Converting to the iPhone

Last month I took the plunge and got an Apple iPhone 3GS. Since then, my personal and business friends have been asking me about my iPhone experience to see how I like it. Many Blackberry users that I know are openly considering the iPhone.

“How will a Blackberry user like it?” “How is the AT&T service?” “How is the typing?”

I upgraded from my trusty Palm Treo 700 to the iconic iPhone in one step. Apparently this is newsworthy, like my Buick-driving Dad showing up in a hot red convertible Corvette. Maybe my buddies are asking me how I like the iPhone because I’m not one of those trendy cool people that buys every new product from Apple. (I have never personally owned an iPod or ever had white earphones dangling from my head.)

So, how does an older, less trendy, business user like the iPhone? Here’s my experience to help you make the right smartphone choice.

How is the AT&T service?
AT&T’s legendary inconsistent cell coverage was the main reason I didn’t consider the iPhone earlier. We have all heard complaints from angry AT&T customers about poor coverage and dropped calls. But in the last few months I began hearing more “it’s better now” comments from more iPhone users. Could this be true?

I can say that the coverage around the metro Phoenix area (and visits to Long Island and New York City) has been just fine so far. I actually get better coverage at my house than I did with Verizon. I live in Scottsdale, Arizona, in a flat-ish suburban area, not on the side of a mountain or far out in the boonies, so I can’t speak for the coverage in fringe areas of Phoenix or in your particular city.

How is typing on an iPhone?
For ten years I have used smartphones with QWERTY keypads that have individual physical keys. I was skeptical of my ability to type well on the iPhone touchscreen keyboard.

Surprisingly, I actually found typing on the iPhone to be easy and reasonably accurate. I use the pop-up letters to confirm that my finger has found the right letter. After one day, I was typing as fast as I did on my Treo or Blackberry. Soon enough I’ll be typing faster.  I didn’t expect that.

Are the “apps” really that cool?

Yes, iPhone applications are elegant, functional, fast – and connected to the Internet. That’s the point of the iPhone — it’s a great Web device with a phone in it. There are thousands of useful apps, and we’re still at the beginning of the iPhone application groundswell.

I set up my iPhone with two email accounts and ten additional apps in two hours without reading the manual. I was doing those slick finger-swooshing demos of my iPhone apps (like you see on TV) after one week. Like other Apple products, it feels great and is fun to use.

Why shouldn’t you get an iPhone?

No device is perfect for everyone. Here are a few reasons to stay with your current phone.

• If you are a corporate warrior who lives and dies by email, you should stick with fastest and most secure email device on the planet – the RIM Blackberry. The iPhone just isn’t as fast and powerful for ripping through email as the Blackberry. (This is partly because you are so used to your Blackberry. I just don’t want to hear you complain as you relearn your speed-freak mail habits on a new device.)
• If you are a power phone user and efficient text typist, you should probably stick with a phone optimized for just that. I don’t think the iPhone is the best phone ever, but it is the best phone/mail/apps/web device on the planet.
• If you live in an area that doesn’t have acceptable AT&T coverage, you’ll have to wait until another phone carrier partners with Apple. I didn’t see that happening in the next 6 months, so I switched from Verizon.
• If you don’t care that “there’s an app for that,” then you can probably live with the phone you have that is just a phone.
• If you don’t want to use what everyone else is using, get a Palm Pre. Nobody appears to be using that. (Sorry, Palm.)

What do I like about the iPhone?
OK, the fun part.  Here’s what the iPhone does for me:

For the first time, I have a slick, useful version of all my most-used applications, news sites, and browser bookmarks in my pocket that I can use anytime and (almost) anywhere. I can do about 50% of what I do on my laptop on my iPhone. That’s a big deal. (My Treo was around 20% of my laptop function.)

I can now envision traveling without my laptop. If I don’t need to launch Microsoft Office applications, write a lot, or spend a lot of time in a browser, I can do most everything else pretty well on the iPhone. Most of my applications are Web-based or Web-connected anyway, so it’s just another way of accessing my stuff that’s “in the cloud.”

I actually enjoy reading on the iPhone, too. I can see a day when all newspapers, magazines, and books will be available on this type of device. The iPhone Web browser is fast enough and easy to navigate, but it’s not a true full-screen browser.  The maps, iPod music, games and other fun stuff are very cool.

Some Quirks

• The iPhone doesn’t support multiple email signatures, even if you have several email accounts.
• Switching between email accounts to check multiple inboxes is a lot of “clicks” and gets pretty tedious. This is a one button action on most email-enabled phones, but the iPhone interface consistently brings you back to the screen you last viewed. There is just more maneuvering to get mail.
• It’s really expensive if you drop it.  This is not your old phone – it costs $400-600 to replace it if you break the screen. This explains why you see most iPhones protected by an ugly plastic cover.

Sorry, there is nothing new in this review for all you iPhone early adopters, but this is still an important time in the life of the device in the big picture. Most Apple fans already have iPhones, but the really big market is all the rest who don’t. Those people are on the other side asking, “Is it OK to move from my Blackberry or other phone?” For me, it was.

What this review really describes is how the iPhone is successfully “crossing the chasm” to the mainstream market. I think this will be an even bigger phenomenon next year.

Even if you don’t buy an iPhone, it might just be a good time to buy Apple stock.

iPhone users – What do you like and dislike most about the device?