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<< Previous: iPhone Day Approache... | Next: iPhone Followup >>

iPhone OMG iPhone
Monday, 2007 July 2 - 9:20 pm
OMG OMG OMG.

Okay. iPhones are in da house.

We went to the Apple Store at Crabtree Valley Mall. There were plenty of iPhones in stock there; the sales clerk reached into a drawer for our 8GB models, and I caught a glimpse of a good-sized stash. The people who stood in line waiting for iPhones, in the hopes of selling them at a huge markup on eBay, are probably severely disappointed right now.

By the way, to Steve's comment that the money spent on the iPhones "that could be used for so many more useful and beneficial purposes" is true... but that's equally true about the money that I spend on vodka, beef, and Las Vegas trips. It's not that as if I could solve world hunger if I lived a life of iPhone-free asceticism. I'm not Gandhi.

And anyway, having a cooler phone than Javi is about as useful and beneficial a purpose as I can think of.

Enough justification. On with the yummy iPhone goodness.

Apple, in its inimitable style, gives you a cute little iPhone tote bag to carry home your phone. The bag itself is a status symbol and a conversation starter. Three people came up to me today and struck up conversations upon seeing the bag. This would never happen with a Dell bag or a Microsoft bag. I may donate the bag to a single friend as a way to meet women.



The box is simple and black. How much more black could it be? None. None more black.



Opening the box gave me one of those HOLY CRAP moments. The phone is right on top, and it's just... beautiful.



Along with the iPhone itself is a dock, a power adapter, a headphone cable, a couple of simple usage guides, and a cleaning cloth. Also in typical Apple style, there's no user manual. You can find a manual online.



There's been plenty of talk about difficult and lengthy activation procedures, but AT&T and Synchronoss (the company handling the activations) seem to have largely worked out the glitches. Activation took about ten minutes for both our phones.

Once activated, we started to play with the phones. These things are an absolute joy to use. Setup was easy and intuitive. Typing is dead simple with the on-screen keyboard, though I did hit the "return" key when I meant to hit "M" a couple of times. The gesture interface is so easy that Amy didn't have to read a single manual or even watch Apple's instructional video to figure everything out.

The camera is decent. Here's an un-retouched photo from my iPhone... a photo of Amy taking a picture with her iPhone.



WiFi access worked on the first try. Google maps was flawless (but unfortunately there's no hybrid map-satellite view, as far as I can tell. Not yet anyway.) A YouTube search for dramatic chipmunk worked the first time. Mail setup worked right away. I was frankly blown away by how easy everything was. I expected a few glitches, but so far, I've encountered none.

Here's one of our cats expressing her iEnvy.

Permalink  7 Comment   Bookmark and Share
Posted by Ken in: techwatch

Comments

Comment #1 from e (Guest)
2007 Jul 2 - 9:54 pm : #
hm, really isn't it less about not having thumbs and more about being covered with fur?
Comment #2 from Julie (Guest)
2007 Jul 3 - 7:56 am : #
but ... but ... will it die just like the ipods do? because that makes me CRAZY.
Comment #3 from Noelle (Guest)
2007 Jul 3 - 10:55 am : #
You can just see the envy bubbling up in that cat. That kind of emotional over stimulation CAN'T be healthy...
Comment #4 from Javi (Guest)
2007 Jul 3 - 11:59 am : #
indeed, you have bested me kato, but there will be a reckoning!

(or i might just have to get an i phone)
Comment #5 from Bake Town (Guest)
2007 Jul 3 - 1:30 pm : #
Yeah - but seriously, what happens if you drop it? What's the warrenty like?
Comment #6 from Steve (Guest)
2007 Jul 5 - 12:56 pm : #
Why does he need thumbs? The commercials all show people using their index fingers.
Comment #7 from Ellen (Guest)
2007 Jul 5 - 11:00 pm : #
Hey Ken!

I would love an iphone, but I am excited because I just got my macbook tonight....a bday gift from my parents! yeh!!! :)

-Ellen

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