I Love My iPhone 3G! Part I -- The History

Note:  I originally drafted this post some time ago when I first got my iPhone 3G, but for some reason I never posted it.  It is no longer topical, but still holds true so I'm going to publish it now anyway.

I've  been a fan of Palm devices since my first, a Palm IIIc.  I was never good at keeping up with a paper calender.  My secretary needed one on her desk and I needed another to carry.  The only way to keep them both updated was to copy the information from one to the other.  I could never keep up  and quit carrying a calendar. The Palm IIIc linked with my practice management software Amicus Attorney and solved the problem. Now I could synchronize the calendar my secretary kept with the device that I carried at the touch of a button.

That led to my first smartphone a Treo 650.  Now I could keep my calendar up-to-date and with me and get my email too. Yippee!  I loved my Treo.  The Treo 650 died after two years and being left outdoors overnight.  I replaced it with a Treo 680 that was a source of disappointment.  Meanwhile, the Palm OS was getting longer and longer in the tooth.

I bought my wife an iPhone and it seemed good, but maybe not good enough to make me give up my Treos.  It did not have a "real keyboard" and wasn't able to handle MS Word docs.  But then I never enjoyed typing anything very long on the tiny Treo keyboards and editing documents on the tiny screen was a joke.  Actually the tiny keyboard coupled with the small screen made it really difficult.  It is simply easiest to edit documents on a laptop.  I could tether my Treo to my laptop, but learned it was much easier to find a wifi hotspot and only use hotels with wifi in the room. My wife's iPhone was pretty cool though.  Unlike the Treo, the iPhone was the Internet in your pocket! The Safari browser and big screen made surfing the Internet much easier than on the Treos.

The 680 became balkier and balkier and more frustrating.  The screen broke in my pocket, which was admittedly my fault, but had never happened before.  After the screen was fixed, the ear speaker broke.  I had to either use a bluetooth earpiece or a plug in earpiece to hear anything.  Neither was convenient when I was walking around.  (I refuse to stick a bluetooth headset in my ear and walk around looking like a dorky Borg.  After putting up with that for months, the iPhone 3G came out to pretty good reviews.  So I finally bought one and ....

I LOVE MY iPHONE 3G!  I love the big pretty screen.  I love the GPS.  I love the email.  I love the App Store. Over all on balance I really enjoy it.  Why? That's Part II.