Posted by Helen on: 07.02.2007 /
I got an iphone on Friday (late birthday present - my birthday was in June).
The screen and navigation are awesome. It’s amazing that web pages and e-mails show up including all their images - and web pages function properly (except it doesn’t have media plugins - but of course it is configured to play compatible youtube videos).
I could have written and posted this on there if I had a lot of time - it would have been technically possible. It has lots of great details which make it easy to use, just like ipods do. Speed: it’s fairly slow when it’s out of range of available wi-fi and has to use Edge.
As it turned out it was hard to get one from an AT&T store but easy from the closest Apple store. This was because AT&T stores were sent less than there were people in line for them by the time the stores started selling them. I imagine AT&T is unhappy about that (I got the impression our local store didn’t get as many as they hoped for, so it wasn’t that they failed to order enough).
I just looked at availability according to the Apple website - I see that four of our five local Apple stores will have iphones today. Yesterday I was looking at all the iphone resales on eBay and wondering why people will pay so much on there. Most of the iphones on there are going for more money than they cost in the Apple store - some for hundreds of dollars more! I suppose speed is the issue: people who can’t get to Apple stores easily are paying to get iphones quickly, since the Apple store online says ‘2 to 4 weeks shipping’.
It’s interesting what people will pay for - but I suppose I should apply that to myself, since I have an iphone. I can’t argue it was necessary, but we have been thinking it would be helpful if I had an e-mail capable phone for communicating back and forth with my husband. When he’s travelling for work, time zones, meetings and the travel itself mean e-mail often works better than calls. E-mail is there as soon as you can check it and is easier to check than dialing in and listening to voice-mail. It also can be sent during meetings when you can’t make a voice call because it would be disruptive. He’s had a Blackberry for a little while now and likes having the option of communicating by short e-mails as well as phone calls.
(So now, even if I’m out, I can look up his flight on the Internet and tell him it’s cancelled before the airport tells him - which is what happened last week, except I was at home)
Comment by: Rose
1Helen,
I could really care less about technonolgy but really want an iphone. I am hoping the price will come down in six months :) I am happy to hear about others who get them - I hope you will post now and again on how you are liking it…thanks
Comment by: Eliza
2An iPhone! Helen, how exciting! You’re on the cutting edge!! and it sounds useful, too.
Does the screen display web pages in a way that eyes which are over 40 yrs old can read? ;-)
Comment by: David H
3The city where my newspaper is based has a fairly high crime rate. The AT&T store there is open after dark but had a line of people hoping to get an iPhone and two additional armed guards to make sure n’er-do-wells didn’t attempt to liberate those gadgets as patrons walked out the door. The people on eBay are just dropping extra cash to get these things. People in this city were risking their lives to be the first on their block to have one.
I’m a devoted Apple fan and hope to one day join the iPhone generation. But until either my company foots the bill or the prices come way down I will just have to stick with my dinged up Treo. And thanks to the iPhone I won’t have to worry as much about someone shooting me to get my little technological tether. Thanks, Apple.
Comment by: Doreen A Mannion
4hey, my $19.95 phone has email capability!
:)
doreen, experiencing technology envy
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Read my lastest essay: Would life outside earth need a savior?
Comment by: Helen
5Rose, so far I like it a lot!
Eliza, my eyes are over 40 yrs old too. I don’t know if you saw the demos - you can easily magnify web pages (and e-mails) until you can read them - each time you enlarge them they resolve in a moment to being sharp again but magnified. The screen is amazing.
David, we had police outside our AT&T store (where I lined up but was too far back in line to get one before they ran out - I later got one with no trouble from an Apple store). I don’t think the crime rate is especially high where I live but the store wanted to take precautions, I guess.
I didn’t have anything like a Treo before so this is a big step up for me.
Doreen, I’m glad your phone has e-mail capability :). I think my old one sort of did but it was hard to do. I worked out how one day, spent ages writing a three word e-mail and then forgot how after that.
Comment by: julie marie
6so thats what everyone was lined up for last Friday! I was in midtown Manhattan w/ my sister and the AT&T store had a line around the block!
Comment by: Meg
7HAPPY BIRTHDAY HELEN!
Comment by: Helen
8Julie Marie - yes, mystery solved! :) A few curious people came over to our line and asked what it was for. I wish I had known there would be no line and no wait at the Apple store, before I lined up for an hour at the A&T store only to hear “We’ve run out now” when I was still 10 or so from the front of the line.
Thanks Meg! I didn’t want to make a big deal of it since I don’t know anyone else’s birthdays to make a big deal of theirs :)
Comment by: Laura M.
9I just saw a commercial for the iphone. Very kewl!
Happy late birthday Helen.
Comment by: Helen
10Thanks Laura :)
Comment by: RelevantNoise.com » iPhone Follow up
11 07/23/07 11:54 AM | Comment Link |[...] is no doubt the screen on the iPhone is beautiful. That is the top feature getting positive buzz. Bloggers love the bright [...]
Comment by: Billy
12I also have an iPhone and love it. There’re some really cool features and they really made it easy to use. However, the calendar tool is lame and I have trouble hearing it ring. It’s almost too nice to take out of the case and I worry about damaging it. If you’re a web-head and feel disconnected when away from your computer, this is the ultimate toy for you. Now I can check my email without getting out of bed and get weather and web on the road.