I Love/Hate My iPhone.

Contempt toward me and my fellow iPhoners gushes from Cupertino. They are concerned about me the same way my 20 minute on-hold-call is important to my bank!

The little counter that ticks off call time on my iPhone says I’ve racked up 6 days, 20 hours since early October! That’s a lot, isn’t it?

There’s no comparable counter for Internet use. It would surely be a much larger number!

This iPhone of mine has changed my life. It is more than I’d hoped for. There are so many ways it’s useful.

For the first time in my life I’m really keeping a calendar–really! It’s so easy to do it would be stupid not to. It syncs with Google’s calendar magically.

I am watching the Phillies most nights as I work at my desk. The Phillies games stream right to the phone. The quality is great, though a few years from now my opinion of great will surely change.

It is my book, my magazine, my newspaper. It is NPR in the car when the show I want is on a station with ratty reception. When needed it’s also my GPS.

Facebook and Twitter, though easily accessible on the phone are still mainly relegated to more traditional computers. Not so email which is often read and quickly answered right on its slab screen. The phrase “Sent from my iPhone” is really a euphemism for “message will be short, curt, poorly formatted.”

Dozens of the photos used to illustrate blog entries were shot on the iPhone. Under the right circumstances it can produce decent photography. That being said, good shots take work on this camera.

The iPhone has been my platform of choice recently for video. I’ve shot and edited little web stories on the iPhone. Crazy.

And yet with all I love about the iPhone there is so much I hate… starting with Apple and Steve Jobs. Contempt toward me and my fellow iPhoners gushes from Cupertino. It is only matched by Apple’s greed. They are concerned about me the same way my 20 minute on-hold-call is important to my bank!

Early on I called Apple “the controlling psychotic girlfriend of computing.” My mind hasn’t changed where that’s concerned. Seeing what’s gone on with Mark Fiore’s cartoons and Adobe Flash have only reinforced this opinion.

There is so much the iPhone can and should do, but won’t because it doesn’t seem to be in Steve Jobs’ best interest. So many parts of the system are walled off from each other. That reduces functionality. I want enhancements, not reductions.

In order to really take advantage of the iPhone you need to ‘jailbreak’ it. That frees the phone from many Apple imposed restrictions. It also voids the warranty if you’re caught.

There’s a rumor on the geek sites tonight Apple might be violating federal law with their warranty policies. A warranty can only be voided if your action might hurt the purchased item. Since Apple’s own software can be easily restored it should be a no harm, no foul situation.

There’s also the problem of power. If you own an iPhone you own auxiliary power sources. You have to. All the good things the iPhone does eat power!

There are power cables and wall warts stashed away at work and in my office at home. In the car there’s a plug for the cigarette lighter. I even bought a battery so the phone can be charged away from wall power.

If I had it to do over today I’d seriously consider one of the Android phones instead of my iPhone. I like the idea of an open source operating system and somewhat less draconian rules on what I can do with an item I own.

Don’t get me wrong, the iPhone not only is the best phone I’ve ever had, it’s the best toy ever! I don’t regret buying it. I’d just like an alternative when my contract’s up.

The iPhone is often too compelling for its own good. Helaine has reached for it threatening to throw it out, or at the very least introduce it to water! My fault, not hers. It’s tough to put down.

I coddle this phone like no piece of electronics I’ve ever owned before. It’s currently next to me nestled in a rubberized skin with a plastic screen protecting its glass screen. There is not a scratch on it.

A few days ago as a pajama wearing me walked to the bathroom Helaine said, “It’s in your pocket, isn’t it?”

Maybe an intervention is in order?

8 thoughts on “I Love/Hate My iPhone.”

  1. Geoff, I identify with your last paragraph. As a matter of fact, guess where I’m typing this from at this very minute! ;^)

  2. I’ve been an Apple fan for years. And was on my third iPhone (I’m a bit clutzy). But I have decided it’s time fo rme to move on. I won’t pitch my new phone (which I love) and I won’t complain about Apple here… But after many years of being a loyal Apple customer… they have strayed from what I loved about Apple. John Stewart said it all.

  3. For internet usage there is a statistic for amount of data used. My received data is running around 3 gb right now. The time spent on the internet wouldnt be really reliable because often even if I am on the phone with someone, I hit the home button and begin browsing….

    Definitely identify with the bathroom use – Ive heard the #1 water damage fault is a dive into the t-bowl

  4. It cracks me up when appllefiles trash Microsoft — I think recent events have shown that Steve Jobs is far more controlling and restrictive than MS has ever been. That’s one reason why I won’t get an iPhone — I also refuse to get AT&T cellular — don’t like that restriction, either.

  5. Meh, I’m stuck with AT&T only because Verizon flat won’t work inside my house at all. My ‘smartphone’ is not an Iphone yet, but there is some pressure from wife to get herself one, since she needs certain apps that run on it.

    Personally, I still am not convinced that ‘always connected’ is that good an idea. I was totally pleased to go on a vacation and get no calls from work…might have had a little to do with the fact that my ‘work phone’ was 1200 miles away, in a drawer at home, and totally turned off…ya think?

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