I had Blackberry for about five years and loved it. It worked fine but when I got a notice from Sprint that I was eligible for an upgrade I did a bit of research online and decided that I needed to try something else.
The Blackberry, while sturdy, stable, and functional for things like texting, e-mail and as a phone, seems like old school technology. The web browser is nearly worthless by today's standards and it didn't have the best transmitter / receiver in the world. The Sprint wireless signal in my apartment is pretty weak and in about half of the apartment it dropped calls. For example, I could never sit on the toilet and talk on the phone because it didn't work in there. (Yes, I'm one of those people).
I got my iPhone last Wednesday (an iPhone 5) and Anthony got one yesterday.
A little review: I like some parts of the device, and some I don't.
The good: It works lightning fast (especially in comparison to the Blackberry), it functions sufficiently on a 3G network (Tucson isn't scheduled to become a 4G market for Sprint until late this year according to the customer service rep that helped me at the store last Wednesday), it works wonderfully on Wi-fi, and Twitter and Facebook are amazing on the iPhone. Sprint offers unlimited data so my bill each month should be about the same as it was before.
The bad: I can't make and send my own ringtones to myself easily like I did on the Blackberry (supposedly there are a couple of apps that do a workaround and I have yet to dive into that), the virtual keyboard sucks (although I'm getting better at using it, but it still sucks), it's bigger (not sure that I like that but it still fits into my front pocket), it's highway robbery to buy a case for it that will do an ounce of good (like being water or shock resistant... it was $80.00), and you have to manage any music, photos, or most any other content through the hideous iTunes store / app. In fact, I downloaded the latest version of iTunes to my laptop when I brought the phone home and it's the worst software update they've ever done.
I understand that there are certain ways the phone works to make sure that Apple makes more money off of me now that I own the device. But, the experience is kind of like going to a really fancy hotel. They charge you ridiculous prices for everything when a Super 8 with free wi-fi and a continental breakfast functions just as well and doesn't cost very much.
I do have one way to combat that: I don't listen to music on the phone. So, since I rarely buy or download music online it won't get expensive to have it and it won't be time consuming to manage it. As long as the internet works well, Twitter and Facebook are awesome, and texting and the phone are good, I'll consider it a good purchase.
The neatest thing I've found on the iPhone so far: The ability to do video calls with Facetime and / or Skype. That takes having a phone to a whole new level. One other thing I've really liked about it is that it is easy to take photos and Tweet or Facebook them super fast. The camera on the phone works pretty well, even if it is only 8 megapixels (in comparison, my point and shoot digital cameras are 16 and 18 megapixel so it is a much lower resolution).
So, I'm an iPhone owner. I'll try not to be annoying.
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| Jorge at the Sprint store at Broadway and Craycroft in Tucson helps Anthony acquire his new iPhone. The funniest moment of this transaction: I was joking around with Jorge about water resistant cases for the phone and he accidentally knocked over some water underneath the desk he's sitting at. I'll bet I found it funnier than Jorge did. |