iPhone Bleg
My boss is retiring this week. I have been offerred his 8g iPhone 3G.
Any thoughts? I know the newest and latest is a 3GS – but that’s not in the cards.
Currently, I have a blackberry curve on Verizon. I use it A LOT for email, for web surfing, for remote wireless internet access and as a phone.
I travel a fair amount. And travel a lot to the midwest and generally rural agricultural areas.
Any thoughts on making the switch? Should I? Or not? What will I like and dislike??
UPDATE
Turns out I’m not getting his iPhone. Its going to someone else on our staff. Instead, the other lawyer who does lots of international travel is going to get a new 3GS and I’m getting his 16gb 3G.
So, that begs the follow up question . . . . which apps are essential??
And how many can I fit on a 16g phone?? Also, is it large enough to hold a movie?
Update
I am iPhone boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just waiting for tech support to finish up!
14 comments »
Copy link for RSS feed for comments on this post or for TrackBack URI
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
You get a friggin’ compass with the 3GS. You won’t miss a thing with the 3G.
Comment by Robb Allen — September 15, 2009 @ 2:46 pm
safe to assume its easier to blog from a 3G than a blackberry?
Comment by Countertop — September 15, 2009 @ 3:18 pm
IMO, the iPhone is more a handheld computer that can do, among other things, email, whereas the Blackberry is more an email appliance with other functions.
3GS has a compass, does video, much better still camera, and is much faster/snappier in everyday use. I would have one but I’ve been spending the money on firearms related purchases. I would also recommend more than 8gb if you ever want to use turn-by-turn navigation apps like TomTom, since they are all multi-gigabyte apps, and will leave you little room for tunes or videos.
iPhones have a far superior web browser to all but some of the most recent Blackberries.
For blogging on the iPhone, applications exist:
http://mashable.com/2008/07/24/iphone-blogging/
http://www.blogherald.com/2008/08/13/iphone-blogging-apps-the-good-the-bad-and-the-buggy/
http://www.sixapart.com/blog/2008/06/bringing-great-blogging-tools.html
Note that the articles are a little old, but it gives you a starting point to find out what’s out there.
As for email, Blackberry email is probably better but my mobile use has never been that email-centric so I can’t say much more than that iPhone push email works with MobileMe, Yahoo!, and MS Exchange.
Finally, as for coverage, I have noticed an improvement now that AT&T has rolled out 850MHz spectrum around me, it wasn’t great before. When I went to Southern Utah/Northern Arizona last year coverage wasn’t great, but then again I was in the middle of nowhere.
Comment by Mike — September 15, 2009 @ 3:29 pm
Some people claim email is better on the Blackberry. I’ve used both and I much prefer the iPhone. The biggest problem with the iPhone is the lousy AT&T coverage and AT&T in general. If you travel in rural areas you’ll probably have coverage issues.
Comment by alan — September 15, 2009 @ 3:48 pm
Thanks.
Right now I use the blackberry as my primary telephone (I take a ton of calls on it) and a ton of email. Today I sent out 79 emails and recieved 298 (so far).
I also use it for my calendar. And do a ton of browsing. I don’t need it as a compass or a turn by turn GPS – though I could see where that might be handy on a rare occasion, but really just the access to google maps or mapquest will get me there (I have a pretty good sense of direction and don’t ever get lost).
Also, by middle of nowhere – I travel a lot to the midwest. Western Minnesota, all over Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Central Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, and throughout the South East – North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama Tennessee. Occasionally to Montana and Colorado (the plains, not mountains unfortunately)
Comment by Countertop — September 15, 2009 @ 8:26 pm
[...] Countertop has an iPhone bleg. I’ve been using PDA’s for a while now, the first being a Newton, then through the Graffiti years with Palm, onto the Treo, through the age of Windows Mobile and to the age of the Blackberry. Most of them I’ve found crippled in one way or another, but I think Apple pretty much nailed what the smart phone ought to be with the iPhone. But not all is rosy. Here’s my impression about what the iPhone beats the Blackberry on: [...]
Pingback by Snowflakes in Hell » Blog Archive » You’ll Like It! — September 16, 2009 @ 9:48 am
I’ve had 3 Blackberries in the past, and I loves me my iPhone (Caveat: I am also a stark raving mad Apple fanboy).
The browser is flat out incredible, and the range of apps is great (including a free shot-timer app from Surefire). Typing does take a little getting used to without the keyboard. I can do 78-80% of my job from my iPhone, something I couldn’t do on a Crackberry.
Comment by ExurbanKevin — September 16, 2009 @ 12:29 pm
I have an Iphone 3G that I use in Southern Indiana. If you can keep to 3G coverage areas (goodluck with that mission), you’ll have no issues.
For some unknown reason yesterday, the ATT 3G network was down, so everyone I know with the Iphone was on the Edge network. It wouldn’t let us do a bunch of stuff that we are used to doing.
My coverage gets spotty when I get outside of Evansville or the immediately surrounding areas. It seems like the river into IL is a definite barrier. The voice and Edge coverage isn’t perfect, however, it’s usually enough to pick up a phone call or an email message.
If you have any specific questions, feel free to shoot me an email and ask.
–Jim
Comment by Jim (firefighter4884) — September 16, 2009 @ 5:22 pm
I’ve never had a problem doing anything on EDGE with my iPhone… it’s just slower.
I have no direct BB experince, but the consensus appears to be that the iPhone is probably better for everything except the hardest-core email addicts; the iPhone’s email capabilities are more than adequate, but it’s BB’s bread and butter.
Comment by Sigivald — September 17, 2009 @ 3:54 pm
Jim, Sigvald –
please explain more. How is the phone impacted if your no in a 3G network? Do the apps not work?? Does the internet not work? Can it still receive email??
Comment by Countertop — September 17, 2009 @ 9:49 pm
Regarding last two questions “a lot” and “yes”.
Essential apps depends entirely on your desires and needs. The App Store “top rated” is a good thing to look through.
Comment by Sigivald — September 22, 2009 @ 4:37 pm
Countertop: If you’re in an EDGE network, the network is slower. That’s it; everything still works, just not as fast.
If you’re on a non-digital network, I’m not sure it works at all (might be able to make 911 calls, not sure), but, well, you’re screwed with any modern phone for networking at that rate.
Comment by Sigivald — September 22, 2009 @ 4:39 pm
[...] not sure if the ruling is good law or how likely this is to stand on appeal. Paging Instapundit, Countertop, and [...]
Pingback by Kansas Supremes ruling could invalidate foreclosures on 60 million mortgages | Les Jones — September 22, 2009 @ 8:36 pm
I just saw on KenRockwell.com that some big shot photographer just published a book of photos taken with the iPhone. Sounds pretty cool.
http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2009/09/best-camera-iphone-app-book-community.html
P.S. I just posted something on my site that could use your legal opinion. Check it out.
Comment by Les Jones — September 22, 2009 @ 8:42 pm