iLove my iPhone

[kyuss]

Mine arrived yesterday. Turns out I was eligible for an upgrade after all.  

I've played with friends iPhones before and thought they were pretty good, but actually owning one is turning out to be great. And I've only had it a day.

It's the first phone that's properly 'talked' with my mac. My N95 was capable of doing most of what the iPhone does but it was always such a pain to use. I never used the email on it for instance because it was a nightmare to set up, the iPhone set itself up using the Mail info from my Mac along with all my calender info, contacts etc.

My only issue so far is having to sift through all the useless apps on the App Store to find the good ones.

[simonp]

hundred push ups app

two hundred sit ups app

done

[border-rider]

Apparently, I'm getting one.

Just a shame there's no Vodafone coverage where I spend most of my time

Still, I'm sure it'll look most attractive.

[border-rider]

Heh

Just ordered my own femtocell.

[tiermat]

I thought, briefly, about getting one and then settled on buying a Palm Pre.  All the functionality(and ease of use) of the JesusPhone but it has a proper keyboard....

[border-rider]

Sure

My business partner is an iPostle though, and the only way she could get one at a halfway decent price on our contract was if we both did.

[Greenbank]

Heh

Just ordered my own femtocell.

One of the Vodafone Sure Signal ones?

[border-rider]

yep.  AFAIK that's the only way to do it at the mo.  We're already on Voda.  Mrs MV is also, and she needs her phone to work for emergencies - which it doesn't.

[Manotea]

I cracked a couple of days ago and bought an iPhone, it arrived today. I'm trying to justify it by saying that I need access to some of the iPhone apps for work but really I just wanted one. I'm mid contract with 02 so it was another visit to eBay for me.  I did think about getting one of the chinese clones as dual sim would have been incredibly useful  but the quality seems very variable and of course no apple apps.

I stuck with the XDA because I liked using a stylus for text entry. My fingers are way to clunky for blackberry style keyboards. Theres no doubting that the iPhone UI is light years beyond wince, and a first look at the apps is pretty impressive if you've not used them up close before.

[Valiant]

I thought, briefly, about getting one and then settled on buying a Palm Pre.  All the functionality(and ease of use) of the JesusPhone but it has a proper keyboard....

I tried one out, it's nice but it's build quality is shoddy and it just doesn't feel complete, more of a constant beta than anything, the UI is pretty but intuitive isn't a word I'd have in the same page. I've played with both and if you slide the keyboard anything other than very very lightly the phone turns off. Tis a shame.

[DuncanM]

The hard edge around the keyboard put me off the Pre - it's just not comfortable to use.  But I'm still angling toward the N900 'cos I'm a geek who likes linux and doesn't use the phone much!

[Greenbank]

But I'm still angling toward the N900 'cos I'm a geek who likes linux and doesn't use the phone much!

I'm a Linux geek and I don't use the phone much (I use about 10% of my monthly allowances on the cheapest iPhone tariff), I avoided the N900 (or any other Linux based phones like the Freerunner/OpenMoko) as I just wanted something that works and that wouldn't end up absorbing many hours of my life tinkering; ssh'ing into a phone may be cool, but I'm happy that I don't have to.

[simonp]

But I'm still angling toward the N900 'cos I'm a geek who likes linux and doesn't use the phone much!

I'm a Linux geek and I don't use the phone much (I use about 10% of my monthly allowances on the cheapest iPhone tariff), I avoided the N900 (or any other Linux based phones like the Freerunner/OpenMoko) as I just wanted something that works and that wouldn't end up absorbing many hours of my life tinkering; ssh'ing into a phone may be cool, but I'm happy that I don't have to.

Only in a deranged geek's fantasy world is ssh'ing into anything cool, sadly. 

[DuncanM]

<snip>
 I just wanted something that works and that wouldn't end up absorbing many hours of my life tinkering; ssh'ing into a phone may be cool, but I'm happy that I don't have to.

I want something I can tinker with.   Which is why what is essentially a beta phone (the N900) is ideal.

[Manotea]

Just discovered the voice search function on the google app.

Just tried the questions below, all voice to text capture at first attempt. Excellent!

what is 1+1*3 (answer 4)

what is the time in melbourne (answer 1am)

what films are showing at the odeon richmond (answer links to odeon richmond)

what is the speed of light (answer 299 792 458)

how many calories in a mars bar (weblinks to weightloss site, mars bar page)

what is the price of gold (weblinks to webpages with bullion pricing)

where does the rain in spain mainly fall (weblinks)

Who is the british prime minister (weblinks)

Lyrics for stairway to heaven (weblinks)

Who won best actor at the oscars (weblinks)

Unfortunately the currently free Nuance/Dragon voice to text app is only available from the US iStore which is INCREDIBLY ANNOYING (and yes, I knows it's a civil liberties nightmare but let's face it, the NSA is listening to our calls anyway).

[drossall]

...still trying to persuade the mothership to provide me with an iPhone for 'research' purposes.

I have got one for research purposes I'm trying to work out whether to hang onto it as a work phone, so at present, I'm carrying three - personal, work and iPhone, which is stupid.

I'm a die hard PDA user having started off with a Psion Series 3 in 199x, moving through a 3a, 3c, 5, 5mx, then a Handspring Visor, a Palm T3 and then a series of Palm TXs...

The 5mx was the best PDA ever made.

Of course, it hadn't got wi-fi and Bluetooth, so it's dated now. However, I had my life on mine. I went from that to a (PalmOS) Sony Clie UX50, which was OK in general but rubbish in keyboard terms. Since PDAs got sort of collapsed into phones, they've been almost worthless - little availability of software, keyboards even worse for typing than the Clie, screens too small to carry documents with you. The iPhone is interesting so far, and the virtual keyboard isn't bad. I've just put Documents to Go on it, which I used on the Clie.

I'd quite like to be able to work on servers from anywhere, but I've got security reservations and haven't set it up.

I don't think I change my gadgets fast enough. The 5mx ran on AAs and gave 20 hours. Anything else, if you use it enough to justify it, the battery dies in a year or two, and the salesman looks at you as if you're some kind of nutter, wanting to buy a spare, when you could replace the whole unit with something totally incompatible that you can't transfer any of your stuff to.

[citoyen]

The 5mx was the best PDA ever made.

I had a 3mx and then a 5mx and loved them both, though I never really had enough need for either to be able to get the best out of them.

My iPhone (16GB 3GS) arrives Tuesday and I am as excited as a small child on Christmas Eve. I've already started downloading apps in anticipation. The range of apps and the ease of getting hold of them, not to mention the price, makes the Psions seem almost prehistoric by comparison. Yet it was only about ten years ago that I got my 5mx.

I have been trying to talk myself out of getting an iPhone, on the grounds that I don't really need one, but I do use my current phone for web browsing a fair bit, so I might as well get one that does the job properly.

I also wanted to wait until my contract with Orange expired in April, so I could switch provider, but the clever bastards were offering me an upgrade NOW and I am weak of will. My self-justification is that all the other networks are just as appalling in their own ways, and since Apple seem to have fixed the pricing of both the phones and the tariffs, so the offers are exactly the same on all networks, there's no financial incentive to switch.

d.

[Hot Flatus]

My phone contract expires at the end of the month, so I've had a look at the iphone.  In all honesty I can't see a use for it for me.  The slightly easier browsing might be useful if I used public transport a lot, but I don't. I've got a laptop at home and at work.  Quite a lot of people seem to use the various apps just for the sake of using them rather than for any genuine need. The classic example is Shazzam, or whatever it is called.  I've had two iPhone users sit in my kitchen, get out their iPhone, wave it about and smugly tell me what cd I am playing.  It didn't seem to have occured to them that they could have asked me, and I'd have told them.

 The only thing I can't do with my current Nokia is bore to death anyone who is foolish enough to listen with an endless explanation of what the iPhone can do.

Great great gadget though, and so it should be at £800 odd quid, but not for me at this point.

[drossall]

So far I'm still finding it the best PDA I've seen for years, but £30 a month would be a real obstacle to me paying for it. Proper PDAs used to cost under £150. Obviously you're getting constant Internet access, but I don't think I'm going to use that much data. I want a way of carrying around in my pocket the files I already have, as much as or more than a way of getting even more data, and something that could do that should be a fraction of the price...

[citoyen]

In all honesty I can't see a use for it for me...  I've got a laptop at home and at work.

There's the difference between us. I don't need a laptop, nor do I wish to lug one around with me. I anticipate the iPhone will adequately perform all the functions for which I might otherwise use a laptop, but in a smaller package.

And it also works as a phone!

The classic example is Shazzam, or whatever it is called.  I've had two iPhone users sit in my kitchen, get out their iPhone, wave it about and smugly tell me what cd I am playing.  It didn't seem to have occured to them that they could have asked me, and I'd have told them.

 

Some people are too easily impressed by the more gimmicky aspects of technology. My son has already suggested several gimmicky apps I "should" get. I can't think of a single reason why I would bother with any of them. But that's because I am not 11 years old.

Having said that, I am looking forward to Layar becoming available in the UK.

d.

[Hot Flatus]

Don't get me wrong... I love gadgets, and the iPhone is a lovely looking device.  I can see the appeal.... I just can't see a use for me, even though I really wish there was one.  Maybe, and just maybe I'd find the occasional use to upload a photo to the web on the move, but it really is no biggie.  I have a £40 sat-nav in the car that does the job, a garmin 705 on the bike that won't easily break if I crash, and I've no desire to inflict my current dietery fads, progress in trying to do push-ups, or my current bowel movements, on my imaginary friends on facebook via twitter..  If I'm going to watch tv or a film, I dont want to do it on a screen the size of my hand. Plus the iphone camera is truely a piece of shit.

[Tewdric]

Don't get me wrong... I love gadgets, and the iPhone is a lovely looking device.  I can see the appeal.... I just can't see a use for me, even though I really wish there was one.  Maybe, and just maybe I'd find the occasional use to upload a photo to the web on the move, but it really is no biggie.  I have a £40 sat-nav in the car that does the job, a garmin 705 on the bike that won't easily break if I crash, and I've no desire to inflict my current dietery fads, progress in trying to do push-ups, or my current bowel movements, on my imaginary friends on facebook via twitter..  If I'm going to watch tv or a film, I dont want to do it on a screen the size of my hand. Plus the iphone camera is truely a piece of shit.

The screen is actually quite good for watching TV and films.  It's a killer gadget for watching iPlayer in bed or movies on the move - you can rent them from the iTunes store.

It is also a handy remote for one's music streamer - check out iPeng for Squeezeboxen or Songbook, which I'm controlling my new Linn DS with..

I have an IPod Touch though, not an iPhone.  When I can be arsed I'll get headphones with a mic built in and load Skype.  Add a MyFi and you're almost at iPhone functionality for less money.

[citoyen]

I can see the appeal.... I just can't see a use for me, even though I really wish there was one.

I think a lot of people buy gadgets even if they don't have a use for them, just for the sake of having them (I think that was the case for me with the Psion 5mx). Then they end up using them for entirely frivolous purposes, like Shazzam. Not that there is anything wrong with that per se, but I admire your self-discipline if you are able to avoid succumbing to gadget envy.

I've been trying to talk myself out of getting an iPhone for ages but have failed miserably - for the simple reason that I know I will find it very useful, and it's better at doing certain tasks that I already use lesser gadgets for.

Plus the iphone camera is truely shit.

I did look at the SE Satio as an alternative upgrade option, but then I thought: Do I really need a 12MP camera in my phone, especially when the lens and sensor are still both so tiny (compared to a proper camera)?

I have a feeling Apple have made the right call on the camera in the iPhone - it's "good enough" for the intended purpose, which is not to replace a proper camera, after all.

d.

[Manotea]

I got my iphone on ebay as I'm mid contract and can live without mobile data for the time being. Not much more than Touch. As long as I'm in reach of a free wifi connection lack of mobile data simply isn't a problem.  

I used wififofum to help audit/diagnose a friends home wifi setup yesterday (they're using cheapo range extenders). Excellent.

[Hot Flatus]

Ah bollocks ordered one today

<hangs head in shame and self-loathing>