iPhone - Official Thread

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bacondouble said:
Are the features of an iphone enough in themselves to justify the price, even if i dont use it that often to phone and text or should i just get an ipod touch. Apart from the camera/video and calling/texting ability,what else can the iphone do that the ipod touch cant.
How much do you use your phone? I know you said not much.
Do you feel the need for "internet on the go"?

If you really use a phone very little, and already have a cheap plan, AND you don't see yourself using internet in non-wifi spots, a Touch would be good.
 
bacondouble said:
Are the features of an iphone enough in themselves to justify the price, even if i dont use it that often to phone and text or should i just get an ipod touch. Apart from the camera/video and calling/texting ability,what else can the iphone do that the ipod touch cant.

INTERNET EVERYWHERE.

Seriously. I have an unlocked iPhone, and using T-mobile, so I only get a smattering of this power. It's the single reason why Apple insisted on a forced unlimited data plan on users - so that people will experience internet accessibility at all times.

The power of this cannot be overstated. Anytime, you can check out where you're going, how to get there, what will be there. You're always in contact throughout all your social networks, be it facebook, twitter, email, sms, phone calls. Why do you think the iPhone is the number one camera on FlickR? It's not because it's the best camera, nor that many people have one - it's because it's easy to use and it's always there. Same with the internet.

The internet just works as you'd expect it to, so it gets used. A device like the iPhone will change your life more so than an iPod touch, which is basically just a toy.

To think that the iPhone is just a collection of services and technology (new or old) misses the point. It's how it's incorporated and how it is used that makes it amazing.
 
mrkgoo said:
INTERNET EVERYWHERE.
I started with T-Mobile too before signing on with AT&T shortly after the 3G was released.

Pocket internet is worth the price to me.
I never realized how much I'd use and benefit from it.
 
dallow_bg said:
I started with T-Mobile too before signing on with AT&T shortly after the 3G was released.

Pocket internet is worth the price to me.
I never realized how much I'd use and benefit from it.

It's seriously about as life changing as getting a cellphone in the first place. Obviously, we all used to live without cellphones, so it's not a necessary thing. But oh, the convenience. I never got the people who took pride in waiting ages to get a cellphone, or those that don't have one. Nothing against not owning one if you don't need it, but to take pride?

It's like being proud of not having a wristwatch - it's not about pride or shame. It's something you have or you don't. (I don't have a wristwatch).

Anyway, the common argument for cellphones was, "Oh I don't want to be accessible 24-7." Which is not how cellphones are really used anyway. In fact the biggest advantage with cellphones is actually for communicating with people who are in your group already, say when you go out, and you need to co-ordinate where to meet up. How much time have we actually saved by notifying people we will be there in a few minutes, or that we're actually just waiting around the corner?

I digress. Internet everywhere is just as useful as getting personal mobile telecommunications for the first time. You see the price of something at a store, and you wonder about whether it's cheaper elsewhere. No more making a mental note to check later - just look up amazon right there. Reviews for movies, games, books to see some other opinions. Finding a place to eat or finding a particular place that is open. Killing some time on GAF. It's all part of the INTERNET EVERYWHERE experience.

Of course it's not necessary, but that doesn't mean it can't change how you go aout your daily life.
 
I just got mine today and boy...so awesome.


I got a metro app that looks for the nearest metro station from my locatin and then it passes the info to maps in order to know how to arrive to the station.

That was an unexpected awesomess for me. Never again I'll end up lost anywhere again :lol
 
mrkgoo said:
INTERNET EVERYWHERE.

Seriously. I have an unlocked iPhone, and using T-mobile, so I only get a smattering of this power. It's the single reason why Apple insisted on a forced unlimited data plan on users - so that people will experience internet accessibility at all times.

The power of this cannot be overstated. Anytime, you can check out where you're going, how to get there, what will be there. You're always in contact throughout all your social networks, be it facebook, twitter, email, sms, phone calls. Why do you think the iPhone is the number one camera on FlickR? It's not because it's the best camera, nor that many people have one - it's because it's easy to use and it's always there. Same with the internet.

The internet just works as you'd expect it to, so it gets used. A device like the iPhone will change your life more so than an iPod touch, which is basically just a toy.

To think that the iPhone is just a collection of services and technology (new or old) misses the point. It's how it's incorporated and how it is used that makes it amazing.

I remember when the iPhone was introduced at Macworld and Jobs is giving the spiel and he says we have THREE breakthrough products.

I remember the audience reactions clearly..


-------


It's a widescreen ipod with touch controls

HUGE APPLAUSE

A revolutionary mobile phone


THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE, FANBOY PANTS ARE SOILED

and a breakthrough Internet communicator


mild, polite smattering of hands.


------

that always cracks me up. typical macworld crowd reaction

meanwhile, in actual usage, the internet-on-the-go part of the phone is the part I use the most. And it's the key focus of every new smartphone, to the point of being the very core of the palm OS.
 
LCfiner said:
I remember when the iPhone was introduced at Macworld and Jobs is giving the spiel and he says we have THREE breakthrough products.

I remember the audience reactions clearly..


-------


It's a widescreen ipod with touch controls

HUGE APPLAUSE

A revolutionary mobile phone


THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE, FANBOY PANTS ARE SOILED

and breakthrough Internet communicator


mild, polite smattering of hands.


------

that always cracks me up. typical macworld crowd reaction

meanwhile, in actual usage, the internet-on-the-go part of the phone is the part I use the most. And it's the key focus of every new smartphone, to the point of being the very core of the palm OS.

I remember that :lol

It's understandable, though. The reaction to the phone announcement was not so much that the phone was amazing (people hadn't seen it at that stage), but more a reaction of the announcement itself - a phone was a new foray for Apple. And the polite golf clap for internet communicator was a mere "WTF is an internet communicator?".
 
TheExecutive said:
So how terrible is the AT&T service? I have heard some horror stories and am considering getting an iphone. Anyone have any wisdom they would like to share?


Its not horrible. Some people are way over dramatic about it. That's not to say that AT&T service is without issues though. Sometimes you can have max bars and still drop a call. There are some dead zones where you will walk/drive through and the call will drop as well. 3G service is available in most places and highways and its quite speedy. So while you will have the occasional issue from time to time, don't believe the drama queens - its not the worst thing in the world... it just has some issues in some places (New York) that similar services don't have.

In Denver (I pass through there occasionally) I have had absolutely no issues.
 
The AT&T service is great so long as you don't mind your phone not ringing when people try to call you, calls dropping when they do actually get through, and internet coverage dead zones in the middle of major metropolitan areas.
 
Gary Whitta said:
The AT&T service is great so long as you don't mind your phone not ringing when people try to call you, calls dropping when they do actually get through, and internet coverage dead zones in the middle of major metropolitan areas.

AGREED. You forgot to mention the miracle voicemails that pop up hours after you missed the call.

I was getting NO SERVICE in my apartment on the North side of Chicago yesterday. For whatever reason my block generally only gets EDGE, but lately it's been so bad that I have to stick my head out the goddamn window when I need to make a call.

I think the only people who don't complain about AT&T's network don't have to travel a lot and are lucky enough to live in one of the better-covered areas.
 
At&t's level of suck varies. Some people say it's horrible,
others say it's good. Best way to find out is to give it a shot. I was worried about switching over to At&t, but I'm satisfied with the service.
 
reggieandTFE said:
AGREED. You forgot to mention the miracle voicemails that pop up hours after you missed the call.

I was getting NO SERVICE in my apartment on the North side of Chicago yesterday. For whatever reason my block generally only gets EDGE, but lately it's been so bad that I have to stick my head out the goddamn window when I need to make a call.

I think the only people who don't complain about AT&T's network don't have to travel a lot and are lucky enough to live in one of the better-covered areas.

It's all relative though. No matter how frustrating AT&T is, T-Mobile and Sprint have typically been worse wherever I've been. Verizon's way, way, way, way, way better in most of the country, mind you, but they don't have any cool phones. If that's a big deal (it was to me, since I'd rather have a cool toy than anything else, given how few friends or business contacts I have), go AT&T. Otherwise, Verizon's usually the way to go.

But they're all pretty unscrupulous and overpriced, so the point is somewhat moot.
 
dallow_bg said:
I started with T-Mobile too before signing on with AT&T shortly after the 3G was released.

Pocket internet is worth the price to me.
I never realized how much I'd use and benefit from it.


Yea I am the same way. apps like fandango and flixter will get rid of calling up for movie times.
 
are there any apps, jailbroken or not, you guys use to send text messages?
 
Speaking of the iPhone unveiling, remember when Jobs was discussing the multi-touch technology, and he said (with the words on screen) "You bet we patented it".

But now every device seems to have 'multitouch' technology. Are they licensing it from Apple or did the patent not hold up or what ?
 
Burger said:
Speaking of the iPhone unveiling, remember when Jobs was discussing the multi-touch technology, and he said (with the words on screen) "You bet we patented it".

But now every device seems to have 'multitouch' technology. Are they licensing it from Apple or did the patent not hold up or what ?

Which devices have multitouch? Possibly they have used them under license. I think possibly Apple was referring to gestures and pinches and stuff - I believe there's actually some daggered stares pointed at Palm.

mattiewheels said:
are there any apps, jailbroken or not, you guys use to send text messages?

I just use the default iPhone app.
 
Has anyone heard or read anything about att charging people for using the tethering on the iphones? I installed the thing that lets me use the tethering through usb on the 3gs, and am using it right now...
 
I'd love to get a 3gs on AT&T but I just refuse to pay that much for service. For the plan I'd want I'd pay over 100/mo after taxes. A similar plan anywhere else is just so much cheaper.....
 
Gary Whitta said:
The AT&T service is great so long as you don't mind your phone not ringing when people try to call you, calls dropping when they do actually get through, and internet coverage dead zones in the middle of major metropolitan areas.


Quit being so dramatic, its not like you are waiting for an important phone call from some Hollywood producer or something. ;)
 
neojubei said:
I use textplus.
cool. i just got my 32gb this morning, syncing it for the first time now...!

a nice free sms program would be fantastic...since i feel like my 30 data plan should include texts. could people throw out their total favorite jailbreak apps that they can't live without?
 
mattiewheels said:
a nice free sms program would be fantastic...since i feel like my 30 data plan should include texts.
Google Voice. Have people text your new Google Voice number, have Google Voice e-mail you when you get a new SMS, and use something to push notify new e-mail to you.
 
Liu Kang Baking A Pie said:
Google Voice. Have people text your new Google Voice number, have Google Voice e-mail you when you get a new SMS, and use something to push notify new e-mail to you.
Yeah, this sounds great. Is it still invite-only? If so, does anybody have a spare one?

(posting from neogaf webapp, tee hee)
 
Liu Kang Baking A Pie said:
Google Voice. Have people text your new Google Voice number, have Google Voice e-mail you when you get a new SMS, and use something to push notify new e-mail to you.
How do you get email notifications for GV SMS? I looked for this 2 weeks ago and found a recent thread in the support forum discussing the need for this feature. I still see no such setting.
 
Burger said:
Speaking of the iPhone unveiling, remember when Jobs was discussing the multi-touch technology, and he said (with the words on screen) "You bet we patented it".

But now every device seems to have 'multitouch' technology. Are they licensing it from Apple or did the patent not hold up or what ?

There was a long article about that long ago, but basically Apple doesn't have a patent on multi-touch (no idea why Jobs said that, he was flat-out wrong). The only really novel thing they have covered by patent in the iphone is how it "locks" the display in either a purely horizontal or vertical mode when scrolling based on how your fingers move. For example, if you flick the screen up and down, the screen does not slide left and right, or vice-versa (really useful when zooming in on a webpage and scrolling around to read text).

And yes, there has been rumors of behind-the-scenes conflict between Apple and Palm about the UI and other components, but it goes both ways (Apple is doing a lot of things in the iphone that Palm ostensibly has a patent for). Neither side wants to go to a legal battle though and risk having patents invalidated unless they really need to, so I doubt anything will ever come of it.
 
Soybean said:
How do you get email notifications for GV SMS? I looked for this 2 weeks ago and found a recent thread in the support forum discussing the need for this feature. I still see no such setting.

Looks like people are starting to create scripts to get that type of functionality working. Hopefully an official solution gets created, that would be an amazing feature.
 
Soybean said:
How do you get email notifications for GV SMS? I looked for this 2 weeks ago and found a recent thread in the support forum discussing the need for this feature. I still see no such setting.
You can have Growl monitor your Google Voice, and use Prowl on iPhone to send the notification from your computer to your phone.
 
Is there any APP or anything that makes it possible to text someone in europe from USA? I tried beejive but it just says this phone is unreachable, and in the default text program my texts go through but the person says that they never get them. I'm jailbroke btw if there's a jailbroken app that would help.
 
Spruchy said:
Is there any APP or anything that makes it possible to text someone in europe from USA? I tried beejive but it just says this phone is unreachable, and in the default text program my texts go through but the person says that they never get them. I'm jailbroke btw if there's a jailbroken app that would help.

yeah, it's called e-mail

i keed. idk, never thought about tho. I assumed just typing in the # would work, just as if you're calling them.
 
Hai guys, so I'm picking up a 3G iPhone tonight at the Apple Store and was wondering what the best case that's usually in stock there would be. Nothing TOO expensive, but nothing too chintzy either.

Input from anyone who's picked one up at the Store would be totally rad, dude.
 
BenjaminBirdie said:
Hai guys, so I'm picking up a 3G iPhone tonight at the Apple Store and was wondering what the best case that's usually in stock there would be. Nothing TOO expensive, but nothing too chintzy either.

Input from anyone who's picked one up at the Store would be totally rad, dude.


ditch the case, spend the extra cash on a 3GS.

thank me later.
 
BenjaminBirdie said:
Hai guys, so I'm picking up a 3G iPhone tonight at the Apple Store and was wondering what the best case that's usually in stock there would be. Nothing TOO expensive, but nothing too chintzy either.

Input from anyone who's picked one up at the Store would be totally rad, dude.

Get the 3GS over the 3G.
 
BenjaminBirdie said:
Hai guys, so I'm picking up a 3G iPhone tonight at the Apple Store and was wondering what the best case that's usually in stock there would be. Nothing TOO expensive, but nothing too chintzy either.

Input from anyone who's picked one up at the Store would be totally rad, dude.
seriously dude, get the 3GS.

and if you want a case, go with the iSkin Revo.

http://www.iskin.com/revo2_overview.html
 
LCfiner said:
ditch the case, spend the extra cash on a 3GS.

thank me later.

This.

Also check out the shields like BodyGuardz.
I have one on my 3G and i'm glad i didn't get a case.
Though the green psych case would be awesome :D
 
AS I've said all aalong, there is no point in getting the 3G. The leap from 3g -> 3GS is bigger than the original ->3G.

Come next year, 3G owners will start to feel the pang of obsolescence. It's already beginning. 3.0 is clearly optimal for the 3Gs, and software in the future will be more and more geared towards the new model. Sure, they'll probably run on the old ones, but not that well.

Why save $100 now to feel the need to upgrade in a year? The 3Gs will still feel pretty good for a couple years.
 
It's so weird to see people talking about Internet everywhere like it hasn't existed. I think I've had mobile Internet in some fashion for a decade. The iPhone does do it the best. However, there still isn't an IM system like my OG Sidekick had back in the day. So well integrated.

Anyway, it's true, though, I can't imagine being without Internet at my fingertips anywhere I go. But to see you guys gush about it is hilarious. Welcome to the 21st century, I guess :lol
 
Tobor said:
You mean a deposit for opening up an AT&T account?

I think? All I know is reading all about getting an iPhone and having to pay like a $700 deposit. I went through all the pre-stuff on Apple.com and am just wondering if that would have shown up already of it was a last minute thing they tack on. I already had the monthly rate and the $36 activation fee come up.
 
I think? All I know is reading all about getting an iPhone and having to pay like a $700 deposit. I went through all the pre-stuff on Apple.com and am just wondering if that would have shown up already of it was a last minute thing they tack on. I already had the monthly rate and the $36 activation fee come up.

Also, does the 3GS have comparable battery life, or worse?
 
Bboy AJ said:
It's so weird to see people talking about Internet everywhere like it hasn't existed. I think I've had mobile Internet in some fashion for a decade. The iPhone does do it the best. However, there still isn't an IM system like my OG Sidekick had back in the day. So well integrated.

Anyway, it's true, though, I can't imagine being without Internet at my fingertips anywhere I go. But to see you guys gush about it is hilarious. Welcome to the 21st century, I guess :lol
Can you please elaborate on what kind of mobile Internet you had in 1999?
 
BenjaminBirdie said:
I think? All I know is reading all about getting an iPhone and having to pay like a $700 deposit. I went through all the pre-stuff on Apple.com and am just wondering if that would have shown up already of it was a last minute thing they tack on. I already had the monthly rate and the $36 activation fee come up.

Also, does the 3GS have comparable battery life, or worse?
I'm not 100% sure, but I think there is a deposit required from AT&T for bad credit people. I switched from Sprint and didn't have to pay anything. Are you porting a number over?
 
Tobor said:
I'm not 100% sure, but I think there is a deposit required from AT&T for bad credit people. I switched from Sprint and didn't have to pay anything. Are you porting a number over?

Yes. I'm wondering if anyone had to pay a/the deposit and when it showed up.
 
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