If you read my blog, you know already that I won this iPhone from Shareasale at Affiliate Summit.
However cool it looked, I actually had zero intention of actually purchasing an iPhone, the primary reasons being what I heard about the AT&T service (slow) as well as my general reluctance to buy any 1st generation Apple product.
My Current Stuff, Palm Treo 700P on Verizon
Another thing keeping me from switching is that I’m pretty well invested in my current phone. $500 for the Treo plus a few hundred for the GPS add-on and the third party sync software. There’s also a long Verizon contract left that comes with a termination fee of $200 or so.
I’m also concerned that I’ll miss some of the functionality that I enjoy with my Palm Treo 700P smartphone, specifically:
- It’s a Bluetooth modem for my Powerbook allowing me to connect to Verizon’s broadband
- I can add Palm applications like toccer (instant messaging without using SMS) and an SSH app so I can login and manage my servers if something goes down while I’m on the road.
- I have Tomtom GPS for it, which is fantastic.
Now that I make a list, there aren’t that many things, but those are big ones, and the reasons I went with the Treo last year.
Aside from those things, I actually hate using the Treo. As soon as I add any number of third party applications, it becomes quite fragile and the OS freezes up frequently, requiring a reset. I’ve since removed most everything and it’s pretty good, but I still must reset it occasionally.
It’s big and clunky and I hate using the stylus. So I navigate primarily with fingertip, which is not bad for some functions, but impossible for others.
Another requirement that’s perhaps somewhat unique to me is that I keep track of several email accounts. Verizon’s solution is a proxy that pulls in all my emails and pushes them to my phone. It’s not bad, but it mixes them all together and stuffs them into the little mail application. If I don’t keep up with it for a few days, it fills up with thousands of emails. IT literally takes several minutes to delete them.
Additionally, there’s virtually zero integration with the desktop with the out of the box software. I use macs primarily, and some of that is alleviated with a third party software solution, but it is so disjointed that I rarely even bother. My Treo hasn’t been plugged in to my desktop in months.
It’s pretty annoying that I have this PDA that I don’t use as a PDA.
An Unexpected iPhone
Of course once I had the sexy iPhone in my possession, I had to activate it to check it out. Because of my inhibitions, I didn’t transfer my old phone number, so now I have two (introducing my dilemma).
I’m still feeling my way around the iPhone, but I’m getting the impression that neither of the first two Treo features are possible. Does apple not allow third-party developers to create widgets? The only iPhone “applications” I’ve found are actually web-sites developed with a small form-factor for the iPhone browser. I need to investigate that more.
And of course, there’s no GPS for the iPhone.
But if I take a step back, it is possible that the amazing browsing functionality of the iPhone may in fact eliminate the need for me to need my notebook at all in a web-server emergency, and certainly for email and casual web browsing.
The iPhone’s email app is really nice and automatically pulled in all my account information from my Powerbook. So it was instantly pulling in email from different accounts. No proxy, just nice clean email browsing. And, it doesn’t get overwhelmed with thousands of emails as it only shows the latest 50, 100, etc.
I can still use my Treo for GPS, even with no phone service.
Being a Mac user, the desktop integration is very nice. If this device becomes a true seamless extension of my desktop and notebook computers, that’s pretty sweet.
So it seems that I can justify the change afterall. (as if there was really ever a doubt that I could do that.)
My Dilemma
So what’s the problem, Scott?
Is this thing just a sexy toy? There’s no question that I’m a total gadget geek and cannot resist something like this, but how long will the love affair last? My love-hate hate relationship with the Treo certainly isn’t changing.
If I know myself, I won’t be giving up on the iPhone.
So, as I mentioned before, I now have two phone numbers and a long contract remaining with Verizon.
It pains me to consider changing my old phone number, which I’ve had for like 16 years now. I’m not sure that would really be that painful, but I’ve got this strange connection to it.
Now that I’ve activated, can I change phone numbers? Will AT&T help me do that?
Or must I cancel this one and start the activation process again and allow them to transfer the number. That’ll cost me another $35 activation fee, but at this point, whatever.
And once I commit to changing, I must cancel my Verizon account and pay the $200 termination fee, which would be far cheaper than keeping the account until the contract is up.
I’ve got nearly 30 days to decide before my AT&T account becomes a 2 year contract as well. Carrying around two phones is a drag, so I think I’ll probably make a decision long before that.
Damn you Brian.
