o delicious iphone how I desire you
I’ve been wrestling with a difficult question lately: Should I try to get an iphone? Though my v3 razr is sleek and sexy (and red. I’m quite fond of red) the iphone is the new hotness. I have a feeling that many early adopters do not pay out of pocket for the latest gadgets–they can expense it as part of their job, or perhaps they are sufficiently connected to receive them gratis.
Advertising: it helps me decide
What is it about this toy that I find so hard to resist? Apple products are beautifully designed and I would expect no less of the iphone. The excitement of my peers reinforces my desire. Perhaps I need to remove myself from the geekfest in order to get a clearer perspective. The phone is just so very shiny.
I snobbishly look down on LV bags and comically expensive jeans. The label on my pants does not define who I am, and yet the labels on my gadgets do? Do they? No, I don’t think so but that’s what advertising is designed to make you believe. I’m loyal to brands that have proven results, though those slick commercials certainly don’t hurt. The real problem is that I’m a young, techy apple-product loving professional. Hello disposable income. After all, I am going to spend the money anyway on something that I don’t actually need.
The economics of it all
How much value does an iphone provide versus the value of some other product? Ignoring monthly cost (since I have to pay that anyway) alternative purchases include:
day trip to the wine country including massages, booze and food
tix to the black and white ball (which was, for whatever reason, not held this year)
welding class
Donating to charity is not an option since it’s already a line-item in my budget and therefore not a part of play-money. I have trouble assigning value to each item because utility changes over time and the function is not constant. One could argue that I don’t need to buy any of these things. I could contribute the money to something practical, like 401k. Yawn. There is so little fun in pragmatism. My rash and youthful mind knows that I will not make these impulse buys when I have those dreadful-sounding responsibilities. I ought to enjoy my freedom now.
Reality check
I don’t even know if I want to be that connected to the internet. Will people start to expect immediate response from me? I’ve watched my addict-friends start to twitch if they don’t check their email for 5 minutes. I’ve rolled my eyes when they stop conversation in order to verify a fact. I’ve been annoyed by slow walking as a direct result of furious keyboard punching. On the other hand GPS would be quite handy for someone with such a knack for getting lost.
After all this musing, I still don’t know what I want. I do not want to do nothing (that does not count as making a decision) and I do not want to half-attempt to procure an iphone and fail. Is anyone else having a similar dilemma?
I hear ya!
Being constantly connected at that kind of level could drive you crazy, or at least everyone around you! Kinda like a well-designed and pretty crackberry.
Also I dont think the iPhone has gps, it knows you area via the phone extenstion of the area that it is in.
As much as the iPhone is going to be the ultimate geek must-have this year and everyone is going to want one, including me, but for me I dont think i justify spending that much on a phone.
For me, mobiles usually have to be near-disposable since I have them with my all the time and they are the gadget most likely to get dropped, broken, lost or stolen so damage-protection is key and the cheaper the phone the better.
Saying that i do love having gmail on my phone :)
Either way i’d hold off for a couple weeks just to see what the general reaction is and if it might be better to wait for the first revision.
(plus i’d be so jealous if you get one!)
June 10th, 2007 at 10:09 am
I’ve been trying to budget myself better this year, so I’ve been looking at what I spend my money on, but also what I lose interest in quickly. ie., what kinds of things I re-sell or take to goodwill after less than 2 months. I was surprised at the results. Since then I’ve been trying to focus on quality - getting things that I’ll keep and use for a while, and that will stand up to the abuse I can put them through. If you haven’t already, you might look at your spending habits the same way.
Otherwise, if you really want the iphone, I say “go for it.” It’s hard to gage the impact tech will have on your life until you try it. If the glee wears off, you can always sell it to someone else and get some of your money back.
Heck, you could become a freelance tech reviewer, and write it off as an expense that way. :)
Karen + youtube + imac + iphone + blog? the mind boggles.
$0.02 ;)
June 10th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
The iPhone does look lovely. I can speak a bit to what it’s like carrying a smartphone, since I’ve had a Treo 650 for nearly two years now. I have not found that people suddenly expected me to be online all the time. I have found that checking e-mail anytime, anywhere is a bit addictive…but it has been quite useful at times, too. In particular, there have been a couple of instances where I’ve been on the way to a meeting and picked up an important update via phone e-mail. It hasn’t driven me crazy.
Web browsing on my Treo is kind of barely functional, since it only supports ~70Kbps connections. I mainly use it to check livejournal and order movie tickets. (There was one instance where I used it to bypass a long Southwest Airlines line by ordering tix from the website in the terminal, then going to the auto-checkin kiosk.) Newer Treos or the iPhone would be better here. Also, are we sure the iPhone does not have GPS? I was under the impression that all new phones had to have some kind of GPS for 911 calls. Whether you and I will ever get to see it is a different question.
Oh, also, I couldn’t stand texting on my old phone’s keyboard. The full keyboard on the Treo makes it a breeze. I imagine the iPhone would be similar. That has had some unexpected implications, like, suddenly people are more reachable now. :)
My main concern with the iPhone is one-handed operation. I can check e-mail perfectly well using just one hand on my Treo. Much of this is from the keyboard, which has raised buttons. The iPhone touch screen may not work as well. I’m looking forward to trying it.
In my case, I’ll hold off until September, because that’s when my contract with Sprint is up. Then I’ll look and see if the iPhone is worth jumping ship to AT&T.
June 10th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
I am so glad I’m not the only geek wrestling with whether or not they want to part with this kind of cash for the iphone. I want one bad, but how long can I wait to get it? I decided that if I ebay off my current ipod and possibly a psp I don’t use that I may get half way there. That’s my plan so far…
June 11th, 2007 at 2:36 am
Personally, I’ll never pay more for $200 for a phone. Before I bought the 8800 I wrestled with whether I should wait for the iPhone, but truth be told I’d rather wait a year for the price to drop.
And being constantly connected it’s all that great. Granted I need to be for work, but I’ve annoyed my friends may times by checking email, messing with facebook mobile, and so on. I do like the GPS though.
June 11th, 2007 at 3:09 am
@andrew* holding off for a few weeks is a less than ideal plan–i have basically 2 weeks to decide if I want to stop dating Sprint. I’ve had a lot of bill problems with them and I have a chance to break the contract with no fee. If I do get one, at least you know that nobody in Europe can get one yet :)
@jen if only I could make money doing that. Budgeting would be a good exersize. I tend to spend money on experiences, though, which is a lot harder to quantify. I guess I can try puting a number on how much it enriched my life in comparison to other events. I should see where I spend my money anyway, since I don’t actually know.
@david. thank you for your insight. I am also concerned that it might not be easy to use the iphone with one hand. In addition, I think it would be harder to type messages when I’m not looking because I’d have no tactile clues.
@frank i was thinking of selling my soul. Do you think that will work? I also have caramel lotion and altoid chewing gum. Maybe I should start ebaying stuff…
@morgan do you think the price will drop much? Their stuff just doesn’t seem to loose market value that that quickly. I’ve never paid that much for a phone, but I’ve purchased several cameras for more. It seems like it’s not completely outrageous considering I use a phone every day.
Thanks for leaving feedback guys!
June 12th, 2007 at 12:46 am
buy the iphone are you crazy? you are crazy not to buy the iphone. it feels like xmas falls on june 29 and santa ditched his red and white for black and denim. it is a revolutionary device - don’t you want to be part of the revolution?
June 26th, 2007 at 8:17 am
What I want to know is, where does the guy who is holding the iPhone in all the pictures get his hands manicured ? Seriously - those are the best taken care male hands I ‘ve seen.
June 29th, 2007 at 4:14 am
@brian. I am crazy, but I earn that without getting the iphone. I agree that it’s a revolutionary device–I’m just waiting for gen2. The guinea pigs can test it out first. I still want to lick yours. The one at the apple store is too dirty. :p
@michael He is a hand model after all. I like nice hands.
July 6th, 2007 at 7:09 am