After a year of holding out and insisting that my Blackberry met my every portable need, I crumbled and bought an iPhone.
This happened, is because I was in a weakened state after seeing what a disappointment the MacBook Air turned out to be. I was in that odd place where you have committed yourself to buy something (the new Mac ultra-portable laptop that everyone knew was coming) and it turned out to be lacking quite a bit (like ethernet, a removable battery... best that I don't get started on this again) the urge to buy remained... so I started looking around the Apple store and overheard a conversation about the new firmware upgrade for the iPhone and once I picked it up, it was all over.
I had looked at them before. Actually I probably have played with them 9 or 10 times in the Apple Store over the last year, but somehow it never quite seemed to be the right phone for me... obviously I was wrong.
It really is a cool phone. It syncs without any problems (unlike my Blackberry) it is able to view html emails (unlike my Blackberry) and it is just really cool and very Mac-like.
The Blackberry is much more like using XP, except that the Blackberry never bluescreens, it is just very menu driven and not terribly intuitive. After using a few different Blackberry over the years, however, it is taking me a bit of time to get adjusted to the simple and intuitive nature of the iPhone. (Similar to the complaints of long time PC users when they start using Macs.) I keep looking for awkward menus to select what I want to do, when on the iPhone what I want to do when it is usually on a button right in front of me.
The other thing I have discovered in about six trips back to the Apple store is that there are so many cases out for the iPhone that is is nearly overwhelming... and a lot of them are just cheap junk. Apple rocks with their 14 day return policy because I have been going back again and again buying a case that looks like it'll work, trying it, hating it, bringing it back, picking another, repeat, repeat, repeat.
The pitch on the outside of the packaging makes most of the cases look like they will solve your every iPhone carrying issue, but many of them are so hard to use, or so poorly built that you are better off using nothing.
So... after filling up my .mac inbox with Apple Store receipts for all of my purchases and returns, I ended up with the Contour iSee case (but in orange) which I liked because it protects the phone, but also gives you a really nice clip for it, too, because I like clipping my phone to my belt or pocket, I don't like carrying it in my pocket.
I also have decided that I am not crazy about the fact that Apple has changed the port on it so you have to use adapters to plug in anything but the iPhone headphones. I like the iPhone headphones. They have a built-in mic so you can talk when you aren't listening to music or watching movies, and they are comfortable and the audio appears to be pretty good on the mic. I haven't had anyone say to me "You're not talking on one of those.... HEADPHONES, are you?"
This was a frequent complaint when using the Blackberry... everyone hated listening to me when I was wearing one of the headphone microphones. Either they said I sounded like I was in a tin can, sounded like the teacher on the Charlie Brown tv cartoons (Hwa hwa hwa hwa, hwa) or just plain-old couldn't hear me.
I know that there is also the bluetooth option for the Blackberry and the iPhone, but for some odd reason, bluetooth headphones are just outside my grasp of being able to use them effectively.
Scenario one: I don't have it synced with the phone (but don't realize it), so the phone is ringing, and I am pushing the button on the headset and nothing is happening. Result-call goes to voicemail.
Scenario two: I am trying to answer the phone using the actual phone and forgot that I have it synced with my bluetooth headset (which is in my pocket or my camera bag) and I can't figure out why there is no audio coming out of the phone. Result- call goes to voicemail.
Scenario three: The phone rings, I am in the car. I madly search my pockets, the passenger seat, the cup holders and the surrounding area for the little $#&%#$ headset as the phone rings and rings. Result - call goes to voicemail and I am obsessed with finding the little headset hidden in my car. I have to stop the car at the first opportunity to find it. (I know it is nearby and just hiding because the little bluetooth icon shows up on the phone.) 75% of the time it is in the back of the car in or near my camera bag. Close enough that the phone will recognize the headset and sync, but far enough away that I can't get to it without stopping the car. 15% of the time it has fallen between the seats, and the other 10% I am sitting on it, which requires re-bending the earpiece to fit before I use it again.
Scenario four: I have the phone synced with the headset, and I remember that they are synced, and I know where the headset is, so when the phone rings, I put the bluetooth headset on and push the button, and it works great for about 30 seconds before it goes dead because I haven't charged it in two or three weeks because I never use it. Result - dropped call and confused caller and I call each other back and get each other's voicemail because we are calling at the same time.
See, for some reason bluetooth headsets just don't work for me. I can easily navigate the most confusing computer issues, and even have a bluetooth computer mouse or two, but when it comes to headsets I prefer the little plug in ones.
Wait, I was talking about the iPhone, wasn't I? It is a great phone. It also works better at my house than my Verizon phones. Living in San Diego, Verizon has a reputation as having the best network, but after using the ATT iPhone for a few weeks, I am not seeing any worse coverage, and in fact it seems to work better in a few areas that are somewhat lacking with Verizon.
Surfing the web on it is a lot of fun, too. It seems to be about the same speed as my EVDO enabled Blackberry was and I am able to surf some photo-heavy sites with no problem. The automatic switching from vertical to horizontal to surf works really well, too.
I also am really digging the visual voicemail thing. It is nice to be able to look at it and pick which order I want to hear them and be able to look at what voicemails are there vs. having to try to remember them all when listening to conventional voicemail.
The one scary part of this process was the transferring of my long-time Verizon number over to the iPhone. I had nightmares of days of time with no incoming calls and was imagining all sorts of horrors, but in fact it took about three minutes to complete and has worked flawlessly ever since.
I love my iPhone... and have already sold the Blackberry.
