It’s only fitting that I’m writing this post from my iPhone so it will be a bit shorter than normal. But I wanted to both demonstrate the utility my new iPhone has brought me as well as do a quick review of how it has changed my efficiency and flexibility as a blogger, investor and everyday web surfer.
A few weeks ago, my son killed my cell phone with a juice box. While I was initially frustrated by the 2nd major expense he brought us following a toilet/toy combo gone awry, it was actually an opportune time to destroy my phone if one existed. The new 3GS had just launched and I’d been toying with the idea of getting either a blackberry or iPhone. He just expedited the decision for me a bit.
Without going through every spec and new feature, as there are several blogs out there doing that better than I can, I’ll just share a few examples of what it’s done for me given my personal situation.
This week alone, I’ve been on vacation with the family and with no computer access I’d normally be completely disconnected from email, the blog and the Internet. I know, a real vacation probably should be devoid of such connectivity. But in my case, I’m really just checking stuff out here and there while things are slow. Right now for instance, it’s nap time for everyone else and I’m just hanging out so I figured I’d try and do a post. Earlier in the day I closed an ad deal and last night while laying in bed I accepted and replied to a few comments on the blogs. Had I waited a full week, I may have missed out on some blog income and I’d have a huge queue of disconnected comments to approve when I got back.
While I’m not a hardcore day trader by any means, I do conduct some trades here and there. At the moment, I have some open positions and given the recent market action, I wanted to lock in some gains. Without having to go through the hassle of calling up my discount broker, getting quotes and paying a premium for phone-executed trades, I just did a few quick ones through the phone.
The new model comes with a surprisingly impressive camera and video camera as well. Lugging around a digital camera and video camera everywhere just isn’t practical but you almost always have a cell phone in the pocket. Just today, my son caught his first catfish and he was so excited. He was yelling to take a picture. I just whipped out the iPhone and shot some video as he reeled it in and took some pics. An awesome feature I hadn’t even really thought about was how easy it is to just forward pictures and videos through email by simply hitting the forward button on a picture. Back in the day I never even got around to downloading pictures onto the computer in real time…and video? Forget it. Now I can just send picture and video files instantly.
I’ve been using it as a real time gps device as it actually works better than my out of date garmin from a few years ago. To be able to just go to the map function and google a store or name and then map it is incredibly convenient.
On top of all the built in features, there are tons of apps ranging from gas buddy to financial calculators to pedometers. I can’t say I’ve taken full advantage of everything Apple has to offer just yet but I will say I now “get it” why all these enthusiasts are so nuts about Apple products.
Disclosure: I’ve been long AAPL shares since 95 and have been selling covered calls as outlined here in Apple Covered Call Strategy
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{ 1 comment }
I’m with you my friend. I’ve been using my iPhone for vacation as well. Tracked a nice hike today with a cool app. Love the iPhone, and I too have written a post from it.
As a crazy side note, both of my parents have iPhones and they LOVE them.
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