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I bought an iPhone
1 min read

I bought an iPhone

A couple of weeks ago I said I wasn’t going to get a first-gen model, but seriously, did you really think I could stop myself? Really? While I’ve written extensively about the iPhone’s shortcomings (see here, and more recently here), we all know that whatever don’t-buy-anything willpower I may possess (OK, so I don’t have any of that) dissolves in the face of mobile gadgets, especially those from One Infinite Loop.

As hokey as it may sound, I just kind of felt like I was supposed to have one (and if you know me at all you saw that coming from a mile away). As one friend put it, How else am I going to know if I should get one if I don’t have you to tell me? I’m just playing my part. 🙂

Immediate impressions (likely colored by my nerd high)

  • This first one is a biggie: I actually don’t have too much to complain about with regard to the keyboard. Can you believe that? I don’t know if it’s because of my SureType experience or what, but, well, it’s totally usable.
  • There’s no denying that it’s absolutely gorgeous in every way — the screen, the design, the build quality — all wonderful.
  • The UI is very responsive — it feels fast.
  • Activation/setup through iTunes could not have gone faster/smoother.
  • The visual voicemail feature is nice.
  • It’s neat that text messages pop-up as you’re doing other things.
  • The translucency used by some parts of the UI has to be seen in person to be fully appreciated.
  • Everyone who doesn’t have one is going to want one (even if they don’t know it yet).
  • I love having OS X in my pocket. 😉
  • Safari is incredible.
  • Google Reader finally has a decent mobile implementation and it has nothing to do with Google Reader. 😛
  • It’s got a phone!

Oh, and one last piece of advice for Motorola, Nokia, and Samsung: bow out gracefully.

Niggling complaints to follow.

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