I have been using a pocket PC since 2003 when they were big and klunky. A few years ago I switched to a phone version to avoid carrying around both my PDA and my cell. Most recently I have been using the XV6800, which is a competent phone but which has some frustrating features. As I have been looking at the options for upgrade, I've been drawn to the iPhone, but my loathing for all things Apple have had me very much doubting any decision to support the company of all things rotting fruit.
Nevertheless, my interest has constantly been piqued when I have seen others using it, and a couple times I've had a chance to play with one. I've also tried to play with the Google phone and a few other, newer Windows Mobile phones as well as the Blackberry Storm. Then the other day while walking around the new mall in our area, we walked past an Apple Store, and so I decided it would be fun to go tinker with the iPhone. Thanks to some inexplicable rule that says that nobody in an Apple Store can be comfortable, we were required to tinker while standing next to unnaturally high tables, and after just 15 minutes or so, we left with slightly kinked necks and sore feet. And yet the joy of simplicity and the power of the phone's capability lingered. So yesterday when I had a chance to go out on a Daddy-Daddy date (that's personal time and not an obtuse reference to some kind of gay liason), I went back to the mall and sacrificed my body by spending three hours playing with every app I could and toying around with all the features.
By the time I was done with all that biz, I definitely had iPhone lust. And yet the problem remained: do I really want to pay all the extra money that it would cost to upgrade to the AT&T plan and leave my month-to-month plan with Verizon? So I went over and talked to the peeps at the kiosk and the (surprisingly) easy-going and non-pushy saleswoman walked me through what it would entail and how I could get a plan to fit my needs. In the end, it turns out that my wife (who is not into the whole computer-in-your-pocket type of phone) can get a simple phone with mp3 ability but not much more and I can get my iPhone with all the bells and whistles and accompanying data plan, and the net effect on our monthly statement will be... nothing. It will be the same cost, so the only difference will be the price of the phone itself and, unfortunately, the 2 year commitment.
So after looking around and talking to people I know (including one person who works for Microsoft), nobody has yet said anything to talk me out of taking the plunge and betraying my very being by purchasing and actually using an Apple product.
That is where you come in.
What I need from you, faithful reader, is to talk some sense into me... or further my resolve to go ahead with the iPhone.
And while you are at it, answer me a few questions if you can:
* How well does Outlook sync with the iPhone?
* From what I have read, there is no way to get my mobipocket ebooks that I have purchased to switch over to the iPhone. Is that true?
* One of my favorite programs on my pocket PC is kidcolor, which is a little drawing program that locks down the operating system so that I can let my daughter scribble to her hearts content, which is great for waiting rooms and church meetings. Is there anything like that on the iPhone?
* For anyone else who has made the plunge to iPhone, is there anything that you didn't expect you would miss but now you do?
* I use skyscape and epocrates on my pocket pc. What are the best medical programs on the iPhone, and is it true that skyscape on the iPhone requires you to re-purchase each program annually?
* That sucks.
* Does anybody have any experience using AT&T navigator? Is it any different than Verizon's Navigator?
* Other questions that aren't coming to mind right now.
So there you have it, faithful readers. Convince away. Talk me into it. Talk me out of it. Laugh quietly to yourself and move on with your lives, but remember, a young man's very soul hangs in the balance, and you will have to live with your decision for eternities to come.
You may now speak your mind.
Nevertheless, my interest has constantly been piqued when I have seen others using it, and a couple times I've had a chance to play with one. I've also tried to play with the Google phone and a few other, newer Windows Mobile phones as well as the Blackberry Storm. Then the other day while walking around the new mall in our area, we walked past an Apple Store, and so I decided it would be fun to go tinker with the iPhone. Thanks to some inexplicable rule that says that nobody in an Apple Store can be comfortable, we were required to tinker while standing next to unnaturally high tables, and after just 15 minutes or so, we left with slightly kinked necks and sore feet. And yet the joy of simplicity and the power of the phone's capability lingered. So yesterday when I had a chance to go out on a Daddy-Daddy date (that's personal time and not an obtuse reference to some kind of gay liason), I went back to the mall and sacrificed my body by spending three hours playing with every app I could and toying around with all the features.By the time I was done with all that biz, I definitely had iPhone lust. And yet the problem remained: do I really want to pay all the extra money that it would cost to upgrade to the AT&T plan and leave my month-to-month plan with Verizon? So I went over and talked to the peeps at the kiosk and the (surprisingly) easy-going and non-pushy saleswoman walked me through what it would entail and how I could get a plan to fit my needs. In the end, it turns out that my wife (who is not into the whole computer-in-your-pocket type of phone) can get a simple phone with mp3 ability but not much more and I can get my iPhone with all the bells and whistles and accompanying data plan, and the net effect on our monthly statement will be... nothing. It will be the same cost, so the only difference will be the price of the phone itself and, unfortunately, the 2 year commitment.
So after looking around and talking to people I know (including one person who works for Microsoft), nobody has yet said anything to talk me out of taking the plunge and betraying my very being by purchasing and actually using an Apple product.
That is where you come in.
What I need from you, faithful reader, is to talk some sense into me... or further my resolve to go ahead with the iPhone.
And while you are at it, answer me a few questions if you can:
* How well does Outlook sync with the iPhone?
* From what I have read, there is no way to get my mobipocket ebooks that I have purchased to switch over to the iPhone. Is that true?
* One of my favorite programs on my pocket PC is kidcolor, which is a little drawing program that locks down the operating system so that I can let my daughter scribble to her hearts content, which is great for waiting rooms and church meetings. Is there anything like that on the iPhone?
* For anyone else who has made the plunge to iPhone, is there anything that you didn't expect you would miss but now you do?
* I use skyscape and epocrates on my pocket pc. What are the best medical programs on the iPhone, and is it true that skyscape on the iPhone requires you to re-purchase each program annually?
* That sucks.
* Does anybody have any experience using AT&T navigator? Is it any different than Verizon's Navigator?
* Other questions that aren't coming to mind right now.
So there you have it, faithful readers. Convince away. Talk me into it. Talk me out of it. Laugh quietly to yourself and move on with your lives, but remember, a young man's very soul hangs in the balance, and you will have to live with your decision for eternities to come.
You may now speak your mind.
7 comments:
I'm reading this blog and commenting from an iPhone. I wouldn't give it up for any other smart phones out there for any price.
You're right about the Skyscape. It asks iPhone users to renew every year. That's why I use Nursing Central. It doesn't have a built-in drip rate calculator. But you can download free or low-cost apps for that. Or use re calculator.
I too have an iphone and I love it. I resisted for a long time, but made the plunge about 2 months ago. I have used the navigator, and have been very pleased---I didn't get lost. I have epocrates on it and I use it frequently. As for your daughter, there is a cool app called doodlekids (I think it is free--if not on 0.99). She can draw like crazy and then shake the phone to erase it. Can't comment on skyscape as I don't use it. The only thing so far that I have found annoying is that you can't send pictures in a text message---you can email them, but you can't send them as a text.
I love my phone, and I'm very happy with my purchase!
2 things I hate about the iPhone: there is no copy/paste function, and there is no MMS capability. So if you want to send a picture via text message, you have to use the Flutter app, which only then sends a link to your picture (sort of like Photobucket). I happen to find these things very annoying, but they are far surpassed by the kajillion things I LOVE about the iPhone!!! Get one!!!
So based on the press conference today, Apple is taking care of the only 2 things wrong with the iPhone by June! So there you go! :-)
I have a few friends who have the iphone, I'll steer them your way.
I want one.
One downside would be that your family members who may still have Verizon (whomever those might be) would no longer be able to call you for free, and vice versa.
I've gone back to the blackberry. The iPhone was snazzy, but I strongly prefer the keyboard on the BB for email.
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