Yeah, I got it. I got it bad. And honestly, I don’t know why I haven’t owned an iPhone before now. In general, I’m an early adopter in this area. No! Wait! I’m an innovator. At least I used to be, when I was younger and cooler, in the dorkiest way possible. I was the first and only person I knew to have a combo PDA/Phone. Before that I had a Palm III and that was pretty dope ( I don’t know where I was for palms I and II).
Only problem was that my cellphone was a much higher priority for pocket space, and since I was unwilling to wear a bat-belt I never carried my palm with me. It was at home and/or at the office, but not on my person (I hate that phrase, BTW).
Then the geniuses at Samsung and Palm created this groundbreaking device:
check out the color screen! And this sucker is a Palm , with graffiti and everything. AND it had an extendible antenna!! I was actually pretty happy. The important thing here is that I was the ONLY person I knew with a combo PDA/Phone. Therefore, among my friends this thing was nicknamed the “Dorkitron 2000” or D2K for short. I really did feel like an innovator. I didn’t mind needing to use the stylus to enter text. I don’t think it could do email, but at the time (I’m guessing 99 or 2000) that was nearly inconcieveable. My one beef was the touch-screen. Just for dialing phone numbers, it really bothered me that there was no tactile feedback. You had to focus all of your attention on the screen and aiming your finger to line up with the digit you wanted to press. Otherwise, you’d be starting over. Honestly, I think this early trauma is what kept me from buying a first generation iPhone.
But now we’re talking about 8 or 9 years later. And I’ve lost any hope of being an “innovator.” Every goober with a corporate job has a Treo or a Blackberry. I’ve held onto my treos hoping that Palm would evolve and stay relevant. Specifically, I love Vindigo. I don’t know of any other application for any platform that lets you keep a “my list” of restaurants and bars that you like with your notes on them. Why won’t someone come up with something like this for the iPhone?
Although Vindigo have also failed to stay current (just like Palm), I will miss them when I go to iPhone.
That’s right, I finally broke down and went to the AT&T store yesterday to order my “direct fulfilment” iPhone. My co-worker (thanks Richard) explained to me that AT&T stores would let you order an iPhone, and when it comes in it’s yours. I was unwilling to wait in a line at an Apple store. So as of yesterday I should be waiting 10 to 21 days before I’m an iPhone owner. Let’s hope Apple likes exceed expectations and my new phone comes in sooner than expected.
I’ve got some concerns about switching from Palm to iPhone. I would like to transfer everything, but I think it’s going to take some effort on the memos and the to-do lists. And of course I think I’m saying farewell to Vindigo. HOW DO YOU HAVE A MOBILE APPLICATION AND IGNORE IPHONE???? HUH VINDIGO??
When my new iPhone comes in, I’ll update you on how the transition goes (unless I get so seduced by the iPhone that I can’t do anything else).