iPhone, I Has One

I finally succumbed. I have put off my iPhone purchase and with an immense effort of will resisted buying the original version. Waited impatiently for the 3G version and snapped one up as soon as they hit the UK. 

I've been an Apple fan since 1987 when a magazine designer friend introduced me to a little ol' Macintosh SE and changed my computing experience for ever. Damn but they do just work. I've never wanted to tinker under the bonnet (hood) but I just wanted an easy access point to all that processing power and Apple has delivered that consistently for the last twenty years. (I left my new SE with my nine year-old daughter for twenty minutes and when I returned she was better with the GUI than I was. Today with eight self penned albums under her belt she's a confirmed Mac addict and all of her writing and most of her recording and production had been done on Macintosh computers. So neither of us needs much convincing when a new Apple product hits the streets.)

I'd toyed with the old iPhone in my local O2 store, loved the interface but put off and put off the purchase waiting for the 3G. I swore I wouldn't indulge in the kind of hysterical enthusiasm that greeted the original iteration in the US. No, I'm British, aloof, above all that early adopter stuff. Eventually when it arrived I could resist no longer. Now, a month and a half down the iPhone route and I couldn't be more pleased. Apple just seem to be able to make technology sexy. It's a beautifully simple interface which just does what you need it to do and then goes the extra distance to make the user experience a pleasure rather than a chore. The Apps Store is brilliant delivering apps to the phone quickly and automatically installing them and a good percentage of them are free. The phone connects and syncs with my desktop Mac seamlessly and without a hitch. The only issue I have at the moment is the battery life which only just lasts a day and I'm by no means a heavy user. But, hey, I'm an Apple fan and I can forgive the meagre battery life. For me the laid back user interface more than makes up for any shortcomings.

The only fly in my ointment is that Steve Jobs. He just too cool the bastard. He's about my age. He has squillions. He always looks relaxed (even if he isn't). He's been responsible for some of the most desirable techno products on the planet and to cap it all he has a more exotic illness than me. I'm just glad he lives on a different continent. I'd never get a shag.