Hi Scotty
Question.  Why will I have to pay for iCloud when I run out of whatever?  First thought is that it is a scam since they want credit card number.  Can you help please?  
Thanks,

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This day has been coming for a while now. Here’s what it all means. If you were a MobileMe subscriber many years ago, when Apple made the transition to iCloud, in an effort to appease people who had paid money, they gave extra iCloud storage space to everyone for a period of time. That time is up. Your iCloud storage space went from around 25 gigs to 5 gigs. If you want to keep your iCloud 25 gigs of storage space then Apple would love for you to pay them $40 per year. In my opinion, there is absolutely no good reason to do this. iCloud holds your contacts, calendars, some documents (if you created them in iWork applications such as Numbers, Keynote or Pages), as well as about the last month of pictures. That is going to continue. For most people, 5 gigs is totally enough to continue to use iCloud syncing services like the ones mentioned above. iCloud does not, and has never been an online storage area for your entire iPhoto library. This is a misconception shared by many of the people I work with.

The iCloud storage space is also used to back up your iOS device (iPad or iPhone) if you so choose but again, there is really no need to back up your device to the cloud. Let’s say you drop your phone in the lake (like I did a couple years ago). What did you just lose in terms of data?

Your contacts and calendars? No. Those will sync via iCloud and live on other computer and at iCloud.com whether you buy more space or not.
Your pictures? No. Your pictures are moving into iPhoto via photo stream if you turned on photo stream. And everyone should turn on photo stream!
Your music? No. No music lives on your iPhone that does live in iTunes are can be downloaded again from the iTunes store.
Your movies and apps? No. We no longer buy files. We buy permission to download those files for the rest of our lives. So if you bought Jaws 3 years ago and had it stored on your phone so you could watch it after going swimming in the lake later that night on the boat during the overnight campout, you can just redownload it again from the iTunes store once you’ve gotten a new device.

The one thing that you WILL lose is the order or arrangement your apps appear on your device. Which apps were on the front page? Which were in a folder? etc…

You will lose home videos you took on your device whether you have iCloud backup turned on or not. Those items do not move to the cloud until you connect to a wifi network. Which brings me to my next point. You can set your device to sync and backup to iTunes over wifi in your home already so the case to pay Apple $40 more just to keep the order of your apps seems pointless to me. I suggest you save your money. Do not pay for more space in iCloud and instead buy something nice for yourself.

Hi, I had the app face dialer which I loved & no longer works in os 7, can u research & fins an equivalent to that app & the swype android one

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Looks like Face Dialer was last updated almost 2 years ago.  I would guess the developer walked away from the app.  Finding something comparable will be a matter of digging through the app store and trying things out to find one that fits your own needs.

Hey Scotty, we haven't needed you in awhile but need to get you over here soon for a couple of things-will make an appt.

My daughter needs an iPad for school work, basically needs it for internet, word, and writing papers.
we were thinking that we could get a generation or 2 old and maybe a refurbished one?
she would like the larger one, not the mini.

Do you have suggestions where we should purchase that and/or do you have one for sale?

any help that you can give us would be wonderful, after I buy it, that would be the perfect time to get you over here to help with set up of that also.
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I don’t sale devices. There are a few places to consider. The newest iPads are usually available refurbished directly from apple.com at a slightly lower cost. Usually around $50 cheaper. But the overall price of these devices is still fairly high. Ebay is probably your best way to go. Be sure to check the seller’s rating before buying. And beware of added values to increase the price such as “free case with purchase” or “comes with the following software…”. When you buy an iOS device it should come to you completely restored with no apps installed. Another place to consider is Craigslist. This is more cut and dry and requires you to go pick up the device from someone’s house but overall you can find very good deals on Craigslist if you can get over the fear of dealing with a stranger in person.

Lastly, to get a good feel for the actual value of these older devices, go over to gazelle.com and check out what other companies buy these devices for. That will give you a ball park figure for the device you have in mind. Hope this helps.