A Week and a Half with an iPhone

Once upon a time I once said:

God damn, I was hoping for something close enough to my current iPod capacity, but 8gb for 600 bucks? That’s like PS3 levels of pricing and as long as my iPod still works and my phone can make and receive calls, I’ll politely decline thankyouverymuchly…

Hmmm, well, that didn’t last as last Sunday we got iPhones, and it’s now surgically attached to my left paw. Really, I had my concerns but in the last week or so, it’s all been put to rest and now I bask in the glow of the touchscreen.

But It’s Expensive

Well, yeah, it’s now a $400 investment, still better than the high launch price of $600, but to put it in perspective when the Motorola RAZR first arrived on Cingular, it was $500 with a 2 year contract, up to $800 without a contract. New phones are expensive, just the way the market is… Of course, the flip side is the RAZR is now free most places but the RAZR2 is $300 with a 2 year contract. Wouldn’t you rather pay $100 more for an iPhone?

But I Don’t Want To Jump To AT&T/Sign A 2 Year Contract

We were already on AT&T Wireless/Cingular/at&t so this was a moot point, and even upgrading phones on AT&T Wireless/Cingular/at&t means a 2 year contract extension, another moot point. It did suck we couldn’t use the Lowe’s employee discount on our bill anymore, and we had to add the $20 unlimited data plan, but in the week and a half I’ve had this I’ve burned through nearly 80mb of data, on our previous plan, that would have easily doubled our bill. A whole month would have bankrupted us, so I think I’ll pay the extra $20.

8GB? I Can’t Fit What I Want On 8GB

Neither can I, I’ve only just managed to whittle my 27gb of music into just over 4, that’s why we’re keeping the iPod, but stuff I listen to most often is on the iPhone, and newer stuff too… I just hope I don’t have a Shuggie Otis craving one day, then I’m screwed… But why just 4 you’re asking? Well, I have a couple of movies on it too, namely Bourne Ultimatum and Ratatouille and a free episode of Mythbusters, even with these I have 1.5gb free. So I can add more if need be for when we go on trips like to the UK next year.

I Hear The Camera Sucks

It’s true, it’s only 2mp, no flash, no zoom, no video… But I like it, it has a little trouble in low light situations but then, my last few camera phones were never good at these either, you just need to find the right conditions. Also, the zoom on my last phones was pretty awful, so this is no biggie. The plus side is it’s a 1600×1200 output, great for cropping, but be warned, emailing images shrinks them to 640×480.

Bottom Line?

It’s handy, everything is handy, everything is too handy… Everything is a tap, swipe and pinch away… Thanks to Google’s Gmail IMAP option, it has all my email available anytime, it’s synced with my work calendar, the visual voicemail is awesome, near enough all the web browsing I’ve done at home in the last week has been on it, the built-in Google Maps has saved us already.

The list is pretty much endless right now, the only complaint I have is the same as with the iPod, the need to have the same library on my home and work PC and keeping them synced can be a pain. I’ve also noticed the way it’s changed how we talk about it, Robyn no longer asks for me to get her phone, it’s iPhone, it’s got brand name recognition like Coke and Hoover already. At least in our house.

Sure it could be better, 3G and larger capacity would be nice, and we’ll no doubt hate ourselves when these arrive, but that’s the way it goes. I’m extremely happy with my purchase and that’s all that matters right now.