Kin and I spent the week in California, and we just got back tonight. I love being on the road, love being in San Francisco. But it was the first trip south for me since starting at ReadWriteWeb so being in the city was "business" and "pleasure." I met lots of people who and it was an all around awesome time.

It was a challenge to work on the road, I found. It wasn't insurmountable. With the exception of today's drive northward, I was able to get three posts a day written (as well as a couple of posts on my own blogs).

Power and Internet access are the big issues for a tech blogger on the road. I'd prepared ahead of time by getting a wireless USB card from Verizon, so Internet access wasn't a problem. (I went with Verizon in part because I'd heard terrible things about AT&T's coverage in San Francisco, truth be told, but I've also had problems with AT&T in Washington and in Maine.) I've also just bought a Mac, so power wasn't terrible either. But I still needed to find a good place to work, preferably near a power outlet and preferably with WiFi.

Despite the new laptop and wireless USB card, I still found myself pretty reliant on my iPhone. I was mobile; it's a mobile computing device. If I needed directions, if I needed to find a nearby coffee shop, if I wanted to quickly respond to messages, I used my phone. And I found that it was in danger of running out of power before my Macbook was.

I really need to get a new phone. Ever since I upgraded (then jailbroke) and had to roll my 3G phone back to an earlier OS, it's just not been itself. I love my iPhone, don't get me wrong, but I've been torn by whether or not I wanted to get an iPhone or an Android. And between my hesitation, my allegiance to "open," my disappointment in AT&T, and my empty checkbook, I haven't bought a new phone.

I'm really torn between the iPhone and the Android. I know that the iPhone -- despite Antennagate -- is the superior phone. But there's so much, well, philosophically about Google's Android that I prefer.

I'm headed to OSCON this week. And no doubt, spending a week with the open source community will likely influence my decision. But at the end of the day, I've got to make a decision based in part on Internet access and power, what's best and what's right.