Aeonscope   

© Apple

Introduction

After about five months of using nothing but Skype as my sole source of voice communication I broke down and bought an Apple iPhone. There are a couple of reasons for my change of mind:

1. The most obvious reason is that it was difficult to be traveling and not be able to stay in touch with family, friends, business contacts, etc. easily and effectively. WiFi is still hard to find and so is trying to make long distance phone calls from those ever elusive pay phones.
2. The Skype Wi-Fi Phones are still not good enough to be practical.
3. I could not resist buying a device that allows me to combine my iPod, PDA, and cell phone into one simple, elegant, and easy to use device.

The following is a breakdown of what I like and dislike about the phone.

Construction

The construction is elegant and simple. I really like the hard glass cover and well as the smooth rounded edges. I do, however, wish there was a way in which I could record voice notes like other cell phones I have used in the past.

Setup

Setup was a breeze! I connected the phone to my computer, launched iTunes, and then followed the setup instructions provided by iTunes.

I would have liked to have been able to pick from a pool of phone numbers, though. Instead, AT&T assigns a new number to you automatically with no option to choose otherwise.

Applications

• SMS Text - I ended up choosing the default or basic AT&T plan. This allows me to send 200 text messages a month. Each conversation is listed by contact/number. It is easy to browse past conversations or delete them. Also each message you send and receive is shown in alternating colored bubbles which makes following the conversation easy on the eye.
• Calendar - A great application. I can easily add events to the calendar and give them a location, start and end date/time, have them repeat, set up to two alarms, and provide notes. I am bummed, however, that there are no birthday reminders despite the fact that you can enter birthday information. By the way, the calendar application icon number changes based on the current day. Neat.
• Photos - Using iTunes, you can sync photos within a particular directory on your computer to your iPhone and then turn them into a picture show or just scroll through them. You can also access photos taken from the iPhone camera as well. I like how sub-directories are preserved so you can easily categorize your photos. When connecting your iPhone to a computer that does not have iTunes installed, this is the only application that allows you to access the data (in this case pictures) from the computer. The iPhone will appear as an external hard drive with your pictures at the root level.
• Camera - Useful for taking quick photos or picture notes. The quality is surprisingly good. I have heard some complain that it should have zoom and flash capabilities but if you want that, then buy a real camera.
• YouTube - Entertaining. Time waster.
• Stocks - Provides simple data on your favorite stocks. Configure as many as you like.
• Maps - This is one of my favorite applications as I can easily find an address or plot a route using start and stop destinations. You can either type in an address yourself or click on an address from your contacts list. The route comes complete with pushpins, highlights, and even text directions. The only thing missing is the ability to track your progress in real time (i.e. GPS capabilities).
• Weather - You can add and track multiple cities for current weather. Switches from day and night modes depending on your timezone. Useful as a quick reference.
• Clock - Comes complete with a world clock for tracking multiple time zones, an alarm clock, stopwatch, and a timer. I am particularly fond of the alarm clock as it can be configured for different days of the week, uniquely labeled, assigned a particular sound, and have snooze disabled/enabled. Multiple alarms can be configured as well. The stopwatch is also handy, especially when exercising. I should mention that the alarm clock is a tad buggy. When snooze is enabled, it sometimes does not stop ringing. This is because the option to turn the alarm off completely is missing. Sometimes the option appears, sometimes it doesn’t.
• Calculator - Simple and and easy to use. Handy to have around.
• Notes - Allows you to take quick notes. The first line of each note becomes the label of the note and each note is saved by date and time. Each note can be easily e-mailed as well. This application is too simple, however, and I would like to see this enhanced in the future. My main reason is that one should be able to categorize the notes instead each note added as part of the same list. I like the way you can pull up artists, videos, podcasts, genres, etc using the iPod application so why not bring that capability to the notes application?
• Settings - Intuitive and easy to use. This is where you can customize the behavior of the applications. I really love the “Airplane Mode”. With a simple tap, you can have WiFi, phone, and Bluetooth services turned off. I would love to see the “Usage” option fleshed out a bit more. Why can’t I get current stats on how many regular talk minutes I have left as well as how many text messages I have used?
• Phone - This is the centerpiece of the phone, obviously, and very nicely done. It is so easy to use and takes very little effort to switch from speaker phone, mute, adding callers, putting a caller on hold, etc. In the past I’ve had to muddle around with funky buttons and would sometimes end up dropping calls because I couldn’t remember the right button sequence. I also love that when listening to iPod music and an incomming call (or I make a call), the music fades out and pauses while I take the call. Then, after the call is over, the music fades up and starts playing again. I really wish this worked for voice mail too. Instead, when listening to music and checking voice mail, the music stops and I’m forced to go back and start my whatever song I was listening to from the iPod application. Boo.
• Mail - Being able to have e-mail anytime, anywhere is really handy. I like the fact that you can configure multiple e-mail accounts as well. GMail connectivity, however, is a little buggy. The issue I am facing is that my sent mail ends up in my Inbox. Both Google and Apple are aware of this issue and are working to fix it.
• Safari - One of the best web browsing experiences on an small device. Even better if you have WiFi access as the AT&T EDGE (data) network can be rather cumbersome at times. Really handy for quick referencing of information especially when in a store or at some location where you need to do a quick Google search.
• iPod - I have been rather fond of my iPod Nano but this takes the cake! I can do everything the Nano did and then some. I especially love the fact that you can delete videos after you have watched them. My only complaint would be that this functionality should should be allowed for not only video but audio as well. For example, after listening to a podcast, I would like to delete it so the next one is at the top of my list (assuming you use play lists that is).

Earphones

© Apple

The iPhone ships with a pair of earphones that includes mic/button on the right earphone wire as shown above. The mic, obviously, comes in handy when you want to talk hands free but the best part is that the mic is also a clickable button. The significance of this is important because it allows you to answer/hang up phone calls as well as pause/skip songs from your music collection. I really enjoy having this capability. Brilliant idea Apple!

I encourage you to read page 20 of the iPhone User’s Guide for more information.

Conclusion

Back in 2000, I bought a Palm V which changed the way I managed and kept information close at hand. I have enjoyed using that device but now I am a iPhone fan and feel it just as revolutionary as the Palm V I bought years ago. It has a few flaws, yes, but the convience and ease-of-use is outstanding.

I am definitely glad I bought the iPhone and would recommend it to anyone who is wanting to simplify their life into one single device. Feel free to ask any questions. I’m sure I’ll update this post over time as I discover new pros and cons.