Apple Briefs

This post is one part review and one part love letter. I have had my iPhone since the price drop when I was able to nab a 4GB model for $299. Since that time it has been a whirlwind romance. There are some things I don’t like, and I will probably write an article about those. But there are so many things I like that I now can’t imagine not having an iPhone. These are my top reasons to own an iPhone, in no particular order:

1. It’s an iPod!

I always carry my phone and my iPod. An iPhone is one less thing to carry.

2. Price Shopping

Before my iPhone, my shopping trips would go something like this:

ME: I really like this, I think we should buy it.
WIFE: I wonder what price it is on [Amazon/other internet store]?
ME: Ok, let’s check the price when we get home, and if it’s the same price online we’ll come back and buy it here.

Sometimes the roles were reversed, but you get the idea. The internet had really screwed up my shopping! That doesn’t happen now, though. With my iPhone, I can check the internet prices while I am in the store.

3. Surfing at Lunch

I usually go out to eat by myself at lunch. I just find that lunches go faster that way. I still like to have something to entertain me while I eat, though. That’s where my iPhone comes in. I read quite a few blogs and forums regularly and lunch is the perfect time to get in some reading. The iPhone screen is big enough that I can read quite comfortably with my iPhone on the table once I rotate the view in Safari.

4. Listening to Only the Voicemail Messages That I Want To

Listening to voicemail messages on my old phone was a pain – multiple menus followed by a long wait to connect to the system, having to listen to every message, and finally having to remember which number to press to do anything. I disliked it so much that I generally just didn’t listen to my messages. Instead, I simply called people back if my phone showed I ever missed a call.

Visual voice mail on the iPhone changed all that for me. I don’t listen to all of my messages now, but I don’t have to because I can play only the messages I want to hear. Plus, if I know right away that I don’t need to hear a message, I can just hit the delete button – right in the middle of the message. The iPhone makes voicemail fun again!

5. Teletubbies

My 15-month-old daughter can sometimes be difficult to calm down when she gets upset. But one thing is almost guaranteed to get her smiling – Teletubbies. It takes a good connection, but YouTube on my iPhone usually delivers up the goods. The only real difficulty is finding the actual Teletubbies videos and not the rap songs mixed with Teletubbies dancing (some of them are actually pretty good – seriously!).