Yes, I Have An iPhone

december 19, 2007

Yes, I have an iPhone. I have had one for a week now -- my lovely wife gave the iPhone to me as an early Christmas present! Isn't she the best?? The acceptance of the iPhone is a complete reversal from my anti-iPhone attitude of earlier months. So, here were some of my beefs from previous postings, and some corrections (ie. me eating my words) or "still beefs": What got my wife and I really interested in the iPhone was the iPod touch -- jailbroken and running iPhone applications, that is. Steve Jobs really did a number by removing the iPhone applications -- especially Mail.app -- from the iPod touch. Sure, the iPod touch has Safari and that can be used to check webmail, but the total convenience of Mail.app is indescribable. It really does make a difference. The other apps are also pretty cool; Weather and Stocks by Yahoo!; Google Maps by Google. Steve Jobs was quoted as saying, "The iPod touch is training wheels for the iPhone." After using both the iPod touch and iPhone, I agree with him. Did the iPod touch have to be training wheels for the iPhone? No. Steve Jobs orchestrated it so that people who used the iPod touch only got a small taste of what the iPhone could do (I don't believe him when he says the applications were not included just because the iPod touch is a "music" device) -- and if they were interested, they would "trade up". Good business strategy on Jobs' part. Let me get this out though: The iPhone is not the perfect mobile device. It has a bunch of flaws: No cut & paste, no Flash support in Safari, it crashes, and other minor things. But, what it does, it does really well -- and it is a mobile device that will change the way other mobile device makers think when they start designing iPhone-killers. My SonyEricsson w810i was a great phone and it did everything the iPhone did: Mail client, Web client, music, video, camera, and other things. But, the iPhone just does it much better. The virtual keyboard works great, a lot better than the chiclet keyboard on the Treo, and on-par with the spacious keyboard on the Sidekick II. iTunes syncing makes a big difference when it comes to music management (since I am an iTunes using guy). The camera on the iPhone is not as good as the auto-focus on the SonyEricsson though. After a week with the iPhone, am I happy? Damn straight, it is the best mobile device I have ever used -- and I have gone through a bunch of mobile devices, some of them smartphones too (Nokia 6682, Treo 600, Sidekick II), none of them match the iPhone. I eat my words from my previous posting doubting the iPhone. I have been converted. Update: I forgot to mention stuff about how I carry the iPhone around. I know people that carry the thing "naked" in their jean pockets with their keys and wallet and stuff. I'm a little paranoid about that (even though I know the screen is pretty scratch resistant). So, for the last week, I have been carrying it around in my old orange Timbuk2 Accessory Case (no longer available). I was looking for a really good case for my iPhone all week long and had been thinking about two: Agent 18 Eco iPhone Shield and the Contour Showcase for iPhone. The Agent 18 got shot down after I found reports that the case scratches the chrome on the iPhone face. The Showcase is really, really nice, but I like being able to hold my iPhone without a case around it. Finally, I found the Sena Ultraslim iPhone Pouch. Perfect case for my iPhone. Eileen picked one up for me today, the case fits the iPhone like a glove and works great.


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