Lost Year: August 2008 - Falling In Love With The iPhone

Anyone who has never owned an iPhone thinks that they are merely a cool looking phone and so wonder what all the fuss is about but those who have made the leap into the iPhone world know what I mean when I start talking about the iPhone in affectionate terms. Most people soon discover that the phone functions of the iPhone are actually only a small part of using this device because it is the ease of use of the software and the apps that make this mini-computer such a delight and the most useful mobile phone in existence.

Here is a link to an Apple ad for students which gives just an inkling of what is possible:

Apple ad for iPhone for students

For an artist (especially painters and musicians) it is an amazing creative tool. It is great for sketching, and all sorts of other creative note taking. I have come to love the ability to record lines and phrases for poems in the middle of the night when the ideas come to me. I usually do that by using voice recording. I have other ideas and email them to myself. I can draw, edit photographs, create digital artworks, read from a book, check Facebook, IM a friend, watch some video, do a crossword or a jigsaw puzzle, or just listen to a podcast.

I quickly fell in love with my iPhone. I even sleep with it as it is always under my pillow at night. I have had a lot of phones before and I was always glad of the excellent camera in my Sony Ericsson cybershot mobile phone but the poor software always limited it. Before the iPhone came along I think most people accepted that mobile phone software sucked but assumed it was an inevitable part of cell phone usage. I, like a lot of people was proud that my 3G phone could send email but it was such a pain to use that I didn't actually use it except for emergencies.

Then came the iPhone and for the first time I discovered what a pleasure it is to have software that is easy to use. Geeks complained that the iPhone didn't have as many features as previous phones and couldn't understand why the iPhone became such a hot seller so they made snide remarks that suggested it was all about marketing and designer cool while ordinary users didn't care so much that there might be some missing features - all we cared about was that the features that are there work. Not only that they worked easily - no need for an extensive manual to figure things out.

I too simply loved it. Still do. Love all the creative things I can use it for. Love how it enhances my life.