their keyboard.
So no one is still answering my question..HOW MUCH DOES THIS ALL COST?
We pay $85 a month for our 2 phones and do nothing with them!!! When our contract expires I think I am going to look at thos $10 a month ones from AARP

.

I think that they can turn off the "click". But you're right...people need to be reminded of cell phone, Blackberry, etc. etiquette! That is my personal biggest gripe about these devices. As JBJ said, they are great tools to use to make a lot of things easier but....
We have actually had a couple of guests find us via their GPS on their iPhone! That is a super thing to me! And, they were some of our best guests! We don't take walk-ins per se, but these folks called ahead.
You are paying waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much for your mobile phone plan imnsvho! We pay quite a bit less than that for 3 phones with text messaging and plenty of minutes. There's lots of competition out there so maybe y'all can get a cheaper plan and bring that down.
I'm a fan of using these tools to keep in touch but I have some definite rules about cell phone use, for myself. I do forward the biz line to my cell because it doubles as our phone too. I guess I'm used to carrying all these things from corporate jobs, so it doesn't bother me.

.

I agree, but that is all AT & T had to offer when we bought them:-(
And we are stuck in a 2 year contract..should be up soon. But then hey...we will have to buy someone else's phone:-( AT & T has the best service for us. No one else connects as much as they do around here in these mountains. But we will look again.

 

[hawley]

What I want to know is....HOW MUCH DOES ALL OF THIS STUFF COST?
I know the new phones are about $200..but what about the cost of all those minutes to text, gps, web surf, email...etc That can't be cheap ..why do parents pay for their kids to chatand text endlessly...where are priorities these days...and WHY in heavens name have we let ourselves get to glued to these things.
I personally think it is one of the worst things ever to happen to our society!!!! Sorry. Boy have I gotten to be an old fogey
I have one..but only for emergencies and the rare long distance calls I make to my family that is it. I do not want to be in touch 24/7!!!.

My daughter has a cell phone plan with US Cellular. She has a base plan of just so many minutes she pays for. I have a phone and she has 2 children with phones which are $10 each per month. The phones were free. For texting, she pays $20 a month for unlimited texting. So it is really pretty cheap for her. All incoming calls are free, so minutes are only used for outgoing calls. 7pm to 7am are all free and weekends are free. So it is really very affordable.
We quit our land line this month. Have been planning to do it for a while.

 

[Copperhead]

Samster and others, Keep in mind that John's phone is also an internet provider for the price he pays as well as the high # of minutes. It may sound a bit pricey if it was just for phone service but not for all the extras he has. In order to compare, you need to apples to apples...
Now back on the subject - i love inns on iphones...it is nice that they configured their site to work well on iphones. As you may know most websites are not easily viewed on most web phones. This is something each of us should address with our webmasters. As this technology grows and the public is suckered, the need for our sites to configure to them will be greater. As far as I know - Swirt or those 'in the know' chime in please - there is only one web phone by Verizon that views websites just like PC's do.

 

[user 26]

now that i am out of 'the dead zone' that has no cellphone reception, i just may have to get myself a fancy schmancy phone with all the bells and whistles. does that sound like an old lady talking or what?

who, me?

 

[swirt]

Samster and others, Keep in mind that John's phone is also an internet provider for the price he pays as well as the high # of minutes. It may sound a bit pricey if it was just for phone service but not for all the extras he has. In order to compare, you need to apples to apples...
Now back on the subject - i love inns on iphones...it is nice that they configured their site to work well on iphones. As you may know most websites are not easily viewed on most web phones. This is something each of us should address with our webmasters. As this technology grows and the public is suckered, the need for our sites to configure to them will be greater. As far as I know - Swirt or those 'in the know' chime in please - there is only one web phone by Verizon that views websites just like PC's do..

As this technology grows and the public is suckered, the need for our sites to configure to them will be greater. As far as I know - Swirt or those 'in the know' chime in please - there is only one web phone by Verizon that views websites just like PC's do.

I'm not sure which provider network offers which phone. There are a lot of web enabled phones out there and their browser technology are each a bit unique. I've always been an advocate for fluid design for B&B sites so that you get the best experience no matter what the size of the screen is. Many designers favor fixed width because they are easier and give them "absolute" control over appearance...but that more of an illusion of control than anything

 

[gillumhouse]

What I want to know is....HOW MUCH DOES ALL OF THIS STUFF COST?
I know the new phones are about $200..but what about the cost of all those minutes to text, gps, web surf, email...etc That can't be cheap ..why do parents pay for their kids to chatand text endlessly...where are priorities these days...and WHY in heavens name have we let ourselves get to glued to these things.
I personally think it is one of the worst things ever to happen to our society!!!! Sorry. Boy have I gotten to be an old fogey
I have one..but only for emergencies and the rare long distance calls I make to my family that is it. I do not want to be in touch 24/7!!!.

My daughter has a cell phone plan with US Cellular. She has a base plan of just so many minutes she pays for. I have a phone and she has 2 children with phones which are $10 each per month. The phones were free. For texting, she pays $20 a month for unlimited texting. So it is really pretty cheap for her. All incoming calls are free, so minutes are only used for outgoing calls. 7pm to 7am are all free and weekends are free. So it is really very affordable.
We quit our land line this month. Have been planning to do it for a while.
.

Since my son pays for mine, I have no clue what it costs but I have Internet, e-mail, text and many minutes. He and his wife are also on it of course. I once went over mnutes by 6 so he added another 100 for me. He said it was cheaper and easier than me worrying about minutes. Now he is no longer traveling construction like he was, he says I cannot run out of minutes.
Several of my kids have dumped the land lines for cell.

 

[Samster]

Samster and others, Keep in mind that John's phone is also an internet provider for the price he pays as well as the high # of minutes. It may sound a bit pricey if it was just for phone service but not for all the extras he has. In order to compare, you need to apples to apples...
Now back on the subject - i love inns on iphones...it is nice that they configured their site to work well on iphones. As you may know most websites are not easily viewed on most web phones. This is something each of us should address with our webmasters. As this technology grows and the public is suckered, the need for our sites to configure to them will be greater. As far as I know - Swirt or those 'in the know' chime in please - there is only one web phone by Verizon that views websites just like PC's do..

My post was to Catlady

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

Chris,
Question - when a user pops our listing up on their iphone, how would that convert on our referral stats? Would it show the referring domain as ilovesinns like it currently does? Or is there another name or pgrm it would show up under? I am looking at my statz prgm now and see one from iloveinns from yesterday. I would like to be able to track this and see how well it works for us. Thanks.

 

[swirt]

Chris,
Question - when a user pops our listing up on their iphone, how would that convert on our referral stats? Would it show the referring domain as ilovesinns like it currently does? Or is there another name or pgrm it would show up under? I am looking at my statz prgm now and see one from iloveinns from yesterday. I would like to be able to track this and see how well it works for us. Thanks..

If they followed a link from Iloveinns to your site, it would show iloveinns as the referrer. But from what Chris describes it sounds like this is an application on the iphone so it may not show in your referrer logs at all if they never jump from that application to your website.
If you look under "Browser capabilities" (or something that sounds similar) in your stats you should see iphone, ipod, palmos .... listed and can see how much traffic you are getting from these handheld devices.

 

[cmonahan]

Thanks for this Inovation and information Chris. Is "InnTouch" simply a website tuned to iphones or is it an iphone application that someone has to load onto their iphone in order to use?.

It is an application that they have to load. But as I'm sure you know, on the iPhone it's really quick and easy. The reason why we chose an application over a mobile website is because an application gives us a lot more control for future versions.
Chris

 

[swirt]

Thanks for this Inovation and information Chris. Is "InnTouch" simply a website tuned to iphones or is it an iphone application that someone has to load onto their iphone in order to use?.

It is an application that they have to load. But as I'm sure you know, on the iPhone it's really quick and easy. The reason why we chose an application over a mobile website is because an application gives us a lot more control for future versions.
Chris
.

True, it gives you a lot more control, but eliminates all the other web enabled phones.

 

[user 26]

does the iphone have gps built in as well? i am really overwhelmed!

 

[cmonahan]

does the iphone have gps built in as well? i am really overwhelmed!.

does the iphone have gps built in as well? i am really overwhelmed!

It sure does. Even the first generation iPhone has cell phone tower triangulation. It's accurate to about 2000meters, which is still just fine for running the Nearby feature of this application.

 

[Penelope]

does the iphone have gps built in as well? i am really overwhelmed!.

i am really overwhelmed!

Me, too. I know I should embrace this stuff, but it just seems so hard to wrap my mind around.

 

[cmonahan]

As long as the 'homey, old fashioned' is just surficial and behind the scenes it's all up to date and then some! Yeah, I have quilts and rockers, but you can surf the web in bed!
We have had a number of guests use GPS maps to find a last minute place to stay. I wouldn't ask to be taken off that!.

As long as the 'homey, old fashioned' is just surficial and behind the scenes it's all up to date and then some! Yeah, I have quilts and rockers, but you can surf the web in bed!
We have had a number of guests use GPS maps to find a last minute place to stay. I wouldn't ask to be taken off that!

That is the word SS was probably looking for, homey. Good word. We are homey, but we are mostly up to speed. Have to keep an eye on it to try to keep up to speed, it changes so quickly!
.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to chime in and introduce myself. I am the chief technology officer here at iLoveInns. Thanks for the kind words! This application has been a vision of ours for a while now and it's great to have an initial release out there. We have a large list of items that we will be adding, but I would love to hear some feedback you may have regarding features that you would like to see implemented.
Sincerely,
Chris Monahan
.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to chime in and introduce myself. I am the chief technology officer here at iLoveInns. Thanks for the kind words! This application has been a vision of ours for a while now and it's great to have an initial release out there. We have a large list of items that we will be adding, but I would love to hear some feedback you may have regarding features that you would like to see implemented.
Sincerely,
Chris Monahan

Welcome Chris! For a minute I thought you were the eTrade baby.

May I write a short blog article about this new ilovesinns feature? (on my blog) you can email me off the forum if you need to know which one it is, etc.
.

Welcome Chris! For a minute I thought you were the eTrade baby.

May I write a short blog article about this new ilovesinns feature? (on my blog) you can email me off the forum if you need to know which one it is, etc.

Haha. The eTrade commercials are pretty funny.
You sure can post on your blog if you want. If I can answer any questions for you let me know.
Chris
.

Welcome Chris! For a minute I thought you were the eTrade baby.

May I write a short blog article about this new ilovesinns feature? (on my blog) you can email me off the forum if you need to know which one it is, etc.

Haha. The eTrade commercials are pretty funny.
You sure can post on your blog if you want. If I can answer any questions for you let me know.
Chris

For those of us without iphones can you tell us more about what the user will find or see in regard to locating iloveinns B&B's? Is there something we should add (other than making sure our listing on ilovesinns is uptodate) to help them find us?
.

For those of us without iphones can you tell us more about what the user will find or see in regard to locating iloveinns B&B's? Is there something we should add (other than making sure our listing on ilovesinns is uptodate) to help them find us?

First, let's talk briefly about what the iPhone is. Its core functions include a phone, email client, web browser, maps and calendar organizer. It has a few fun sensors, but the important one here is a GPS. Even the first generation iPhones can simulate a GPS.
You don't have to do anything special to your listing to help people find you. The phone simply displays a slimmed down version of our website. If you make a change to your listing, it will appear immediately on the device. When a person opens InnTouch, it displays a list of featured bed and breakfasts. We will be providing more information on how to be featured in a few days. You can search for inns by providing a city or province, or seeing what's around you using the Nearby feature. This pulls your GPS coordinates and shows you nearby inns within 60 miles. Lastly, people can view your wonderful recipes that a lot of you have uploaded.
With the phone being an all in one device, a person can call you with one touch; that is not dialing each digit of your phone number. They can see your address on a map, get directions to your inn, save your address in their contact list as well as email you or visit your website with single click actions. We also have a picture viewer so they can get a taste of what your inn is like.
As said in an earlier post, we have a huge list of features that we plan to implement. I actually have version 1.1 on my phone right now with a few enhancements being a picture gallery speedup, and the E-Mail and Website links won't make you leave the program to view them. We will also incorporate this feature to the Map link at a later date. A sneak peak feature for this application will be the display of YouTube videos about your inn pulled from our website.
I hope this gives a little idea as to how this application works.
Chris

 

[cmonahan]

does the iphone have gps built in as well? i am really overwhelmed!.

i am really overwhelmed!

Me, too. I know I should embrace this stuff, but it just seems so hard to wrap my mind around.
.

Me, too. I know I should embrace this stuff, but it just seems so hard to wrap my mind around.

When you have the phone in your hand, it all makes sense. I do agree that talking about its features can be confusing. But don't worry about this end of things. Just know that your inn will get more exposure!

 

[Willowpondgj]

What I want to know is....HOW MUCH DOES ALL OF THIS STUFF COST?
I know the new phones are about $200..but what about the cost of all those minutes to text, gps, web surf, email...etc That can't be cheap ..why do parents pay for their kids to chatand text endlessly...where are priorities these days...and WHY in heavens name have we let ourselves get to glued to these things.
I personally think it is one of the worst things ever to happen to our society!!!! Sorry. Boy have I gotten to be an old fogey
I have one..but only for emergencies and the rare long distance calls I make to my family that is it. I do not want to be in touch 24/7!!!.

My daughter, 15, hates texting, she says it drives her nuts that her friends can be standing in front of her, she asks a question and they text the answer back to her and flash their phone in her face, as if they are incapable of communication. She says she wants to grab the phone out of their hand and toss it in the Colorado River!
I'm glad she isn't doing that, but she is addicted to her headphones and we are seriously considering taking stock in hearing aid technology and have to limit her headphone use, which she resents... Boo-hoo! But, unlike other teens, she usually only has one ear plugged in at a time and she does keep the volume down and is capable of having an adult conversation.

 

[Morticia]

As long as the 'homey, old fashioned' is just surficial and behind the scenes it's all up to date and then some! Yeah, I have quilts and rockers, but you can surf the web in bed!
We have had a number of guests use GPS maps to find a last minute place to stay. I wouldn't ask to be taken off that!.

As long as the 'homey, old fashioned' is just surficial and behind the scenes it's all up to date and then some! Yeah, I have quilts and rockers, but you can surf the web in bed!
We have had a number of guests use GPS maps to find a last minute place to stay. I wouldn't ask to be taken off that!

That is the word SS was probably looking for, homey. Good word. We are homey, but we are mostly up to speed. Have to keep an eye on it to try to keep up to speed, it changes so quickly!
.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to chime in and introduce myself. I am the chief technology officer here at iLoveInns. Thanks for the kind words! This application has been a vision of ours for a while now and it's great to have an initial release out there. We have a large list of items that we will be adding, but I would love to hear some feedback you may have regarding features that you would like to see implemented.
Sincerely,
Chris Monahan
.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to chime in and introduce myself. I am the chief technology officer here at iLoveInns. Thanks for the kind words! This application has been a vision of ours for a while now and it's great to have an initial release out there. We have a large list of items that we will be adding, but I would love to hear some feedback you may have regarding features that you would like to see implemented.
Sincerely,
Chris Monahan

How can I get a screenshot of MY inn without actually having either the iPhone or the iPod? Sorry, we're geezers here.

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

As long as the 'homey, old fashioned' is just surficial and behind the scenes it's all up to date and then some! Yeah, I have quilts and rockers, but you can surf the web in bed!
We have had a number of guests use GPS maps to find a last minute place to stay. I wouldn't ask to be taken off that!.

As long as the 'homey, old fashioned' is just surficial and behind the scenes it's all up to date and then some! Yeah, I have quilts and rockers, but you can surf the web in bed!
We have had a number of guests use GPS maps to find a last minute place to stay. I wouldn't ask to be taken off that!

That is the word SS was probably looking for, homey. Good word. We are homey, but we are mostly up to speed. Have to keep an eye on it to try to keep up to speed, it changes so quickly!
.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to chime in and introduce myself. I am the chief technology officer here at iLoveInns. Thanks for the kind words! This application has been a vision of ours for a while now and it's great to have an initial release out there. We have a large list of items that we will be adding, but I would love to hear some feedback you may have regarding features that you would like to see implemented.
Sincerely,
Chris Monahan
.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to chime in and introduce myself. I am the chief technology officer here at iLoveInns. Thanks for the kind words! This application has been a vision of ours for a while now and it's great to have an initial release out there. We have a large list of items that we will be adding, but I would love to hear some feedback you may have regarding features that you would like to see implemented.
Sincerely,
Chris Monahan

How can I get a screenshot of MY inn without actually having either the iPhone or the iPod? Sorry, we're geezers here.
.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to chime in and introduce myself. I am the chief technology officer here at iLoveInns. Thanks for the kind words! This application has been a vision of ours for a while now and it's great to have an initial release out there. We have a large list of items that we will be adding, but I would love to hear some feedback you may have regarding features that you would like to see implemented.
Sincerely,
Chris Monahan

How can I get a screenshot of MY inn without actually having either the iPhone or the iPod? Sorry, we're geezers here.

go to a store that cells them and has them on display - oh and then have a scrawny cellsman follow you around for an hour listing out all the benefits of the iPhone.

 

[Morticia]

As long as the 'homey, old fashioned' is just surficial and behind the scenes it's all up to date and then some! Yeah, I have quilts and rockers, but you can surf the web in bed!
We have had a number of guests use GPS maps to find a last minute place to stay. I wouldn't ask to be taken off that!.

As long as the 'homey, old fashioned' is just surficial and behind the scenes it's all up to date and then some! Yeah, I have quilts and rockers, but you can surf the web in bed!
We have had a number of guests use GPS maps to find a last minute place to stay. I wouldn't ask to be taken off that!

That is the word SS was probably looking for, homey. Good word. We are homey, but we are mostly up to speed. Have to keep an eye on it to try to keep up to speed, it changes so quickly!
.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to chime in and introduce myself. I am the chief technology officer here at iLoveInns. Thanks for the kind words! This application has been a vision of ours for a while now and it's great to have an initial release out there. We have a large list of items that we will be adding, but I would love to hear some feedback you may have regarding features that you would like to see implemented.
Sincerely,
Chris Monahan
.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to chime in and introduce myself. I am the chief technology officer here at iLoveInns. Thanks for the kind words! This application has been a vision of ours for a while now and it's great to have an initial release out there. We have a large list of items that we will be adding, but I would love to hear some feedback you may have regarding features that you would like to see implemented.
Sincerely,
Chris Monahan

How can I get a screenshot of MY inn without actually having either the iPhone or the iPod? Sorry, we're geezers here.
.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to chime in and introduce myself. I am the chief technology officer here at iLoveInns. Thanks for the kind words! This application has been a vision of ours for a while now and it's great to have an initial release out there. We have a large list of items that we will be adding, but I would love to hear some feedback you may have regarding features that you would like to see implemented.
Sincerely,
Chris Monahan

How can I get a screenshot of MY inn without actually having either the iPhone or the iPod? Sorry, we're geezers here.

go to a store that cells them and has them on display - oh and then have a scrawny cellsman follow you around for an hour listing out all the benefits of the iPhone.
.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to chime in and introduce myself. I am the chief technology officer here at iLoveInns. Thanks for the kind words! This application has been a vision of ours for a while now and it's great to have an initial release out there. We have a large list of items that we will be adding, but I would love to hear some feedback you may have regarding features that you would like to see implemented.
Sincerely,
Chris Monahan

How can I get a screenshot of MY inn without actually having either the iPhone or the iPod? Sorry, we're geezers here.

go to a store that cells them and has them on display - oh and then have a scrawny cellsman follow you around for an hour listing out all the benefits of the iPhone.

Yeah, but how do I get the screenshot? It's on the phone...really, seriously, I'm a geezer...
How could I get it on an iPod? I DO have kids and nephews...can they send it to me? It's been along time since I've felt sooooooooo clueless.