Why I <3 my iPhone 4
August 4th, 2010
A few months ago (or maybe a month ago), I received one of the best wedding anniversary gifts a female geek could receive – a new piece of technology. My husband teases me about my fascination with “shiny things” (usually meaning jewelry), but this time, my shiny thing was a brand spankin’ new iPhone 4. Even after 8+ hours of trying to get the thing activated (shout-out of gratitude to the peeps at the AT&T store on San Fernando who hung in there with us for what felt like an entire day – even 1 hour after closing!), we were very happy with our new phones.
I’m still happy with my phone; I’m not sure if Mike is still happy with his phone. I think he still likes it, but you’ll have to ask him.
I was planning on blogging about my love affair with my iPad, but most everyone’s already done that. Plus, I’ll do that post after I’ve taught with it this coming semester (!).
Things I Love About My iPhone 4:
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The Camera – I had been failing miserably at my 365 Project. Only 60 pictures, and we’re already in August. #epicfail. But now that I have my new iPhone with its fun, easy-to-use camera, I tend to snap pictures like crazy. The front-facing camera is pretty fun, too, but the “real” camera is where it’s at. Plus, I now have a world of apps at my command to edit my pictures before uploading. Fun! Apps I recommend and have had fun with:
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Plastic Bullet – can’t remember what this does, but I remember it being awesome
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Camera + – more camera options
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CameraBag – fun “lens” options
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PictureShow – again, can’t remember what it does, but it was awesome enough to make this list!
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PS Mobile – photoshop mobile
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Diptic – fun splicing pictures with effects!
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Flickr (obviously!)
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The Apps – I had a T-Mobile MyTouch 3G (beware – music if you click) before having an iPhone (it is my personal goal to try out every smartphone OS before I die – I’ve done Windows Mobile & Android), and I thought its Marketplace was “teh bomb”. How wrong was I. Granted, most of the apps worth anything for the iPhone cost a dollar or more, but you know what? I’m okay with that. I’ve come to realize that there are people out there who have spent their time and potentially their money to develop the app I want. Who am I to think that they’re worth less than a dollar? Free stuff is great and all, but some developer out there made that stuff, and he/she needs to eat, too.
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That said, I love most of my apps.
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I also love (very much) that the apps I bought for my iPad transfer seamlessly to my iPhone. And by seamlessly, I mean I love not having to pay for them again.
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On-Phone Banking – Sweet mother of all pine trees, have you tried Chase Bank’s mobile app??? Not only can you:-
Check your balances
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Pay bills
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Pay credit cards
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Transfer money between accounts…
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YOU CAN DEPOSIT CHECKS WITH IT!!! o_O
I will never have to go to a bank again. Well, unless I need cash. Chase, the day you can make an app that prints cash from my iPhone, I will bake you a cake of your choice (assuming I am still alive and capable of baking said cake).
- Yelp – Okay, Yelp isn’t technically iPhone-only (I think), but I was only introduced to the amazingness that is Yelp because of my iPhone. And my husband. But the iPhone 4 really made Yelp come alive for me. I can check restaurant reviews and more importantly, for the competitive person in me, check in. Foursquare and I dated for awhile, but Yelp won out due to actually-helpful reviews.
- Organization Tools – My life is on my phone. Before I had a smartphone, my Google account and computer were my life keepers as was the spiral-bound day planner my college gave me as a present, but that’s beside the point. Without my phone, I am at a loss. My contacts, appointments, to-do lists (if I have any…haha), weather, etc. are on my phone. It is the personal assistant that fits nicely in my purse/pouch. Hackers – forget it. Anything worthwhile isn’t on there, unless you really, really want to attend that one webinar on education and cloud computing for me. If so, be my guest and leave your name, address, birth date, and SSN in the comments section.
Things I Like About My iPhone 4:
- The Case – I bought a Speck case the day I got my phone to protect it not only from the elements but from the potential typhoon of destruction known as yours truly. I like my case a lot. In fact, I’ve modded it with a piece of velcro, so I can snap it to my dashboard while driving. Hey, it was $6 of velcro versus $30+ for a car adapter. The reason I say I like my case is that I’d prefer not to have to use it. The phone is a beautiful piece of hardware, but with my case on, it becomes a clunky-looking, less-beautiful piece of hardware. And Apple’s bumpers are a rip-off. Good thing they’re shipping those out for free now.
- The Games – The games get placed under “like” solely on principle. I actually love them, but I’m an educator. I’m not supposed to be addicted to games. (Just kidding about the not-supposed-to-like-games part and educators. We can have fun, too!)
Things I Do Not Like About My iPhone 4:
- The Death Grip – While I have not personally experienced the phenomenon commonly known as the “death grip” because I am too chicken to take my beautiful phone out of its hard core case, I have seen its effects first-hand. It does indeed affect your signal in a rather dissatisfying manner. At first, I consoled myself that it was only if you managed to put your finger over the tiny antenna area, but I’ve seen the signal plummet unmercifully when the entire side was covered. I watched in sympathy as my husband would balance his un-cased iPhone 4 on his lap to try to get signal back. That is an experience no one should have to go through…at least, not often. Having a case/bumper does solve the problem, but it’s still sad.
- Fear of Breakage – The iPhone 4 is beautiful but is also hard glass on both sides. I am more paranoid than your average human being, but I would still like to have the assurance that a little tumble will not send my life spiraling out of control as I cry in a shamed heap over the particles that used to be my iPhone.
- Google Maps – I debated putting this in the “like” section, but after replaying memories of the wonderful thing that was Google Navigation on my Android, I had to put this in the “do not like” section. What good is a map that I can barely see to me, especially as I’m trying to navigate traffic in Downtown LA? Okay, I shouldn’t be navigating traffic in Downtown LA while relying on Google Maps, you say, but isn’t that part of the point of having Google Maps in the first place? To un-lose yourself when you get lost? I’m hoping Google will release Navigation for the iPhone, but I’m not holding my breath.
Overall, I’d rate my experience with the iPhone 4 a 3.5 stars out of 5. Would I recommend it to others? Sure! Why not.
Other operating systems I need to try before I die:
- Palm
- Blackberry
- Symbian
- MeeGo
- Linux
- Maemo (I’ve tried it vicariously through my husband’s former Nokia n900).
Now back to trying to beat people at Words with Friends (I’m rockd0ve, by the way! And I will try to pwn you!)