Well, I am finally “cool” as I am now the proud owner of an Apple iPhone 3G. So far, without a doubt I can definitely say you should buy one of these - even if you’re still stuck in a contract with some cheesy old school cell phone. I’ll explain how you can get out of that a little later.
I will admit that I’ve been in the stone age with my cell phone as I was using one of those Go Phones - a Nokia 6300 which I seem to have lost. So… jumping from that kind of phone to the iPhone probably excites me more than the average person.
One of my favorite features is the use of GPS with Google Maps. This is going to be so useful in so many situations. You’re out on the town and you want to go out to eat. Just open Google Maps, pinpoint where you’re at and search for the words “mexican” or “chinese” to find the nearest restaurant of that type. You can also get turn by turn driving directions, showing your location in real time.
It’s also nice to be able to surf the web, check your email, weather, stocks, etc. The applications for the iPhone is my #1 favorite feature so far. You can buy apps in many categories such as Books, Business, Education, Entertainment, Finance, Games, Healthcare & Fitness, Lifestyle, Music, Navigation, News, Photography, Productivity, Reference, Social Networking, Sports, Travel, Utilities and Weather.
There are so many possibilities with the Apps that I think they’ve just scratched the surface. You can buy one called Steps that turns the iPhone into a pedometer so you can track your average speed, total steps you have taken, distance travelled, calories burned and walking duration.
Another application called Midomi finds songs for you by singing or humming into your iPhone! If it finds a match you can then hear a sample and buy it if you wish.
If you are a Twitter addict, you’ll love the Twitterific app so you can follow the latest Tweets of others as send out Tweets to your followers. Take a picture with the built in camera and post it with your Tweet.
Although there are a ton of positives about the iPhone 3G, there are some downsides. The most noticable one is with battery consumption. This thing sucks up battery juice pretty quick, so you will definitely want to invest in a car charger. You can put it in standby mode to conserve power and still receive phone calls.
You will also want to invest in a protective case with a screen cover to keep it in pristine condition. Trust me on this one, you’ll be glad you did and sad if you don’t. Chris Pirillo recommends buying an iPhone case from Mcase. I have to agree, they are very nice and snug looking. Believe me you don’t want to get scratches on the screen or body. That will totally bum you out.
Another drawback is that technically you have to use AT&T service unless you unlock your iPhone. If you unlock your iPhone you might be taking a risk. Seems like with the original iPhone, Apple somehow rendered them useless making them as useful as a brick. So, unlock your iPhone with caution or at least do a lot of research.
So, the plans are kinda expensive. I’m starting out with the basic plan - $69.99 a month. Includes 400 daytime minutes, 5000 nighttime minutes and unlimited data. I added 200 text messages a month for an extra $5 a month. The funny thing is that I don’t really care to use this as a phone that much. I’m more interested in using it for email, web browsing and all that other fun data stuff.
One thing I found amusing is that you can use the iPhone 3G with Skype and make calls at drastically reduced rates. The quality isn’t as good of course, but if you are close to using up all your minutes this may be a good backup for you. I’m paying around $30 a year to Skype and can make unlimited long distance calls around the country. Visit IM+ for Skype to try this out.
There’s still a fairly long wait for iPhones. I reserved mine at a local AT&T store and it took about 10 days to get it. After 9 P.M. you can check to see inventory at your local Apple Store with their iPhone 3G availability tool.
One last thing for now - you might want to think about how much storage you need since you will likely be in a contract for a couple of years. You can quickly eat away a lot of storage with the applications, music, videos, photos and more… so think about it for a bit. Do you want 8GB or 16GB? I opted for the 8GB as I figure I can delete stuff from time to time.
Anyway, that’s all for now. Overall, I give it two thumbs up. If you buy one you will likely find yourself becoming distracted and obsessed with it. Not sure how long that lasts… 
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Dude, Pirillo uses a INcase for his iPhone, not Mcase.
Leave a Comment