Saturday, February 23, 2008

Jeebus phone

I'll cut to the chase: I finally relented and bought an iPhone.

Holy crap, people - BEST. THING. EVAH.

Seriously.

Let's re-re-wind a bit. You all know I love all things Apple, and you all know I've been gushing about the iPhone for what seems like an eternity. Hell, I even tried to engineer my own a while back. But, I'll be honest, I'd been holding off for a while, because a few little doubts had crept into my mind; I've been with Orange as long as I've had a mobile - did I really want to leave them for O2? It would be a tad more expensive per month than I've been used to paying - was it worth it for the privilege? Would the internet function be painfully slow - should I wait for the inevitable 3G version?

Well, I've been dithering for a while now - I'd actually intended to buy one in January and chickened out on the day. Which was really rather fortunate in hindsight, because a few weeks later they brought out the 16gb version. Anyway, the other day I finally got round to requesting my PAC code (which allows you to port your number to another service provider), because I figured even if I requested it and did nothing with it I'd not lost anything. It turned up in Friday's post in a letter from Orange.

"We're sorry to hear that you're thinking about leaving us," it began, which immediately set me off because I'm a sucker for pleading. But I quickly thought back to the hard-man image I developed at the Nada Surf gig and that 'aaaah' phase soon passed.

Even so, though, as I headed off to Kingston this morning on a mission to get a Mother's Day present for Sparky Ma, I was still in two minds as to whether I was actually going to get one or not (an iPhone, that is, not Sparky Ma's Mother's Day present - that's completely compulsory). I played around with one in the Apple Store, then went for a coffee and a think, then walked round a few more shops while thinking a bit more, then thought "bugger it" and just went and bought one.

And now, 10 hours later, I don't know how I ever coped without one.

The activation process - all done through iTunes - is the easiest sign-up I've ever done. Then it was just a matter of loading my bits and bobs on. Music, calenders, contacts, and email settings all zipped across seamlessly - but then I started whacking on a load of other things, like photos and movie trailers. It's all totally awesome.

Heck, me and Big Bro spent this evening with Sparky Nan and went to the fish and chip shop to get dinner; he got the food, I sat in the car checking my email and surfing the tinternet. And it works surprisingly fast even when it's not running on wi-fi or EDGE. Well, on various blogs, anyway (just don't start loading your pages up with flashy animations and complex graphics, because I think it might wobble a bit then), but that's cool because most of my tinternet surfing consists of things like this and this, which it coped with admirably.

All in all, then, it's seriously living up to the hype so far. Even Big Bro was won over by it - and this time last week he was dissing it big time.

Now we just have to see how it works attracting the ladies. Who wants to come touch?

24 comments:

Dinah said...

Yay! I was so excited for you that as soon as I read the first line my eyes bugged open and my jaw dropped in happiness! Whoo! I'm glad you like it so much, and I wish you much iPhone related happiness in the future.

Tim said...

Wahay! Thanks Dinah! It truly is most excellent, and I think we're going to be good friends for a long time. In fact, it's like an awesome movie pairing - like Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon, Jay and Silent Bob, Aliens and Predators, and Kirk and Spock.

In fact, imagine that scene in Dirty Dancing when Patrick Swayze hoists wotsername up while they're inexplicably practising in the middle of a lake - that's me and iPhone having good times and bonding (but hopefully without the risk of water damage).

Dinah said...

whoa- that is true love!

CyberPete said...

The one with the nose - Jennifer Grey?

Whoa, nice! Now I want an iPhone but they don't sell them here yet. Might not see them until 2009

Lucky you but remember it's just a toy, not love..

Can I come touch? ;)

Tim said...

Dinah - no kidding - it is love! I'm totally writing this on it!

Cyberpete - for a minute I thought you meant jean grey from x-men! Yes her - jennifer grey. I highly recommend an iPhone when you can get one. I'm touching now and iwksh you could all touch. Rawr!

Dinah said...

also - when is your mother's day? I'm guessing it's not in May like ours...

Dinah said...

Also again: It's so cool to hear a commercial that the same as our commercial in North America, except with a Britified speaker! Weeeeeird.

CyberPete said...

What did you get for mothers day?

I'm sure they all want to come touch, IDV especially.

You can just hear him go Can iTouch?

Or something like that

skillz said...

Bah, just looks like an electronicalised version of a Rubiks cube if you ask me.

Tim said...

Dinah - It's March 2nd - next weekend! And after recent events in Sparkyland it's kinda crept up on us and was totally unprepared!

I keep thinking that the Brit voiceover sounds like Jack Dee, but I don't think it is…

Cyberpete - I couldn't possibly say what I got - not until it's given, anyway! I'm not sure IDV will be interested - he seems iPhone-resistant, a bit like…

Skillz! Do you remember Rubiks Magic? That was waaaaaay cooler than the cube, though he sort of dropped the ball with the follow-up, the Rubics Clock.

CyberPete said...

Awww but you are going to say when it's given right?

Oh and now your NIKE run looks more like the hair of Maggie Simpson

Tim said...

Oh yeah, if you really want to know!

As for the run data - it does a bit, doesn't it? I'm doing another one a little bit later on, so we'll see how that turns out!

CyberPete said...

That's a plan, who are you aiming for it to look like this time?

Tim said...

Let's go for Bruce Forsythe - I'm watching Happy Birthday Brucie and feel inspired!

Miss Smuggersham said...

That British voice over was quite... dignified. You know, you are sort of even making me think I want an iPhone now. It does look pretty awesome!

Inexplicable DeVice said...

meh.

Miss Smuggersham said...

You are unimpressed IDV? I suppose that the iPhone is nothing when you can conjure up a live link in a silver bowl with alkaline water in it...

Tara said...

This is wonderful news! I'm so glad that you and your IPhone have united, and that it has proven to be just as exciting as you thought it would be.

I'm thinking of changing either my cable service or my phone service so that I can have a complete phone, cable, internet deal. But I'll have to invest some phone time for when they try to talk me out of leaving.

CyberPete said...

IDV is just jealous, that's all

Your run does look like a face imprint today. Good job!

Tim said...

T-Bird - I bet he had to take the silver spoon out of his mouth to record the voiceover! You should totally get one - it's like something from the FUUUUTURE!!!

Although I don't think they're available in Australialand yet.

Inexplicable Device - Hush! Hadn't you better go find a longer piece of string to go between the two used bean tins you call a phone?

T-Bird - Don't worry about him. He's just huffing because I show more affection towards a phone than I do to him.

GET OVER IT, WITCH!

Tara - I highly recommend the iPhone! And my previous service provider didn't actually try to talk me out of it, which surprised me no end! Good times!!

Cyberpete - It's not quite as level as I'd hoped it would be, but it does look like the Maggie Thatcher's Spitting Image puppet, which is cool.

Miss Smuggersham said...

Considering I am 12 or 14 hours in the future, I am shocked and saddened that the iPhone is not available through the time warp.

But I do honestly think I don't need yet another gadget to clutter up my life. I'd never figure out how to work it, anyway.

Tim said...

T-Bird - you totally need one! It's so easy to use, and it means you have less gadgetry to carry around because it squishes everything into a handy touchable rectangle of awesomeness!

iPandah said...

Don't forget the alarm, the alarm tone is much better than conventional phone alarms!

Obviously there are LOADSA other cool things, besides the ones you mentioned, but the alarm thing really impressed me when we first got one!

Sad loser iP

Tim said...

Oh, iPandah, I love the alarm ringtone! It makes me feel like I'm on the bridge of the Enterprise during a red alert!