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About Timothy R. Butler

Timothy R. Butler is Editor-in-Chief of Open for Business. Tim founded Universal Networks, a technology consulting firm, in 1996. He holds a B.A. (Hons.) in English Literature, Religious Studies and Philosophy from Lindenwood University. In the past, he has done freelance writing for a number of publications. Recently, he contributed to the the Snow Leopard Bible, published by John Wiley & Sons.

Articles by Timothy R. Butler

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Droid X Excels at More than Just Screen Size

By Timothy R. Butler | Aug 25, 2010 at 21:28:40

Since Motorola’s Droid first arrived last year, the Droid fleet has been expanding at a dizzying pace. Now, just months after the excellent HTC Droid Incredible showed up, Verizon and Motorola have unleashed the Droid X and Droid 2. Over the last few weeks, we put the Droid X through a grueling variety of tests to find out if this mammoth phone has what it takes.

The All Too Averaged American Road

By Timothy R. Butler | Aug 19, 2010 at 22:23:36

While traveling from place to place by car is hardly the glamorous thing it once was, it certainly has grown easier. As I went through Southern Missouri twice this week – once going down the Interstate and once back up via the remains of Route 66, I wondered if easier had any relation to better.

Sometimes a Lake and a Powered Down Cell Phone Are All You Need

By Timothy R. Butler | Jul 24, 2010 at 22:4:23

Henry David Thoreau famously wrote on life by a pond some one hundred and fifty-six years ago. As I sat looking out a window upon glistening water earlier this week, I realized quibbles with the transcendentalists aside, I too needed a Walden Pond.

How I Almost Bought an iPhone 4 and Lived to Tell About It

By Timothy R. Butler | Jul 3, 2010 at 13:52:8

It was a test of will power. When Apple unveiled the impressive iPhone 4 a few weeks ago, I said that I wasn’t going to buy one. I have last year’s model and that is quite good enough. I remained unconvinced.

Microsoft’s KIN: A Little Less than Kin, a Little More than Kind

By Timothy R. Butler | Jun 25, 2010 at 15:44:24

The Microsoft KIN phones are a little hard to categorize. Built by the team that previously designed the T-Mobile SideKick line before being acquired by Microsoft, the unveiling of the KIN devices in April represented the confirmation of years of rumors about Microsoft producing its own Windows Phone. But this is not like any Windows phone you’ve seen before; instead, the KIN provides its own commendably trailblazing charm.

Why AT&T Wants Customers to Buy the iPhone 4

By Timothy R. Butler | Jun 7, 2010 at 10:13:45

Updated As the time for Apple’s next generation iPhone 4 to be unveiled at the company’s WWDC event approached, something curious began to happen. AT&T started moving up existing customers’ eligibility to upgrade by six months or more so that even many of those who bought the iPhone 3GS last year under a carrier subsidy can upgrade again this year. What’s going on?

AT&T Tries New Data Plan Strategy Offering Lower Prices, New Limits

By Timothy R. Butler | Jun 2, 2010 at 16:0:50

Early Wednesday, AT&T (NYSE: T) announced a dramatic revision to its data plans for cell phones and other Internet connected devices, most notably affecting the Apple iPhone and newly released iPad WiFi+3G. While some new limits have appeared, the attractive low-end iPad plan remains unchanged with a slight advantage over other devices on the network.

Verizon’s Next Droid is Incredible

By Timothy R. Butler | Apr 28, 2010 at 22:52:17

Six months ago, Verizon Wireless launched the Droid, built by Motorola, as its flagship Android device. At the time, it was a formidable device, but development of the platform is moving rapidly and the Droid was eclipsed in capabilities, albeit not sales, by Google and HTC’s Nexus One, which was not available for Verizon. With the Droid Incredible, Verizon seeks to take the Android lead again.

Apple Confirms iPad WiFi+3G Launch for This Month

By Timothy R. Butler | Apr 19, 2010 at 13:47:44

OFB has learned that the cellular enabled version of Apple’s iPad tablet device is still scheduled to ship to customers by the end of April. UPDATED.

Relative Slowness in the Digital Age

By Timothy R. Butler | Apr 13, 2010 at 15:48:33

The digital age is weird – twenty years ago, organizing a few thousand photographs was a daunting project that could take hours to do right. Today, I have been reorganizing 61,000 digital photos, or, rather, the computer is organizing them while I do something else. When it finishes after a day’s worth of work, it will have my photos far better organized than I would have had I spent exponentially more time doing so by hand. I wish it would hurry up.

The Danger of Peacemaker

By Timothy R. Butler

Here is a story. The leaders of a church have a personal agenda against someone and want to quiet him, exact revenge or what have you. They not only come at him within their church, they continue by following him outside of that church to any other church he seeks refuge at and any place he works, making a wreck of his life in the process. That is the sort of thing that only happened in the past, in dusty tales of witch-hunts in Salem or the Inquisition in Spain, right? Wrong: it is happening today, perhaps at a seemingly normal church near you.

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Tap the Power of
Snow Leopard

Looking to get acquainted with Apple's latest operating system? Mac OS X Snow Leopard Bible, the definitive Mac OS X reference, features OFB's own Timothy R. Butler alongside Galen Gruman and Mark Hattersley.

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