OK, I was the last PowerPage editor to succumb and drove to the Christiana Mall in Delaware on the 4th of July to wait in line for 10 minutes with about a dozen folks for the 50 remaining iPhones at the Apple Store there.
Most bought two.
As an existing AT&T customer, I had no problems activating and for the most part the iPhone is everything I expected and less. It took me about 20 minutes to investigate and use every last nook and cranny of the iPhone. It is that good an interface. Does it lead me to conclude that it falls short in terms of what it can do? Sure, but one can always hope for a bit more in a software update or two and even more in the next generation.
Am I disappointed?
Hell, no!
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OK, I was the last PowerPage editor to succumb and drove to the Christiana Mall in Delaware on the 4th of July to wait in line for 10 minutes with about a dozen folks for the 50 remaining iPhones at the Apple Store there.
Most bought two.
As an existing AT&T customer, I had no problems activating and for the most part the iPhone is everything I expected and less. It took me about 20 minutes to investigate and use every last nook and cranny of the iPhone. It is that good an interface. Does it lead me to conclude that it falls short in terms of what it can do? Sure, but one can always hope for a bit more in a software update or two and even more in the next generation.
Am I disappointed?
Hell, no!
The most hyped phone since the GTE flip-phone, it has made a measurable impact on my day-to-day mobile life, really. It is first and foremost a lifestyle device. A Crackberry, it is not.
I will start with a brief history of my mobile gadgetry. I owned a Newton, before I ever got a mobile phone. It was my address book and appointment book and I eventually replaced it with a Palm V. My first digital camera was the original Apple Quicktake, followed by a half dozen others. I still have my original 1G iPod with mechanical wheel. My first phone was a Startac. I dropped the PDA to rely on a succession of Sony Ericsson phones followed by a Moto Razr. That, along with an iPod nano and a Pentax Optio camera, were the three smallish items in my messenger bag along with lunch out the door every day.
I take the subway home from work and then get on a trolley. Before the iPhone, if I was running late, I popped the earbuds out, stuck a finger in my ear to drown out the noise and phoned home. Now, I swipe at the screen a few times, the music mutes, I relay the info and the music comes back up. I used to quickly check email and an open eBay auction or two on my MacBook before running out the door in the morning. No more, I can sleep a bit later and check things on the trolley. Sure, EDGE is a bit slow, but not that bad. There is just one spot on my 15 minute ride where the signal is not optimal and that lasts all of 30 seconds. I wonder how well 3G would work along the same route? I can take barely acceptable photos when I have to, much better than the VGA camera in my last phone. I have about 500 photos available taken over the years stored on the iPhone. They look very good on the screen and the auto rotation just wows ’em. And, I no longer need to carry my iPod.
I was at dinner the other night and my wife was describing a novelty item to friends. Balls, that hang from your the back of your truck hitch. Then she turned to me and said, Bob will show you. It took about two minutes to Google ’em up and enlarge the photo for the group to see.
Best phone I ever had.
I am hoping the iPhone morphs into a true dockable Macintosh in a few years. In addition, it would be nice to see touch-screen iPods with the facility to become a basic phone by inserting a SIM card from any carrier. Price the phone option at $50 to $100 and I think it would be a hit.
Love your iPhone? Hate it? Can’t wait for a software update? Let us know over in the forums.