Let's be clear, I'm a gadget junkie. I love having great technology that's intuitive, easy to use and actually adds value to my life. I was an iPod lover from early on and am actually on my 3rd upgrade (which I justified to myself by saying something like, "Well, if I just buy the 160GB now, I'll never need another iPod again, so long as we both shall live.") This was partially true and also partially covered up for the fact that my local Best Buy store didn't have the 80GB instock and I had bonus money burning a hole in my pocket RIGHT THEN. But that's another story altogether: Instant Gratification and Low Instocks Conspire! News at 11.
I have been very faithful in maintaining a 4+ year love affair with my BlackBerry. With the exception of the most recent model last year, I have purchased each and every one of them myself. I just loved the technology, and having everything at my fingertips was key for me. I'm too forgetful and scatterbrained to exist otherwise. I really came to depend on it. I used it overseas and domestically while traveling for work and fun. Staying in touch mattered. Recently, I've come to love the GPS capabilities and that thing has gotten me unlost more times than I care to admit. I simply love having everything all in one easy to carry package that is 100% backed up at all times. Nifty! After all, this is my one and only method of outside communication other than the internet. I gave up my land line years ago.
So when the iPhones started making news, I played shy. I mean, what did I need one for? I already had the mother of all iPods which took care of me everywhere I went. I had a camera (no, not a camera phone...somehow I missed the BlackBerry revs where they realized that incorporating those might be a good idea). I had a phone. Nevermind its gorgeous industrial design - it's in the Apple DNA. I swear they feed those people something special out there in Cupertino. Spike the water. Something. I was intrigued, but I decided to admire from afar.
Well, fast forward a few years and now the iPhones are everywhere. You can't swing a laid-off banking executive without hitting one. So I started paying a little more attention. My neighbor entertained a small group of us one night while in the sushi bar's little private tatami room with her iPhone on speaker; a little music made the evening's ambience that much better. A colleague sold me on the neat messaging interface. So much more intuitive than my BlackBerry. And let's face it, the thing is cute as pie.
So, despite our agreement of "no gifts," my guy presented me with an iPhone 3G for Valentine's Day. This guy really knows how to knock one out of the park! I was shocked; first, at the generosity (although I'm not sure why, this is his trademark), and next by the thought that I'd be forced to give up my Berry. My constant companion for the past 4 1/2 years. My lifeline. Was I really ready for this?
My excitement for the latest and greatest won out. A scant 14 hours later, I held in my hand my precious new 16GB iPhone 3G...in white, claro. I've had it for just a day now. I'm still getting used to it, figuring out how to protect and love it, and finding out all of its secrets. So far, I absolutely love it.
The oddest thing I've found so far? This piece of technology has really grafted to me in a way that I wasn't expecting. Did my boyfriend have a plan other than - I suspect - a rather unsubtle hope that I'd learn how to use my new iPhone so I could teach him how to use his? Was he seeing me making changes in my life and subconsiously helping me down the path? I have to type slower, so I am slowing down overall. I simply can't text in the car anymore so I talk to people more...what a concept. (Oh and I won't get that nasty ticket either.) And because it's not that same old Berry, I feel like this isn't ho-hum work anymore; it's play. Even when it is work. This is my new work philosophy come home to roost. The iPhone and its timing fit my own transition. I'm sure there are things I'll find that I don't love and I'll work through them.
But for now, it seems like this pretty piece of technology is going to make life easier to live, make me happier and more productive, and make my transition to "whatever this is I'm doing" more fulfilling. What a gift, indeed.
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