And It's a Mirror, Too

iPhone thickness and other characteristics. iGot the iPhone on the day that (apparently) lots of phones became available in Texas. Since then I have checked out the advertising claims. My purpose today was to give you a visual of the thickness but I could not get a good shot. You see, the backside of my G3 is very reflective. That's why the image above is more about the ceiling of my house than the iPhone. I have some artist friends who will praise me for letting go of the purpose and capturing a great shot of the dome. (We live in a geodesic dome and those blue spots are a couple of skylights amid the ceiling spines. I have no idea why they are blue here.)

Still pretty thick. The phone is not as light as I expected it to be. Post-air and -touch (Apple's very thin computer and iPod), I imagined a thinner iPhone. So, I had to return to the Apple website to see why I thought that. Aha... the ad for the iPhone G3 is "Twice as fast. Half the price." I do believe I invented a different "half" statement in my pre-purchase dreaming.

But very fast: This phone delivers on Internet speed. I haven't checked the stats; I'm just reacting to first impression. But I don't think I'm wrong about this part of the advertising.

Half the price: The half price status refers to the smallest of the G3s. That's the one I bought. Added cost-savings can come in the form of a FAN discount on service if you are part of a group that has an arrangement with AT&T. My local AT&T store was able to confirm that AARP is on the fan list and they promised to apply it to my account just as soon as they can find someone within AT&T to confirm the discount percentage. I'm a tad frustrated that a communications company could not dig up that factoid during the course of a 45-minute phone set-up. (Check out your employment and memberships to see if there's a FAN option for you, too.)

© 2008 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

iPhone Saga, continued.

The lawn chair was a bad sign. Sailing into the local Apple store at noon on Friday was not reasonable, of course. And when we saw the woman carrying the lawn chair leaving the store, albeit with an Apple bag in her hand, we knew we were doomed.

Lines awaiting. We didn't have to walk too far into the store for confirmation. People were obviously still standing in line and a very good-looking man in Apple apparel was explaining to a would-be customer, "Well, there are still 14 but we have more people than that ahead of you."

Nationwide availability checker: Tom Bold had already checked for availability. Of course, that was 5 hours previous. The company is wisely sharing its inventory numbers online. (I like the mash-ups that have been published utilizing the data: nifty googlemaps with stores highlighted and even their distance in miles from my home. I laughed on the day that the mash-up advised me of a unit just 832 miles away, in Chicago. With pressing concern (see below) a drive is not necessarily out of the question.)

And why would Tom Bold be participating, anyway.... He wants my hand-me-down iPhone. It's harder and harder to find a non-flip phone and that's his requirement. I understand his frustration with that style: I, too, used to hang up on a lot of people as I tried to open the flip to answer calls. What makes most of us laugh at present is that Tom has always gone for the 1¢ phone when "upgrading." That's why he currently has what we call his little-girl phone (small, tapered, and white—the princess phone of cell phones). And the only reason he's now ready to upgrade? The little phone went through the wash. It's working. For now. ~ Lida

© 2008 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

iWant

It's Friday, so I get to write about personal technology. Apple promises the iPhone G3 will be twice as fast as and half the cost of the original model that's barely a year old. iWant it. Soon, I'll be walking into the local Apple store for a trade-in.

For baby boomers, the iPhone is sleek and cool and a million miles ahead of the giant "mobile phones" we began carrying around 20 years ago. Back then, we were excited at the thought of ordering pizza from the car, for delivery straight to the park. In a wild advance in technology since then, I recently used my iPhone to access an online rubric to score an Internet course design while joining the evaluation team meeting via an extra cell phone. I could have done it all on the iPhone except that I'm accustomed to computing on two screens and that's essentially what I was mimicking in attending the meeting. Did I mention that I did this from the side of the highway because of traffic that prevented me from getting to the office by the appointed hour? Did I mention that my colleagues chuckled at my technology juggle because they've done the same in airports and train stations? Did I mention that I never go online while actually driving?

I am not represented in Apple's advertising, but I'm a user. iPhone and MacBook Pro at present. But I've been through mini Mac and other previous wonders. And, yes, there's still the video iPod that I insist on maintaining for air travel. I keep several G films on it, for the occasional loan to very young passengers near me. (I'm the sort of traveler who gets asked to sit next to the child flying alone.) If I keep the video iPod, I don't have to share my iPhone.

What I love about the iPhone:

• scrolling action in the calendar
• intuitive symbols for phone features
  
• highly readable SMS text
  
• intelligent keyboard
  

Not everyone likes the intelligent keyboard, which requires touching letters with your finger tip. Until you practice and get your speed up, it's slower than the traditional button keyboard. But that's what I like about it. I like being slowed down and stepping away from my QWERTY habits. (I do wonder who will serve up the first DVORAK option in miniature—ah, I just googled "mobile Dvorak keyboard" and got my answer. It takes some iTapTap and I won't be doing it, but you can check Richard Kasperowski's May 2008 blog for guidance.)

What I worry about:
Will Apple have an idea about what to do with my current unit?
Will my Contacts transfer to the G3 without a hitch? Calendar, too?
Will the G3 sync perfectly with my MacBook Pro?
Will the missing first iPhone confuse the sync?

PC to MAC ratio: Most of my computing is on PCs, which number three at home and are not to be confused with Tom Bold's three. In leaving a university post this year, I will leave a couple there, so my PC to MAC ratio has been pretty steep. I have envied colleagues who have led the MAC life completely. I'm more in the fan category, using MAC products as complements to my work. But I am a serious fan and finding iPhone more than just a complement.

© 2008 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.