I've had PDA's, minidiscs, mp3 players, laptops, mini-laptops, micro-laptops, iPods, more iPods, GPS devices... the list goes on and on. One thing I would say in my defense is that I have one golden rule - these gadgets must be of use to me. So, if you were to interrogate my gadget-laden life, you would find that I will productively use these gadgets to the best of their design. Some used to carry PDA's as an odd sort of status symbol - mine was (in no particular order) an Internet 'phone, a remote control for my house, and of course my mobile email solution back in the days when there were no "hotspots" but there were lots of wireless networks...
The one manufacturer I avoided for some time was Apple. The iPod now is basically THE portable music/video player of choice, but I was always concerned about the approach to control of that music - the Digital Rights Management (DRM) debacle that essentially locked "your" music to "your" single device. To me, this seemed (and still seems) draconian and pointless. I can see the arguement from the artists point-of-view, but DRM was never about artists rights, it was all about the recording industry. In the end however, and shortly following the demise of my beloved iRiver mp3 player (20Gb, with a remote controller, 20 hours battery life and NO DRM! Best $500.00 I ever spent!), I succumbed to the pressure and purchased my first iPod in 2005. I love it and never leave home without it. It's simple design and functionality is exceptional and the video - which I initially wrote off as ridiculous - is great, no better way to effectively shorten a long boring trip on train/plane.
So it is that I have succumbed again, after avoiding the iPhone for a year (a whole year!) I purchased the latest iteration last Saturday... and I hate it.
Here's why:
* It's beautiful - so beautiful in fact, that you feel a desire to protect it against scratches... so you cover it up in ugly cases to ensure it won't be damaged, thus you never see it's beauty!
* It's a power-sucker - I fully discharged, re-charged, discharged (etc - thanks Dave!) fully four times to ensure that the battery would be conditioned... and the best I can get out of it is 18 hours! And I haven't yet spent ANY significant time on the 'phone!
* It's Apps are irrelevent - in the end... of course they are. Widgets are lovely eye candy, most people (including me) have them all over their desktop... but really, is it necessary to have weather reports on one's 'phone? Really? News readers are good, but again, I have Internet, do I need to know which celebrity is doing what rubbish to the minute?
* Did I mention it's a power-sucker? - I mean SERIOUSLY! I recently googled "iPhone Battery Life" and found a number of really useful articles, all of which essentially say this: "Maximise power life by turning OFF 3G, turn down the screen brightness, turn OFF wireless, turn OFF Bluetooth, DON'T play music/video, DON'T use the 'phone too much, and mostly KEEP THE DEVICE LOCKED!! Serious articles...
So here I am, looking at my shiny (I think - it's hidden in a case) iPhone, pondering what use it is given that it's lost fully 30% of it's power since I took it off charge this morning (4 hours ago). I've found a battery extender which handily clips on the back of the iPhone, adding double the bulk to the device and detracting from it's loveliness...
So why did I buy it? The hype, and nothing but the hype I hate to say. It's a nice little game player - Oscar will love it! - but then again, I dare not actually play any games because they tend to chew up the most amount of battery life and then I won't be able to take any calls... maybe I should buy a "normal" 'phone as a back-up but wait a minute... doesn't that defeat the object..?
