Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
Ever since the very first iPhone was released on June 29, 2007 I’ve been resisting the temptation of getting one… Mind you getting one in Canada wasn’t an option for quite a while after it was originally released in the US, but even when the iPhone did arrive in Canada I was quite happy not to buy into the ‘God Phone‘ as it was sometimes called.
A little over a year ago I opted to get an iPod Touch instead of buying an iPhone because I reasoned that if I kept my regular phone and didn’t buy the additional data-plan that goes with all smart phones on the carrier I use I’d save enough over the course of the year to more than pay for the fanciest of the iPod Touches and that’s exactly how things played out…
Then back in October, almost a year to the day after I had originally gotten my iPod Touch I accidentally stepped on it at a gig cracking it’s screen and have been staring at a somewhat funky screen for a little over four months… Apple could fix the screen for $250.00 but the funky screen doesn’t seem to effect the playback ability of the audio on the device…hmmmm. It is rather annoying when it comes to doing anything that uses the beautiful touch screen interface for video, games or other apps… Sigh…
A few months back I also upgraded to the latest version of iPhoto and was introduced to a cool new feature called ‘Places’ that allows you to ge0-tag images and track where in the world the picture was taken. I’ve been geo-tagging by hand and love opening up iPhoto and then clicking on the map to see where around the world my pictures have been taken… I’m a bit behind with my iPhoto responsibilities though and one of the most time consuming aspects when it comes to the Places feature is the tagging of the images with a location stamp… Of course, the iPhone does the tagging for you automatically thus eliminating one of the most time consuming aspects of that particular task that I do like to stay on top of… Sigh…
Back in the Summer I was really impressed when my friend, Rick Kunst, whipped out his iPhone, took a picture, connected to Facebook and uploaded the image with in seconds… Moments later people were commenting on the photo and leaving feedback… Crazy! I think it was around that time that I started to see how powerful the iPhone could be in terms of doing stuff like Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. I’ve resisted the Web 2.0 revolution for ages too, but I’m slowly becoming a convert and having an iPhone to use as the interface device would certainly allow me to update my status on the various sites easily from just about anywhere potentially helping me stay more connected to friends and clients…
To make matters even worse my wife who’s as thrifty as I am turned to me the other day and more or less said… Dave, you should get an iPhone… Man… It’s like seeing the most delicious cookies going into the cookie jar and then told you can eat as many as you like… Does it get any better than this?
Everywhere I turn I see people using and loving their iPhones… Hooked up with a friend yesterday who put it this way…
Ask ten different iPhone users if they love their phone and nine out of ten of them will pull out their phone and start kissing it.
Temptation… I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to be able to resist…
Hey Dave,
As you know, I had an iphone last summer, and it’s great… but after a few months of use, I returned to my blackberry… it’s just better for ‘real’ stuff. (contacts, calendar, email, serious text input).
But, a a month or so back, I started using my iphone again, essentially as an itouch (though I sometimes throw a sim card in, if I need to connect, away from wifi)
At home in NZ, the blackberry is my ‘phone’ and ‘pda’ – but I think when I tour, it’ll be the iphone.
It’s just a fantastic multimedia device… with a custom built app for anything you might need to achieve. I recently played a live music gig SOLELY on the iphone, using the “beatmaker” app.
The apps I use most often: my6sense, tweetdeck, shazam, pixelpipe, nimbuzz/fring, genius.
It’s a complex world.
Thanks Kim… Everyone else seems to be gushing about their iPhones, so it’s good to get a more balanced take on things… Mind you I don’t have a Blackberry either, so the step up to Smartphone land will be a major step for someone who’s still clinging to the 90s in some regards…
I’m not sure what you’re waiting for. I’ve loved the iPhone since I first laid eyes on them, and you contributed to that, having converted me to Mac.
Here in Manitoba, the carrier for iPhone (Rogers) does not do well in rural areas, really terrible, and that’s where a lot of my gigs are not to mention where I live. Plus I’m tied into a contract on my blackberry which I quite like but not being a big time luddite such as yourself (and I use that word with all due respect), I don’t make use of all of it’s functionality.
Anyways, a buddy of mine and I both came due for a new BBQ, I picked a nice mid range model and made my decision fairly easily. He makes more than me. So he hummed and hawed. Go for the deluxe, or aim for mid-road and save a little cash? I told him two things, you’re never going to have the deluxe if you buy the mid-road now, you know, unless your BBQ gets into a terrible accident or something. Plus you’re gonna die (eventually), so you may as well enjoy the deluxe now while you can.
He bought the deluxe, and not four months later he leased a new BMW 😉
Dude… I think the iPhone is way more reasonably than leasing a new BMW… That’s not even on my radar, though I do appreciate the sentiment about getting the good stuff so you can enjoy it while you’re here… You’ll no doubt see me toting some sort of smart phone that starts with an i come C.A.M.P.
Hi Dave,
I’m in the same position as you are. I’ve been using a phone I got for 5$ at a garage sale – and it works great. Speaker phone is what I love about it. No data. I already pay $60/month for 250 anytime minutes to north america.
Regarding an iphone: I know for a fact the little bugger will cost me $100/month though with the data, and that my friend is a luxury not a need.
Here’s my take.
Wait! This summer Apple is releasing the 4th generation iPHone. 5mp camera, video chat, possible 720p HD video recording. You’re only 14 weeks away.
Also, for me the one little carrot will be that I’m a bell customer, and they will offer me a $200 credit if I sign a contract. I’ve been off contract for several years and hate them, but may try to get them to throw me a 300 credit, and then think about the new phone. Maybe.
Bob Cates
I decided to resist no longer and picked up a 32 Gig iPhone yesterday… Turns out it didn’t end up costing me as much as I thought it would on the data plan front. My wife and I have been with Rogers so long that they wanted to keep us happy… We switched the way our plans were set up and in the end it’s costing me less than five bucks more a month for the basic package… I don’t anticipate (who knows at this point) going over the basic usage, so I’ve joined the modern age and as one friend described the iPhone – The Face Eating Robot – has already started to suck up hours of my life… Sure is fun though!
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