I just made the plunge! It was just a thought in the back of my mind a few weeks ago, but after a colleague and I got into several discussions over lunch last week, I couldn't resist any more - I am now the proud owner of an iPhone! I've been running MobileMacPalmGuy for several years, but lately, it's been pretty stagnant because of the lack of options within the Palm universe. At the end of last year, I was contemplating buying a Treo 680, which had just come out. I needed a new phone, and the old Tungsten|C was getting a bit long in the tooth (but still better than anything else out there, IMHO!) I've never been a fan of conversion*, because the function of part (or most) of the devices have been so poor. They'd make a good phone with a so-so email client, a crippled web browser, and a service plan that was highway robbery. In December of 2005, I made the mistake of buying a new iMac just a few weeks before MacWorld. So this year, when December brought the "Hmmm.....what new tech toy do I want" thoughts around, I said "Remember the iMac. Who knows, maybe Steve will announce the iPhone that has been rumored since the day they killed the Newton."
And - what do you know? He did! So I've been biding my time these last six months, trying not to be too disappointed with a two year old Sony Ericson T637 and a four-year old Palm Tungsten|C (which, until yesterday evening, was the best handheld web device I had ever owned!) Less than an hour after the unbox/activate/sync process with the iPhone, and I was just amazed at what you can do. Surf, watch video podcasts, do email, voicemail, SMS messages that look for all the world like iChat - this iPhone has already changed my idea of what a handheld should be.
So come ride along as I find new ways to use this fine machine. It will enhance your mobile experience, as well as your Mac experience. And if you're a PC user - well, what can I say? You probably have other issues as well.
*Conversion, in the handheld world, is the combining of several devices into one single über-device, which often will replace a laptop in many instances. The Treo, by combining a phone, handheld computer, and camera is a converged device. The iPhone, by being a phone, web-surfing handheld, camera, and music player is as well. But the iPhone is best-of-breed in each platform, rather than compromising one for the sake of another. It seems to this user, at least, to be the closest we've yet seen to a laptop replacement. Indeed, if you don't need a specific piece of software to demo, you could use an iPhone to perform all your communication, data management, and entertainment needs.
