iPhone and Me

iPhone and MeWell, I’ve had my iPhone for quite awhile now and I think I could call myself qualified to talk about my experience with it. It IS the best cell phone I have ever owned and I don’t think I’ll ever get away from it! I love gadgets, but it still took me watching my buddy, Britt pick one up before I swallowed hard and laid down the $399 it cost to pick one up. I suppose it also helped that my old Nokia phone was well past its expected life and was often taking excursions when I needed it for something.

I have always been an AT&T customer, so getting into an iPhone wasn’t really a big jump in terms of expectations from AT&T...cell phone companies seem to be universally crummy, so what’s the difference? Lol. Instead of ordering my iPhone from Apple directly, I stopped by the AT&T store and picked mine up. Getting it activated via iTunes was no sweat and it was only a few minutes before I was activated and set.

What I recall about my initial impressions of the iPhone was this....it was instantly less of a hassle to use than my little Nokia flip phone. Exceedingly easy to use, everything was literally at my fingertips. I quickly set my email up and started working on all my contacts...you can pack a wealth of information in there! Holding and talking on the iPhone takes a bit of getting used to since it’s basically a slab, but you quickly get used to it; I bought a Bluetooth headset right away. Overall, everything was basically a breeze...

Skip forward to present time. I am still impressed by my iPhone! I have all of my email, iTunes music, movies, and bucket loads of photos stored on it and it works flawlessly. The only feature I don’t use on it is the stock tracker...perhaps once Xi gets here and we start looking at financial things that will change, but for now, I slid the stocks icon to my 2nd desktop page so that it’s out of the way. Each time Apple posts an update to the iPhone, new stuff appears or other stuff just works better. One fun thing in particular comes in the Google Maps application...it will triangulate your location using cell towers and WiFi hotspots. It’s not quite GPS, but it’s neat nonetheless!

I use the iPhone’s SMS feature extensively while chatting with Xi; it’s super easy to figure out. The only problem is that it does get expensive since Xi’s overseas and not within AT&T’s network and the messages sent don’t fall within the plan. But since I’m chatting with Xi, it doesn’t really matter. With chatting, one feature that the iPhone doesn’t have yet is the ability to chat over Yahoo, MSN, or iChat using a native application. You can chat via WiFi using the Safari browser built into the iPhone, but it’s nowhere near as nice as having a chat client. This is said to be changing in June of this year when apps from Apple’s SDK release hit the iPhone; apparently, we’ll see at least AIM appear on the iPhone.

Chatting and WiFi bring up another great thing about the iPhone...you’re almost NEVER without some form of internet with the iPhone. Between WiFi and AT&T’s turtle-like EDGE network, I’ve never hit a spot without internet access when I needed it. AT&T doesn’t charge iPhone users for the internet either, so browsing endlessly is completely possible! The built-in Safari browser is second to none...I’ve yet to see a handheld device show the internet so well. Other cell phones I’ve seen look pretty darned primitive in comparison.

One feature I didn’t really picture myself using that much was the built in YouTube application. I was never really drawn to YouTube before the iPhone, but now I’m finding myself stretched out on the couch watching music videos and episodes of Top Gear on the iPhone, lol. The video display on the iPhone is VERY watchable...you wouldn’t think that at first glance, but it’s really very nice.

Ha, I could probably go on and on, but honestly, I’ve never found such a useful phone as the iPhone. It even beats my old Dell PDA’s butt! When I had my Nokia, I really didn’t bother with it much because it was too fiddly with trying to figure out how to do certain things....there is no such problem with the iPhone; it’s a snap to use.

Now, I’m sure part of Apple’s intent with the iPhone was to expose users to the Apple environment...afterall, iPhone uses Apple’s OSX operating system to drive it and it’s pretty much the same system that runs on Apple desktops and laptops today. I’d already been using Linux extensively before getting the iPhone, so I was familiar with many of the ways that aren’t MS Windows, lol. The iPhone pushed me over the edge though...I simply had to go out and get a MacBook. Compared to my Windows laptop, my Mac is considerably lighter and FAR easier to use. Crashes? Ha, they are indeed rare from what I’ve experienced. My iPhone is seamlessly tied in with my Mac with email, iTunes, and photos....you barely have to do anything to have it sync up. These days, my home MS Windows machine sits quiet until I want to play a game or something, my MacBook has taken over everything I do with a computer. Heck, it can even run Windows in a window if need be, but I haven’t found a need. I’m sitting here on my Mac right now, carrying on with this overly lengthy blog article, lol. I can comfortably say that if I ever buy another desktop machine, it’s going to be an Apple...I just don’t see a need for a Windows PC anymore thanks, in part, to the iPhone.

Anyway, the iPhone is an exciting device and something that I’ve found to be extremely valuable in my daily technical and communication activities. If you haven’t tried it, I suggest you run out and pick one up! AT&T isn’t too bad, but the iPhone is great! You won’t find an easier and more fun to use phone...I don’t care how much the other companies try to copy it.