I Drink the Kool-Aid

After a conversation with my friend  Scott Love yesterday, I "drank the Kool-Aid" and bought an iPhone. (Scott is the founder of Aquaminds and has been a passionate Apple fan since the early days: he worked on the Macintosh marketing team in 1983-84 prior to that product's introduction.)

Vanity is king. If you're a blogger, the first thing you do on the iPhone is go to your blog to see how it looks. Well, well, well. See for yourself! There's the Creative Think blog with my previous post featuring my daughter Athena and Ning. Looks okay, no?

First impressions (after one day).

Everyone's been talking how slick the iPhone's screen is. That's true; it is beautiful. But what really struck me is what an amazingly beautiful piece of software the iPhone is. All the applications are intuitive and well-thought-out. It's been easy to set up and use.

I love the Weather page. In the next month, I'll be going to Bogota (Colombia), Moscow, and St. Petersburg. I put their weather on my iPhone. It's been fun seeing what kind of summer these places are having.

I didn't buy the iPhone for its iPod, but I have to say the Apple designers have a done a wonderful job improving the iPod/music interface.

Previously, I wasn't much of a mobile phone user at home because my prior carrier (Sprint) had a poor signal in my house. AT&T's signal is much stronger where I live (Atherton, California), so I'll very likely use it more at home.

It's amazing how much free Wi-Fi there is around where I live (Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Stanford, Mountain View). I was driving down El Camino and the radio said that the market was up. While waiting at a red light, I checked the Stocks page on the iPhone. Sure enough, Intel (INTC) is up 6%. Later in the day, I read an article in the WSJ saying that iPhone users are sending WiFi companies stocks higher.

I'm also getting used to the keyboard. I find that it's easier to use when it's in "wide" mode. Also, I never had a Blackberry (so I'm not able to compare it to a mechanical keyboard).

I like the phone features a lot — especially the way it organizes users and favorites. I've gotten a real kick sending my family members text messages. They love that! Even sent one to Armano. Guess I'll have to stop Twittering.

Because I have my own email domain, I was not expecting my email to work well or easily. But it works quite nicely, thank you. And it "set itself up" when I synched the iPhone to my Mac. That was a nice "no-brainer."

I've only taken a dozen photos, but the camera is just fine for my purposes.

It was fun sitting in my back yard last night with my iPhone in Google satellite maps mode. I was able to look down and see where I was sitting. Recursive fun. (No, I didn't feel like God.)

There will be a lot more to share, but right now I'm having a ball with this thing!

Comments

[Tim Siedell]

Just when I convince myself that I don't need one you pull me back in! Aargh!

[Cam Beck]

For some reason I keep getting the image in my brain of Jim Carrey from "Bruce Almighty."

"And he saw that it was GOOOOOOOOD!!

[Lewis Green]

So, Roger, now that you have your iPhone do we need to stay out of your way when you're on the highway? Seriously, it sounds like a great experience and what more can a product or service prodide?

[Liz Strauss]

Oh Roger!
Why'd you do that? Now I have iPhone envy. :)

[Patrick]

Rodger, glad to hear you are enjoying it. When it was first announced I knew it would be a good idea for my business to invest, yes I said invest in one. One of the reasons we got it was the Internet feature as part of our work is web development as well as audio and video podcasting services.

Another business use in dealing with clients is showing content, connecting to the Internet in hard to reach places plus it's come in handy during networking meetings as a conversation starter, etc.

[Mark McGuinness]

"Recursive fun" - the best kind.

Tim, Liz - come to London, no iphones here to tempt you...

[Paul McEnany]

Roger-

I must say I'm envious. I've met two iphones so far, and they live up to their billing, that's for sure!

[Valeria Maltoni]

The first thing that Dave C. Josh Hallett and Dave Parmet did at blog|Philadelphia was put down their iPhones on the table and take a picture of them side by side. I'm not kidding. Follow the link to the photos in my first post or through the wiki and see for yourselves.

They are sleek.

[Janet]

Please try to find a way to talk about buying into hype that doesn't trivialize the deaths of 900+ people: http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/Jonestwn.html

[Roger von Oech]

It's now been nearly a week since I got the iPhone, and my enthusiasm for this product has only increased. Indeed, I bought my wife Wendy one and she's excited about it as well.

Valeria, Paul, Mark, Patrick, Liz, Lewis, Cam, and Tim: Thanks for your comments and observations.

Janet: Jonestown happened nearly 30 years ago: November, 1978. Very soon after, it became a metaphor for blind adherence to a cult's beliefs. The term "drinking the Kool-Aid" has been associated with Apple at least as early as the year prior to the introduction of the Macintosh in January, 1984.

[Troy Worman]

Egads! I was trying to avoid looking directly at the little beast. Even now, after only a brief glimpse, I'm finding myself drawn to it.