My rationale for wanting an iPhone

Over in the comments section of Beerorkid.com Mr. T had asked “What was your thought process behind your decision to buy one? I am always interested in hearing about the rationale behind consumer choices for big investments, particularly things like iPhones which are expensive investments, albeit nice ones.

I had started typing up a response, but it quickly became a short essay, so I decided it would be easier (and give me some content, woohoo!) to respond here. ‘Cuz that’s what blogs are for. My answer begins below:

The iPhone is awesome. But I suppose that’s not enough detail, so I’ll go on. Before I had got an iPhone, before there was even an announcement of making an iPhone, I had been wanting a PDA. Something that I can carry with me, that I can check email, take notes, and browse the internet on. I have had a laptop since 2004, but a laptop isn’t always convenient or practical to carry around, so I wanted something portable enough to fit in my pocket. But between an iPod, a cell phone, and a PDA, that’s a lot of pocket space. Then the iPhone came along. And you know what? It made me a fan of convergent tech.

The big seller for me on the phone isn’t the iPod functionality. I rarely use it, to be honest. When I’m driving in my car or working, I normally listen to my 80 gigabyte iPod, just because it contains my entire collection. The only time I listen to music in phone is if I’m doing some shopping, I might occasionally pocket my earbuds and listen off the phone, just to kind of tune out the rest of the world while I shop. For me, the high point of the iPhone is that it is both a phone and a portable internet browser and email device. I love that.

I can check email pretty much where ever I am, so I’m up to date on what’s going on with work, with blogs, or whatever else I may be into. Let’s say I’m with some friends at a bar or whatever, and someone says, hey guys, let’s go to a movie. Perfect, I pull out my phone, check the local theater chain’s website for movies and times and boom, we’re ready. Need to find somewhere? I can check google maps and get directions from my current local. I can even search for nearby businesses, if I want to find, say, the closest Chinese restaurant. Want to make tentative plans for next week? I can check iCal and pencil you in. It’s perfect for everything I want in a portable device.

There are some caveats though. The internet isn’t as fast as I would like. But to be honest, I’m just happy to have internet where ever I go. The camera isn’t that great. If you’ve got plenty of bright light it works awesome. But anything less than perfect lighting and it’s pretty subpar. I end up throwing away a lot of pictures I take. And every now and then (but not too often) I have to reboot my phone. Which is still an alien concept to a lot of people, but let’s face it, this isn’t a phone, it’s a very compact computer which just happens to have cellular capabilities.

And you know what, nearly a year later, I still love my phone. It fits into my life wonderfully. And even though the phone has been available for just over a year, chicks still dig it

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