Comments on: Converting to the iPhone

By: Greg Head

Greg Head — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:05:58 +0000

OK, here’s my top applications on the iPhone that I use in my first month:

1) Mail – two accounts – Exchange mail (business) and Yahoo! (personal)
2) Calendar, Contacts – syncs with Exchange (and Outlook/PC or Entourage/Mac)
3) Maps – finding my way around, links to addresses from Contacts, GPS locator
4) Safari – great Web browser tuned for the iPhone for occasional browsing
5) Skype – subset of the desktop Skype, but I can chat and call with same settings
6) Facebook – subset of desktop Facebook with a great new FB app just updated
7) Google Reader – RSS news reader that works great on the iPhone
8) News apps – NYTimes, WSJ, USA Today, Google News, Bloomberg, Stock Charts
9) Analytics App – Google Analytics stats for all the websites I track
10) I don’t use a todo application, I send emails to myself and have a Google Doc for future tasks
11) Stanza appears to be a very good eReader, but I haven’t purchased any new books yet
12) Spanish LE – Spanish dictionary with fast UI
13) Camera – for random photos and videos
14) Tweetie – slick Twitter client
15) Text Messaging – great texting interface, of course

Oh, and I use the phone, too. :)

I don’t listen to a lot of iPod music or watch YouTube videos or play fun games very much. Business and life are too much fun already!

By: dan munro

dan munro — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 23:47:58 +0000

Just read 10 Must Have iPhone apps. Curious Greg if you would agree with these – or are there others that you find more useful? Looking through the list – the one that does strike me as “must have” is FlightTrack Pro. QuickOffice and maybe Evernote look interesting – but “must have” … not sure. Greg – what are you seeing?

http://bit.ly/hmd1g

By: Greg Head

Greg Head — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:03:33 +0000

You’re right, Dan, the battery can be an issue. The iPhone pretty much can go just one day for me with calls, apps, internet browsing, etc., and then it needs to be charged. My Treo lasted twice as long, and I had an extra battery to pop in. I now have to religiously charge the iPhone every night and also charge in my car when traveling. I have hear from some BB users that their charge lasts about a day, too, so I didn’t see it as a big difference. I think the iPhone would go less than a day for more calls, games, video and all the options running (Bluetooth, wireless, bright screen, etc.).

Battery life, app availability, typing and other factors were highlighted in an article in today’s Wall Street Journal with reader comments about Blackberry and iPhone entitled “Joys and Pains of Switching Smartphones.”

By: dan munro

dan munro — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:44:57 +0000

Good/balanced review – but there is one more pretty big quirk – often overlooked by newer iPhone users. The battery is not user replaceable. At least with blackberry I can carry a spare battery – which has come in handy. The price is still pretty steep too – basically equivalent to 2 netbooks. I’ve used a MOTO Q, TREO and now Blackberry. I can see a point where I may convert – but I may give the netbook a try first. Boot-up times (using linux) are coming way down (like sub 5 secs) – so that will affect how (and when) they get used.

By: Mike Vanderslice

Mike Vanderslice — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:39:11 +0000

Greg. I agree completely with your comments and observations about the iPhone. I have never been a Blackberry user but I have used Windows Mobile devices in the past and I have to say the iPhone is the best device out there.

I too was reluctant to switch to AT&T but overall I’ve been happy and I’ve noticed the service is getting better as network upgrades are completed.

I recently took the leap and traveled without my laptop and found the iPhone a worthy replacement. If I needed to write or edit documents or presentations, I would need my laptop but for just email, social network, entertainment and other basic business uses, the iPhone is just great.

Great article!