LOVE IT: iPhone

I WANT AN iPHONE!!!!! I admit that I have a somewhat unhealthy obsession with Apple products. It's not a bad obsession to have, but it's definitely not a cheap obsession!! (Come to think of it, most of the things I'm obsessed with aren't cheap... perhaps that's why they're an obsession- because I can't readily have them all the time?? Hmmm.. deep thoughts.) To top it off, my husband is actually more obsessed than I am- regularly scouting Mac rumor sites. For us, the MacWorld Keynote is just as, if not more, important than the Presidential Address (sorry prez, you're losing your street cred.)



One of the first little signs that Alex and I clicked so well together, was during our VERY first encounter in the music technology lab at OU. I poked my head in the door, saw the Mac computers and said, "YES! I LOVE MACS!" Then, when we went to get each other's email address (notice I didn't say phone number), we pulled out the EXACT same Handspring Visor PDA (which was available in like 5 different colors). Who knew that being compatible on the geeky tech level would be so endearing?! Some people have favorite cult movies - we have computers. ;-)

Our household is already a shrine to Apple-made products. We have a G4 PowerMac, PowerBook, iMac, MacBook, 2 iPods, Shuffle, 2 Airport Express Stations, 2 iSights, and I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting... but you get the idea. If it's a breakthrough technology made by Mac- we probably have it laying around somewhere. So, last month, when it was time to look for a new cell phone and cell phone plan, we decided to wait until the MacWorld Keynote to see if the iPhone rumors were true before purchasing anything pre-emptively. Alex's cell phone looks sooo ghetto right now because he's got the battery strapped on with clear packaging tape, but you can bet he'll keep using it like that until he gets the iPhone in June!! For a while there, we were thinking about switching to Verizon because I loved the Chocolat and Envy phones, but a rumor that Mac had partnered with Cingular kept me holding on for the announcement of the iPhone. I used to sell cell phones for CenturyTel, back when cell phones were still a novelty for the wealthy, so I know a lot of the deep seeded weaknesses and strengths of the top 3 companies. I like Cingular the most because it uses the WORLD standard GSM. Which means that when you go to Europe or Asia, you can actually just purchase a pre-paid sim card to slip into your regular phone, rather than getting a whole new phone... plus, Cingular really does have the best service and business philosophy (IMHO).

I'm a huge fan of becoming a paperless office. I try to do as much as possible through email with .pdf files and image files in order to preserve more of our green resources (have you noticed my *subtle* love of trees and all things green?) I don't even have a fax machine anymore because I've figured out a way to send and receive faxes by email - which is the so awesome when you're dealing with contracts. One of the things that has really hindered me from being a completely paperless office has been not being able to view my contracts when I'm away from the office, unless I load them to my laptop and take my laptop with me, or carry them around on paper in a binder. What makes the iPhone cooler than anything else out there, is that it's more like a handheld computer than a phone. So, I can be on the phone with someone, check my email to receive their fax while I'm on the phone, and then instantly pull up their faxed contract paperlessly and wirelessly while I'm on the road (side of the road, that is - driving and reading don't mix) and process their credit transaction right then and there, all online, no wires, no papers, while they are still on the phone. How sweet is THAT?! This is also a great thing to have in an emergency situation on the job, because I would be able to post a message on a message board and get a ton of people to help me at once rather than trying to call a bunch of individuals- that alone makes it worth the $499 price tag. It doesn't seem like it will have GPS support in its first generation, but it does have Google Maps support - which is all I really need for now. I'm sure that future versions will include a location tracking feature as well as video phone features (yep, write those predictions down folks!)

When my last PDA busted, I didn't replace it because I couldn't find any breakthrough products that I really liked, but I still held onto my Palm Desktop software to organize all of the information. When Apple released their version of iCal which automatically syncronizes calendars with people you've subscribed to, I decided it was time to transfer all of my information into the Mac address book & iCal, and now I'm soooo glad I did, because it will wirelessly syncronize with the iPhone - so that if I make changes to my schedule on the phone, it will change the schedule on my computer, which will also change the schedule on all of my subscribed calendars across the world. Can we say, "BOO-YAH!!!!!"? Like I said before, the iPhone is soooo much more than a phone. You have to watch the presentation for yourself to really understand how powerful this thing is!!

Man, I could seriously go on FOREVER because I'm soooooo excited about this!!! As a side note, my husband is drooling over the iTV, so that it will be easier to have YouTube parties on the big screen. I kid you not... a bunch of us, sitting around our big screen, watching our favorite YouTube finds... yes, we are big time geeks! Speaking of YouTube.. check out the new iPhone features in this YouTube video. The little white dots you see on the screen are finger touches. The multi-touch technology is what makes this software beyond amazing.



OK, I PROMISE that my next post will include pictures of the wonderful people who help support all of my geeky habits!!! I'm just still overcome with joy about the whole iPhone thing!! Why do I have to wait until JUNE?!?!?!?!