It was the beginning of April when I got my iPhone. This isn’t my first smartphone. I have had 1 Windows mobile phone, 2 Blackberries, 3 Treos…so I know my way around the space pretty well. Even on my feature phones, I have done things like contact management, e-mail, etc. Suffice it to say, I try to get my phones to do the most that they can.
So, onto my iPhone experience. I assume that anyone in the audience is pretty familiar with the iPhone capabilities, so this won’t be a blow by blow description of features. And, next month, with a software refresh, any compliments or criticisms I might levy could be moot, so I won’t bore you with all of that. All of that being said, the iPhone is the best information device I have ever had. As a phone, it is as good or better than many other devices, but the phone part of the iPhone isn’t the killer app.
The killer app for the iPhone: THE BROWSER.
You’ve seen posts by me extolling the virtues of Opera Mini (which is pretty terrific) but the mobile Safari browser is the best piece of mobile software I have every used. Even over the EDGE network, getting to REAL web pages is easy. Over WiFi, practically delicious.
I live in a multi-computer house. There is almost always a laptop within 30 feet. When I get home from the office now, my laptop stays in my bag. Mobile Safari over WiFi is so easy and fast that I don’t need my laptop as much. In fact, my home usage of my laptop has declined by at least 50%. There is almost nothing that I do (in my spare time) on my computer that I can’t do on my iPhone. Web browsing, You Tube (my kids LOVE watching You Tube cartoons on my iPhone…especially old Bugs Bunny!), e-mail…all well implemented, easy to use, and intuitive.
Speaking of intuitive, my 4 year old daughter grabbed my iPhone on the first day I had it. She immediately figured out the slider lock, saw the phone icon and was able to call my wife without me explaining to her how to do it. Intuitive enough that the interface is satisfying to me, and easy enough for a child to navigate. That is incredible.
So, while all my other smartphones had nice features (e-mail and keyboard on Blackberry are better), the iPhone is in a different league. The iPhone has a different mobile ambition than the average smartphone. For example, t he iPod features are also excellent (but they should enable video download over WiFi), the camera is good, but the photo display is excellent! My iPhone is where I keep my important music, video and photos, along side my important e-mails, contacts, and calendar.Smartphones are tools to get things done. My iPhone is my companion that helps me live my life. Nice job, Apple.
