[binary visions]

I've got an iPhone

It was time for me to get a cell phone again, much as I don't really want one. Figured, if I was going to get a phone I didn't want, I may as well get a fun one.

Tried all the smartphones and had to face the reality: Apple nailed this one, and there's nothing else that even approaches it. The interface is top notch, the combination of features is great, the browser is the best of any I used, and the screen size really makes the device a pleasure to use.

So. There. I said it. This kicks ass.

Fortunately, it was also partially subsidized by my new job

 

[Toshi]

welcome to the dark side. interface really is everything in these kinds of things...

 

[binary visions]

Half the phones I tried got dismissed instantly because of a cumbersome zoom function. How the hell are you supposed to effectively browse the web on a screen this size, if you have some awkward process of hitting a button, dragging an adjuster, then waiting for the adjuster to close in order to simply zoom?

 

[SkaredShtles]

My wife was given an iTouch at a company retreat.

The f**king keyboard makes me want to kill kittens.

Is there any way to use a pencil eraser instead of my finger?

 

[binary visions]

Google "iphone stylus" - there are a few brands.

You can't use a standard stylus - need something that more generally approximates a fingertip.

They keyboard was almost what kept me from buying the iPhone but after using it for a while (and noting that it works in landscape mode in Safari), it wasn't so bad as to keep the overwhelmingly better feature set and design from winning out.

 

[stevew]

more memory please.

then i will be interested.

 

[binary visions]

I agree, and I think it's plain retarded that the difference between the 8gb and 16gb model is $100 (consider that most flash drives differ by about $25 for such a storage increase).

Oh, but you can get your 16gb model in silver so I guess that explains it

I went with the 8gb. Figured if I still like it enough in a couple years and nothing else has emerged to challenge them (the latter is unlikely) I'll upgrade to a big storage model.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Google "iphone stylus" - there are a few brands.

You can't use a standard stylus - need something that more generally approximates a fingertip.

They keyboard was almost what kept me from buying the iPhone but after using it for a while (and noting that it works in landscape mode in Safari), it wasn't so bad as to keep the overwhelmingly better feature set and design from winning out.

It does LOOK nice... I just can't tolerate the keyboard. Although it was a pretty nice free gift.

 

[kingbee]

Welcome to the fun side. I love my iphone first gen. The 3g wasnt enough to make me want to jump on the new model. Im looking forward to seeing the next one in a year or so.

My buddy is tossing his first gen in the trash today. He got his the week they came out. Its been acting up since they went 2.0.0. Dropping calls, locking up, battery draining in a few hours, etc. 2.2 came out today he was hoping it would fix it. It only made it worse.

I noticed my phone was more finicky with 2.0, but the 2.2 update has seemed to fix everything.

Oh, and I have got to be pretty good with the keyboard.

 

[SkaredShtles]

It looked like you have to PAY for the update for the iPhone/Touch? They don't provide updates with the device?

 

[kingbee]

It looked like you have to PAY for the update for the iPhone/Touch? They don't provide updates with the device?

iPhone you dont have to pay for the updates. I know the Touch you have to pay for some things, I dont know about 2.2.

 

[binary visions]

It looked like you have to PAY for the update for the iPhone/Touch? They don't provide updates with the device?

Apple considered the 1.0 -> 2.0 upgrade to be substantial enough to warrant a $10 upgrade fee from Touch owners (not iPhone owners). I think that's crap but at least they added SDK features to 2.0 to make it a really substantial upgrade.

Minor upgrades have been free and, of course, all of the iPhone upgrades have been free.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Apple considered the 1.0 -> 2.0 upgrade to be substantial enough to warrant a $10 upgrade fee from Touch owners (not iPhone owners). I think that's crap but at least they added SDK features to 2.0 to make it a really substantial upgrade.

Minor upgrades have been free and, of course, all of the iPhone upgrades have been free.

The burning question is why doesn't a brand new Touch come with the latest software?

 

[binary visions]

The burning question is why doesn't a brand new Touch come with the latest software?

It was not considered a bug fix. It was considered an optional upgrade. Stocked Windows XP boxes are not pulled off the shelves to install Vista.

Actually, I wouldn't expect it to come with the latest software anyway unless you want every manufacturer to rip open their packaged boxes to install patches. When was the last time you did a hardware install where a recent patch had already been applied to a retail boxed item?

 

[stinkyboy]

And I'm a roadie now... The world is officially spinning out of control.

Awesome BV!

 

[Ciaran]

How's the service?

 

[binary visions]

How's the service?

Seems good... and even better after the 2.1 upgrade (which explicitly stated that it fixed some 3G reception problems).

Call quality is very good and I have lots of bars even out where I live which is about 8 miles outside of town.

Haven't had it very long, though, so that's just my impression after using it for a couple days in my normal locations.

 

[BigMike]

I'm thinking REALLY hard about trading in my VZW Blackberry for an iPhone 3G. I had a touch for a while before it was stolen, and loved it.

I'm starting a new job, and moving, what better time to get an iPhone eh?

 

[Ciaran]

Hows the web surfing?

The wife and I are about a month away from new phones. I don't really care for apple stuff, but not in an I'll never buy apple cause I love windows kinda way. We (the wife and I) generally hate AT&T. Sadly though, this looks like one of the best phones on the market right now.

I can handle an iphone, but not at&t unless the service (both phone/web and customer) are frikkin stellar. Right now I am looking at the LG Dare with service from Verizon.

Sigh... this is one of the reasons I hate cell phones.

Keep us updated BV, if you have time.

 

[Toshi]

web surfing is awesome. well, except Flash doesn't work. boo. but the zooming and rotating are very intuitive, and the text rendering/antialiasing good as well. speed on my original non-3G over EDGE is not stellar, but that's not the phone's fault. over Wifi it's fine.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Hows the web surfing?

Get one and try the keyboard.

You're either going to love it or you're going to curse it until the end of time.

I much preferred the kb on my Blackberry, but the screen was useless for surfing with that device.

The Apple is REALLY nice from a screen perspective but the keyboard is useless for me. YMMV.

 

[H8R]

We're a month or so out from new phones as well.

I'm thinking the wife gets an iPhone, I'm going to get another Sony/Ericsson Walkman phone, cause they are small and free.


I don't care about surfing on a phone.

 

[binary visions]

I don't care about surfing on a phone.

You say that until you have something in front of you where you can Google absolutely anything on a moment's notice.

Jenn and I were in the bar watching football yesterday and she mentioned that she wondered when panthers were last common in North Carolina since we have the Panthers NFL team. Two minutes later we had the answer. It's an awesome tool if you're like me and think of things throughout the day that you're curious about.

 

[H8R]

You say that until you have something in front of you where you can Google absolutely anything on a moment's notice.

Jenn and I were in the bar watching football yesterday and she mentioned that she wondered when panthers were last common in North Carolina since we have the Panthers NFL team. Two minutes later we had the answer. It's an awesome tool if you're like me and think of things throughout the day that you're curious about.

We don't hang out in bars wondering about formerly native wildlife based on current athletic franchises, but I understand where you're coming from.

Maybe I'll get two.



Or a new bike.

 

[binary visions]

One additional $200 phone = new bike?

Shopping at the local yard sales again?

 

[binary visions]

Hows the web surfing?

Web surfing is a pleasure. Really. Even with the crappy keyboard - you can flip the phone sideways and browse/type in landscape, which makes the keyboard big and thumb-able.

The zooming feature is what makes it. Multi-touch zooming means it doesn't matter that the screen is small, it's still easy to browse and read.

 

[SkaredShtles]

<snip>
The zooming feature is what makes it. Multi-touch zooming means it doesn't matter that the screen is small, it's still easy to browse and read.

For certain values of "easy"...

 

[binary visions]

For certain values of "easy"...

I was assuming Ciaran was bright enough to realize that browsing on a 3" screen with your fingers was not going to be as easy as browsing on a 21" screen with a mouse & keyboard.

I'll keep in mind that I have to spell it out when explaining things to you in the future, though

 

[SkaredShtles]

I was assuming Ciaran was bright enough to realize that browsing on a 3" screen with your fingers was not going to be as easy as browsing on a 21" screen with a mouse & keyboard.

I'll keep in mind that I have to spell it out when explaining things to you in the future, though

Don't get smart with me, you Apple Fanboi whippersnapper.

 

[Ciaran]

Looks like I am going to have to try out both the iphone and the LG Dare. Verizon and Circuit city have working phones to try out. I refuse to go to an Apple store ( I don't want to catch teh yuppie smug!) but a friend of mine has one and he's let me try it out for a few minutes.

It's going to be one or the other I think. Part of my decision wil come down to what the wife wants since we are hoping to get a family plan type of service plan.

For me the actual phone service is te least important feature to me. I will use it more for web surfing, having a camera handy, and as an mp3 player. The only reason I am getting another cell phone is so the preggo wife can reach me when it's time. And well, pr0n at work just seems so cool.

 

[binary visions]

I tried a Dare @ a Verizon store next door.

The reason I didn't get it:

- Lack of WiFi connectivity
- Touch screen not as responsive which hurts usability
- Web browser not as good (some funky rendering especially)
- Minor niggles that overall just didn't make it feel as polished: multi-touch is VERY nice when browsing the web, "flicking" through lists is a lot easier than trying to scroll, things like that.

edit: that said, if I was a Verizon customer, I'd be satisfied with the Dare... but since I had a choice, the iPhone was the clear winner for me.

 

[Ciaran]

WiFi... If the phone service includes web access in what situation would you need WiFi?

Thanks again for all the info guys!

 

[berkshire_rider]

Haven't used a I-phone, but wi-fi is generally noticeably faster than cellualar browsing. Plus, if you don't shell out $99 a month or whatever the going rate is for unlimited use is these days, your browsing is capped at x mb's a month.

FYI - Verizon and Sprint both have new Blackberry's with wi-fi and smart phones coming out later this year if you don't want to change carriers.

 

[Toshi]

Haven't used a I-phone, but wi-fi is generally noticeably faster than cellualar browsing. Plus, if you don't shell out $99 a month or whatever the going rate is for unlimited use is these days, your browsing is capped at x mb's a month.

FYI - Verizon and Sprint both have new Blackberry's with wi-fi and smart phones coming out later this year if you don't want to change carriers.

partly true: most WiFi hotspots will have higher bandwidth than 3G or especially EDGE, along with lower latency. what's untrue is the bit about a data cap: the iPhone's data plan is either $20/month on top of voice (for the non-3G), or $30/month on top of voice. for that fee you get UNLIMITED cellular data + visual voicemail, which is also data.

 

[binary visions]

WiFi... If the phone service includes web access in what situation would you need WiFi?

Thanks again for all the info guys!

Faster access, longer battery life, and supported in some places where you might not have cell access... a few buildings on campus knock down my bars but we have WiFi blanketing the campus.

 

[Ciaran]

Ahhh. The wi fi makes sense now. I think that I wouldn't use it very much so that may not be much of a consideration for me. The only time I would really use it is the 4 - 6 times a year I am in an airport.

Going to have to try them out but so far the iphone is in the lead. Damn.

 

[binary visions]

Oh, and I use it on my local network @ home. Manage my router mostly, but there are apps that let you share files or do some remote management of iTunes or whatever.

 

[blue]

I joined the cult today, got the phone free from a friend so I figured I'd suck it up.

This is a nice hunk of metal...I'm digging it. There's stuff I need to do today, but I'm too enamored with the UI and amount of **** it does...the ironic part is my current sig. Sigh.

$90 a month before tax with unlimited text hurts though.

 

[SkaredShtles]

<snip>

$90 a month before tax with unlimited text hurts though.

Seriously?

 

[blue]

Seriously?

Yep, the $20/mo text message fee is what really burns you. The total is closer to $70 with my student discount. I don't have a home phone and don't pay for internet, so I feel slightly more justified in having an outrageous cell phone bill