I’ve now had my iPhone for 24 hours plus. I’ve posted my first impressions of it yesterday now I’ve got a few more comments. This isn’t my first “smartphone”. I’ve been searching for a “smartphone” that wasn’t actually STUPID for years. I’ve had just about everything but a blackberry, and none of them could unobtrusively bring my info with me on the road. I was either manually moving things or had to “rig” three different programs to massage the data to get it on my phone.

My last phone was a Motorola LG9900 - The “Env” you used to see advertised. I had this phone and my last 8 phones with Verizon. I dumped AT&T about 10 years ago because of their service and coverage, and seriously never wanted to go back even though they’ve had some “cool” phones that Verizon hasn’t had in the past. Not that Verizon service was been a gem. For example I’ve been working with them for 2 years (that’s right years), in attempts to access my phone account information via their web page. Verizon’s version of “push” email on the phone works when it wants, being down 1 out of every 4 weeks. I’ll never find out if they can get this stuff worked out as I’m no longer a Verizon customer.

I walked into the AT&T store Friday night with intrepidation, because of my past history. I walked out pleased with the experience. The line was minimal about 10 people and it was probably “over” managed with AT&T staff ensuring there was no cutting and answering questions people had about the iPhone. I’ve waited longer in line at the gas station or grocery store and didn’t have the helpful and informative babysitting.

The guy who waited on me did offer accessories, but readily accepted my no thanks, unlike experiences reported by Gizmodo. Actually as he was completing my order, I changed my mind and tossed a car charger onto the counter as he was processing my charge card. There was no line when we finished and I had intended to buy a second iPhone for my wife but was told there was a 1 per limit when I first got to the counter. After my sale was completed I again asked about the limit, pointing out there was no line now and a limit didn’t seem necessary??? My rep went and got the manager. After I presented my case, and he seemed convinced I wasn’t going to “scalp” it on eBay, he relented to my logic and he sold me a second phone. I admire that decision working in a field that requires a lot of “policies”, but I’m often frustrated when someone blindly follows them instead of assessing the current situation and making a logical and justified exception, ie. thinking on his feet.

So you can possibly tell my AT&T phobia is subsiding. The service after the fact has been stellar too. My activation was within a couple of hours, contrary to other reports. In fact I was still playing with the features on the phone when it came through. I didn’t even realize I couldn’t make a call until the notice arrived in my email, as I hadn’t tried to place a call yet.

I realize I’m a small sampling, but I read the Gizmodo article about 3 problems at the AT&T store. So I feel justified in giving my experience of 1.

Ok, you want to know about the phone usage. Reception and clarity is better than my Env. I’m not the guy at the restaurant that everyone can hear his conversation, for the most part, I talk in a normal volume. With my Env I get more “huh’s” than I did with my past phones. That seems to have gone away.

Cut and Paste - I was expecting a “stripped” down version of OS X but without cut and paste between the apps this is “crippled” a version of OS X. A fine distinction in choice of words but very relevant. Cutting/Copying and Pasting between apps on OS X is fundamental feature and is desperately missed on the iPhone. It would stop my whining about not being able to sync my Notes. (I could email myself and copy them into the notes app.)

I didn’t think I’d miss MMS messages, but I do. That’s fine and dandy that you can email pictures, but what about the rest of the unwashed masses that don’t have email on their phone. My 2 sons quite often snap photos and send them to me via MMS messages. This has to be added and quick.

Individual ringtones - Another one that I didn’t realize I depend upon. I miss the fact that I can “hear” who’s calling. On the plus side it’s nice to “see” who’s calling. Since my photos in my address book sync with the iPhone their picture now displays when they call. A feature I’ve had in other phones but never utilized because it was a hassle getting the photos onto the phone.

The camera - Takes very nice pictures but needs more integration with online services like Flickr etc. Though I can wait for this “upgrade”. I haven’t missed the video feature.

Still no problems with the keyboard for me or the speed of the AT&T network. I needed the phone number for a restaurant last night. I Googled it, got their number, tapped it with my finger and made the call to see if they had tables. I felt like I was on one of the commercials. The only problem was I couldn’t use the restaurant’s site for the phone number as it was 100% Flash. Another issue that may show up more - no Flash.

Wifi sync - No other comment other than WHERE IS IT?

The best part - other than the Todo’s my information on my computer is coming with me more than ever has in the past. Just like I’ve wanted for YEARS. And it’s not because I’ve setup a script or needed some third party software or patch to get some of the data over. It’s just moving there. It isn’t perfect, but none of my “Smart” phones have been. Is this the closest yet, in a word: YES.

Well I know there is plenty of information and blogs about the iPhone today and for the past several months. But I got my iPhone yesterday and I’d like to add my comments as I haven’t seen some of these issues mentioned anywhere else.

Let me start by saying I’ve had them all….. I had Palm Pilots (I still have a Pilot 1000 w/ a serial number < 1000), Treos, Windows mobile phones, etc. I’ve been looking for a phone that is an extension of my home computer. Some have come close, but they either didn’t sync without problems or crashed and reset themselves on a much too frequent basis.

I bought my iPhone at the Lehigh St. AT&T store in Allentown, PA. I was previously an AT&T wireless customer about 10 years ago (several name changes and mergers ago) and moved to Verizon because of both poor wireless coverage and poor customer service from AT&T. I’m happy to say they we VERY helpful yesterday. And so far the wireless service coverage has been better than Verizon’s in my local area. I had a LOT of questions when I made the purchase and they rep was VERY patient and sought help when he didn’t know the answer. Considering the pace at which things were moving in that store (it was an hour after the phones went on sale), and he could have been making easier sales, I appreciate his help.

Now onto what the reviewers missed:

Notes - you can’t sync notes. Everything else on the phone syncs but you can’t sync notes?? I’m assuming Leopard will fix this but no one mentioned this in any review?

Headphone jack - my Bose noise canceling headphones don’t work, any standard headphones don’t work. Only the headphones provided will work. Where’s my adapter? Again where’s this mentioned in the reviews?

I’m afraid to drop it. I don’t know, maybe it’s just all that glass, but people drop stuff. I’ve dropped my Motorola Env, my MacBook Pro they’ve survived. I can see a big crack in the screen from a 4 ft drop. Anyone do any drop tests???

Wireless speeds. I must be deprived, compared to the reviewers I’ve read. Their Verizon and Sprint networks must be MUCH quicker than mine. The AT&T wireless speeds aren’t blazing, they’re slower, but appearance wise they’re not much slower load times than my Verizon Web 2.0.

The keyboard - no problem. If you can type on a Treo I can’t see where this is a problem. You don’t get a tactile response but you do get a visual (letter enlarges) and a sound response. Non issue for me.

Yes you can view MS Word files and PDF files but you have to have them attached to an email. There’s no where, where I can save a document. And you can’t download a file off the web. Having “applications” via Safari is a PAIN. My Google reader doesn’t work. I’d sure like to add a few icons on the Home screen.

IMAP Folders - IMAP folders - Inbox, Draft, Sent, Trash. It doesn’t sync my subfolders.

Battery life seems to be superb. My Env has been a power misery lasting forever. I’ve only had the iPhone for a few hours of use time but if they battery draw during that period is any indication it should be fine. (Though I bought the car charger just in case.) There’s a great “usage” feature under the settings telling you how many minutes you’ve used the phone since last charge, data usage, etc.

Overall this may be the phone I’ve been waiting for. It seems to extend my desktop, brings my contacts, calendar with me and allows me to edit them on the go. I’m hoping the shortcomings above will either be fixed by someone pointing out what I missed or patches from Apple and AT&T in the future.

One of the things that concerned me with my $600 phone, was it looked “brittle”. Like if I dropped it an inch my screen would have a big crack right down the center. Well thanks to these folks, I’ll still be careful, but I feel a little more confident.

PC World Stress Test

Oooppss

About a year or so ago I posted plea for uses for the little white remote I got with my MacBook Pro. Well I’ve found the solution. It’s called Remote buddy. It allows you to take any software you can run on your MacBook and reprogram the six buttons on your remote to do just about any function in the software. It comes with a complete set of preprogrammed keys for a series of software. Itunes, NeoOffice, PowerPoint 2004, Keynote, can all be used with this software, just to name a few. It’s not free but a mere 9.99 € which translates to less than $20 US. It’s well worth it to consolidate and get rid of one more device to carry around for presentations.

I just flew back from Las Vegas. (Nope, I didn’t hit it big as I didn’t gamble. It’s really doesn’t draw me. I rather get my adrenaline rush on a roller coaster.) I was sitting on a full plane, wondering when the last time I was on a flight that did NOT have every first class seat sold out. I turned to my wife and asked if she could remember the last time she was on a flight with first class sold out. She couldn’t either and the guy next to her overheard and chimed in he couldn’t either. We both agreed there’s an opportunity being missed by the airlines. It’s not exactly Business class, but something in between. I’d throw another $50 onto my fare to not sit butt to butt with the next guy. They aren’t going to attract the new family with 2 young kids on their way to Disney world. But 40+ traveler who is a little more established and has more disposable income I’m sure would fill quite a few of these roomier seats. Hopefully someone at the USA domestic airlines will figure this out before my next trip.

Welcome to the “collective”.

Mac OS Rumors :: The Original Mac Rumor Site.: ”

It seems the rumor mill says that Apple will be embedding a BitTorrent client in the next level of the OS. This will allow all Mac users to “donate” bandwidth for System Updates, etc, possibly in exchange for iTunes Store content. Who knows maybe even Apple store items. Using a 3 to 4 year cycle maybe you can pay for your next replacement computer using this technology. Let them leech your unused bandwidth for 3 years and get a new computer!!

I can hear Podcasters jumping up and down for joy. If you stretch this idea a bit, you can envision podcasts being distributed this way, instead of the publisher fending all the bandwidth.

The entire Mac community will become one big P2P network, we are Borg.

More and more there are more and more functions that used to exist on the desktop that are now online. These online functions like calendars, to do lists, mail and etc are getting better and better. An example is Google calendar. This is probably one of the best calendar applications I’ve ever used. That includes both online and desktop applications.
There seems to be a competition for our data. Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft have all offered online address books, mail and calendars. While Google seems to draw most of my attention all three lack the feature that keeps me from “moving over” to an online system: syncing. I am very “close” with my data. I don’t like to let it too far out of my site. And why am I so paranoid. Because I’m afraid of this:

When I can sync with my desktop I’ll be considering Google again other than just “playing” with it.

Well I think we can kind of infer what Steve Job’s announcement was going to be for Apple’s 30th Anniversary, but they missed it by 4 days: Apples will run Windows. Note that the Windows is capitalized. Specifically I mean Windows XP.

Unless you were living in a cave over the last several days you’re heard the news, it’s been on the Mac sites, the geek sties, and even the main stream media.. A short while ago John C. Dvorak said he thought Apple may be prepping run Windows on Apple hard hardware.

Well I’m going to try dual booting my MacBook Pro. A short time ago I had to go to the accountant, it’s tax time. I had to dump out a bunch of reports from QuickBooks and Quicken to my MacBook Pro to take with me. I’m sorry but Quicken and QuickBooks on the Mac are not the same feature set as they’re Mac counterparts.

I’m a 45 year old professional, but I like to play a video game or two now and then. I’m a switcher and I saved my old Windows machine to play the occasional video game with my sons and to run my Intuit products.

I still like OS X more than the XP environment. There’s less tweaking, it’s more intuitive, and I just seem to get more work done. But facts are facts. The software set is not equal for the Mac. I know, I know there is a large freeware and shareware gap feeling set of software for the Mac, but sometimes you just need Windows. There used to be a saying “No one ever got fired for buying IBM.” IBM was once the standard, not necessary the best, but if you bought IBM hardware no one faulted you because that’s just what you did.

That mentality persists, it keeps a lot of folks buying clones and Windows XP today. The fact that I can buy my MacBook Pro and get to “try” OS X and still keep my “ole” Windows XP maybe an inroad that OS X needs??????

It’s human nature that we love to rant and complain about things. Too seldom due we extoll the kudos, especially to larger companies. Well I figured I had a good opportunity to hand out some praise today. About a month ago I bought a the Logitech wireless iPod headphones at a deal I couldn’t pass up. They retail for $199.00, but buy.com had them on sale for $79.99 with a $50.00 rebate. They’re not quite as cheap today, but the rebate is still in effect. Well so much for my shopping prowess and onto the real reason I’m writing this. All worked fine with them for about a month. Then the right headphone went out on me. I cynically thought that I now had my reason why I got them so cheap. But, today I called Logitech’s tech support. After the usual press this number dance, I got put on hold for 5 minutes. It was worth it. After I chatted with a pleasant gentlemen he figured he needed to replace the unit. (I had done a lot of the typical troubleshooting prior to calling. Trying another iPod etc.) He took my name and address and said he’d have a new unit to me within a week. I asked for the address where to send the broken one to, he replied that wasn’t necessary. Just obliterate the serial number and toss it. Nice doing business with Logitech. I’ll be buying more of their products.

About a year ago I bought a 12 inch iBook as I got a good deal on it and I was curious to see what Apple had to offer. I kept hearing about stability and ease of OS X. I was tired of tinkering. You know the times when you’re using your computer and you would load a driver, uninstall the driver, try a different version of the driver, uninstall the program, reinstall the program just trying to get your work done. I marveled at my iBook as I turned it on and it attached itself to my wireless network after I answered some questions. The printers at my office and home loaded up across the VPN. I began just basically using the computer, I no longer tinkered. I went on to move my family and house to the OS X operating system, having since bought a mini, a PowerMac, and PowerBook. What didn’t stop was my thirst for the latest, greatest. I got my Intel based MacBook Pro 5 days ago, I ordered it the day they were announced. I began the process of moving applications and files over from my “old” Powerbook. I’m just about functional now with my mainstay applications: Word, Excel, Firefox, Acrobat, iCal, AddressBook, and a few others. The speed is noticeability faster. I don’t mean you see a difference on the stopwatch, I mean you’ll see a difference time-wise , 1 - Mississippi, 2 - Mississippi, get the point. The keyboard is a little stiffer, the screen is smaller (I had a 17″ PB), but I don’t seem to mind as it’s much brighter. But that’s not the point here. As you may be aware you must have a universal binary version of your software to run in native mode on the new Intel Mac’s. If you’re not using a new universal binary, a part of OS X calls Rosetta which translates the old PowerPC code into code that the new Intel chip will understand and execute. All transparent to the enduser, other than….. The crashes. Yesterday I had to scan a about 60 pages of a contract into a PDF. Acrobat froze time and time again. I would have to start again. I tried using the HP software to scan directly into a PDF, frozen again. I tried plugging the scanner into a different USB port. I tried scanning into a text file. Just like I used to do when I ran Windows. It brought back less than fond memories. Then I remembered my PowerBook was still up and running. I plugged the scanner into the PowerBook USB told the same HP software to scan the pages into the same version of Acrobat. All 60+ pages right into the file, chose a filename and saved it. No crashes, no freezes it was just like it was after I left Windows. Maybe Dvorak was right, maybe Rosetta is actually Windows running on Apple already.