I put stuff here I think might amuse people. Please let me know if I'm failing miserably or only moderately. That's what the comments are for.
After years of waiting, I got an iPhone. Here are the awesome things I have discovered:
- The tiny remote in the headphone cord is awesome: pause, next and volume controls
- Syncing takes forever mobileme is worth $100/year to avoid all non-music syncing. Also, if my phone gets lost of stolen, I can FIND IT. How bad-ass is that?
- Everything is nearly instantaneous and the network and video performance are better than my laptop.
- Location-based everything ROCKS.
- Google Maps with GPS and compass means I never have to know where I am or where I’m going again.
- Push notifications for AIM and email means I don’t keep checking my phone all the time.
- Three things that I never would have expected loving, but WAY up on the list:
- $.99 app to make the iphone the Apple remote I never had for Front Row on my mac (mine’s an old pre-Intel one)
- Playing music through the iphone’s speakers
- Free white noise app
- Control itunes on my Mac when I’m home with basically the full interface on the iphone’s screen. The less I touch my computer the BETTER.
- Watch and listen to podcasts in my queue on the road AND get new/other episodes over wifi or 3G! never run out of entertainment!
- Shazam identifies songs I hear for free
- Pandora wherever I want for free
- Manage my Netflix queue immediately when someone recommends a movie instead of having to make a note and do it later
- RTM’s iphone app is as good as the web version I’ve been using to manage todos
- My co-workers’ great tools:
- iTrans NYC - subway maps with routing that don’t need a network connection (i.e. you can make/change plans when already below ground)
- RulerPhone - measure anything using the camera
- I will never use Skype but it will be useful to lots of people
- Oodles of free and cheap games I thought I’d have no interest in but are good for filling those 10 min periods of boredom in our lives. This one and this one are faves so far.
- Check movie listings, restaurant and bar reviews, find reservations while out for last-minute plan-making
- Voice control that I won’t use
- Tethering that I WILL use to get my crapbook online away from home. I have much less need for this with all the iphone does, but once in a while I need a full computer ;)
- View my files in DropBox
And here are the sucky things:
- Not having flash sucks only because some places use non-youtube video such asvimeo
- The battery JUST lasts a day. Once my initial iphone-craziness passes, I’ll develop a usage pattern and know when I need to charge it at work during the day or whatever. Also, getting mobileme means I don’t have to sync, so I can plug in by my bed, not only where my computer is.
