30 Days of iPhone – Day 8


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So, last night my Mother-In-Law stayed over at our house. She asked me to show her what the iPhone does. I showed her all the features of the phone and what it could do. Then she asked me how much it cost. I told her. Do you know what she said to me?

“Why is it so cheap?”

That really sums up the way I feel about the iPhone too. When you look at everything this mobile computer can do, it really is well worth the money.

And yes, I said mobile computer.

The iPhone does, indeed, make and receive phone calls…and it is called the iPhone (a name I have never liked)…but it IS NOT a smartphone, a cell phone, or any other kind of mobile phone you have ever owned before.

The longer I have it, the more I realize that I’m carrying around a computer that happens to also be my phone. I use it way more for watching video, listening to music, surfing the Internet and getting my email than I do making or receiving phone calls. I’ve gotten to where I prefer to use the iPhone for my email. It’s a simpler interface, that is easy to use, and I can delete whatever I want, knowing full well that Gmail has archived a copy of every email I receive for me, so if I need to have access to it again some day, I will.

I am also surprised at how well some of the web based apps for the iPhone integrate with the look and feel of the phone. That BeeJive app I wrote about yesterday is a perfect example.

If you didn’t know you were using a web app, you’d never be able to tell. When it is engaged, it melds perfectly with Safari too look like a stand alone app. Then all you have to do is hit the “pages” (i.e. tabs) button, and BOOM – you can open another web app or site, and fliip back to the IM client whenever you want.

Do I still think the iPhone needs and SDK?

Yeah…but for now…this’ll do.


Kokou Adzo

Kokou Adzo is a stalwart in the tech journalism community, has been chronicling the ever-evolving world of Apple products and innovations for over a decade. As a Senior Author at Apple Gazette, Kokou combines a deep passion for technology with an innate ability to translate complex tech jargon into relatable insights for everyday users.

6 Comments

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  1. I think I use my iPhone more for doing other things than I do actually making calls. It’s ironic when a powerbook isn’t portable enough anymore.

    When you emailed me back the other day I herd the chime of my Mail go off from the room upstairs where my laptop was, so rather than get off the couch I checked the mail from my phone and email you back from there.

  2. You know. I think I might have to come rob you Mike so I can see for myself how the iPhone works with popups 🙂

  3. @Steve

    Again…I am a tool.

    The mother-in-law thing had to go today.

    Let me tell you, that it handles pop ups pretty well. When something does pop-up, it opens in a new window just like the demo video, and it’s easy to close. So far I haven’t had any “pop-up ads” get in my way.

  4. What I meant to ask was do they popup a new tab ontop of the current one or just let you know theres a new window?