Individual Entry: iPhone
« Absence | Main | Virtuality »

If you read this blog, PLEASE sign in to my guest book on frappr. No personally identifying information is needed, so this is risk-free. Just provide a name (even a nickname), your zip code, and any statement you want to make ("hi" is sufficient).

If you want to know more about me, click here.

June 22, 2009

Life : iPhone

As people who follow me on Facebook already know, I purchased one of the new 32GB iPhone 3GS’s last Friday. While I had wanted to get an iPhone since they first came out, I realized that I needed 32Gb storage on it minimum to do the things I wanted, so I have patiently waited until now to buy one.

I am quite satisfied with the results.

For me, this is largely an exercise in gadget consolidation. In the past I have (in theory) carried around with me:

- my cell phone, to act as a phone and a camera for the occasional opportunistic photos I wanted to take
- my iPod to act as a music player and a photo wallet (although you couldn’t really see the photos unless you connected the iPod to a TV, at least I always had them with me)
- A book to read when I have dead time to fill (or, these days, my Kindle)
- my Nintendo DS to play games when I have dead time to fill and don’t feel like reading

In practice, this is just too much stuff to carry around. There was a period where I always had my phone and iPod (and usually a book) with me; but it became too much of a pain. Likewise I carried around my phone and my DS (and usually a book) for a while; but again the benefit wasn’t enough to overcome the sense of pocket-clutter (and the discipline to keep everything charged). So I always settled back on just having my phone and book (or phone and kindle now) and lived with the lack of tunes, games, photos, etc.

For me, the great thing about the iPhone is that I now have everything I want with me in a single, reasonably sized device.
- it is a great phone
- it is a pretty good occasional camera (with video too now)
- I can store all of my photos on it and actually show them to people in a reasonable way
- I can play games on it when I have a few minutes to kill
- Amazon even has a Kindle-book reader app for the iPhone, although between the size of the screen and the luminescent display, I wouldn’t want to use it that often.
- Plus, I get something I never had – web access in my pocket. Now when I am “out and about” and need to check some web site quickly (perhaps to make some decision on where to go next), I can do so. I can even manage this blog via the iPhone’s brower without problems.

This is a really big win for me.

As noted above, I don’t think the iPhone is a solid replacement for the Kindle, so I will also keep that with me most of the time; but that brings me down to two devices when I travel, which is pretty good. What’s more, I can cut that down to one (just the iPhone) when I have to. As expected, my usage model does mean that I need 32Gb of storage in the device; but now that that’s an option, I’m set.

Posted by Steven at June 22, 2009 05:00 AM

Comments

Posted by: Earl Hosking at May 1, 2010 01:19 PM

Posted by: isaachamblen645 at May 5, 2010 02:41 AM

Posted by: Glenn at May 20, 2010 02:29 PM