My New iPhone

A few disclaimers before I start. I generally hate working with Apple computers. I'm a PC Guy. Second, I really did not want to do this. I wanted Scott to get the iPhone but his contract is not up yet on his existing phone with a different carrier. So I took the plunge ...

The acquisition process could not have gone much smoother. Took a while, but went without a hitch. Thumbs up for Best Buy. I cannot believe that they can port your phone number from one carrier to another in just a couple of minutes. The lady waiting behind me was in the process of getting another iPhone. Her first one got destroyed some way by one of her 3 redheaded kids and she had to get another one, paying the very full price for it.

So Quinton, my Best Buy Concierge, gathered all the info from me, keyed it in, called AT&T to activate the phone and applied a nice screen saver he recommended to protect the phone. I was able to activate my Bluetooth while in the store, and then I was on my way, able to start returning all the calls that had been coming in during the transfer process.

The interface is extremely intuitive. I was concerned that with my big fingers, typing using the touch screen would be an issue for me. But after a few seconds, I was able to type fairly quickly with some degree of accuracy. I found moving around the interface is extremely fluid. I love the ability to scroll through the screens and zoom in on web pages.

As I mentioned, I was able to find the Bluetooth settings and pair it with my Jawbone quickly. Dialing phone numbers from the touchscreen works much better than the Windows T-mobile Wing I'd been using for a couple of years. Setting up voicemail was a snap. I just keyed in a new passcode twice then created a Greeting.

One missing phone feature that I have to find is a voice dialing app. My T-mobile Wing, running Windows Mobile 6 (WM6), had it going. I just had to click a button on my Jawbone, say, "Dial Scooter", "Yes", and the the call was placed. It would find Scooter from over 700 of my contacts. Amazing technology. I hope to find a similar app for the iPhone.

I also need to find app to simulate the WM6 Today screen. The Today screen displays a summary of emails, calendar, etc. so you can get a high level of what all you have going on. Apple makes it easy to find apps via their iTines service. We'll see what I can find.

I recall something the lady with 3 redheaded kids told me. "Once you use an iPhone, you'll never go back." With less than 4 hours using it, I think she may be right. Now I'm wondering if a MacBook Pro may be in my future. :)