Category: Geek Love

First, I didn’t want an iPhone.

Then they lowered the price, and the gadget geek in me started to toy with the idea. I mean, just think! I could use it to show people my portfolio, no matter where we were! (This may be completely unrealistic, because I have no idea how it would display on an iPhone, but a girl can dream.)

Then they started crippling phones that had been modified to run third party software, and while I might not have ever wanted to run third party software on my pretend iPhone, I still didn’t like that Apple was taking the phones down with their updates.

Now, Apple has finally gotten a clue and has decided to open up to third party apps. The people (geeks) have been heard. Because seriously, in today’s tech market, if you want a product to be successful you have to get the geeks to be early adopters. Without the geeks, your product won’t go far. And with the price drop coming so soon after launch – another poorly thought out move if you want to keep the early-adopters happy – shutting down people’s phones was a bad decision.

I’m glad to see that they woke up. I have actually played with an iPhone now. Last week while at the ShootQ Set-up Party, Eric Hegwer, one of the Austin wedding photographers, showed me his. I thought that the interface was a bit wonky for typing, but he said that you get used to it and it is quite intuitive after awhile.

I’m still not sold. But maybe … someday … I will change my mind. Maybe.

Years ago, I set up WinAmp to generate a list of what I last listened to that then uploaded itself to my server and displayed on my blog sidebar. It was pretty sweet. Now I almost never listen to music through the computer since I work at home, so there is no point. It amused me this morning though to see that Apple now offers a way to share your iTunes through your blog. Glad to see they are finally noticing what we’ve been doing (or wanting to do) for years!

I know the geekosphere is clamoring for the iPhone. Everyone seems to want one. Well, everyone but me.

I don’t want one, and it is for one very specific reason – the reason that Apple says is the cool thing about it. It has no buttons. No keys for dialing a number. Just a screen. I know from personal experience, that form of phone sucks.

Years ago, I had an attachment that plugged into my Handspring Visor and turned it into a phone. Awesome! One device, and it can be my organizer *and* a phone! Sweet! Awesome! Yeah, not so much. See, sometimes I drive a car. I have my mobile device of choice nearby so that if it rings, I can answer it easily. This was never very easy without buttons. And if I needed to dial a number? Forget it! You are very conditioned from years of using a phone to dial it without even looking at the keys. You know where the 9 is, where the 4 is, whatever. You can do it all by feel – but not when you don’t have keys.

I love my Blackberry Pearl. It is so great and easy to use. I can dial, I can text, I can easily respond to full emails even. No problems at all with it. I love the shiny sparkle of the iPhone, it is all glittery and pretty – but I’m resisting it. I really don’t want one. I would be happy to play with yours though, if you’re willing to share!

I adore Twitter. I’ll admit it. I liked sending updates from my phone while I was at SXSW this year, and I’m now hooked. If you don’t already follow me on Twitter, feel free to add me so I can add you too! And now, if you can’t get enough Twitter, you can set up Flitter! (For Windows PCs.) The screensaver that lets you see what everyone is doing while you’re not doing anything. (Well, not doing anything on your computer!) I haven’t tested it out yet myself, since I just downloaded it. It looks pretty interesting and has good feedback too! Let me know what you think!