First Impressions

Well, I did it. I bought an iPhone. So, like everyone else, I'm going to give my first impressions of this expensive little toy.

First of all, it is sleek. When it is turned off, all you see is a silver frame around a pitch black screen. But when it is turned on, everything comes to life. The registration process with AT&T is easy, but I'm sure that it was easier on my iBook than it would be on a Windows PC. After the registration, syncing, restarting, syncing again, and disconnecting, I was ready to play.

I think the thing I liked most was the phone and contacts feature. Dialing the phone is simple, and adding and editing the phone contacts are incredibly easy. I was even able to add pictures to my contacts with just a touch. I had to use the pictures that I imported, but it's easy to import more. One of the cool things is that when you call up a photo to use for a contact, you can zoom in and crop the photo to look how you want. It is such an absolutely easy process that I want to add everyone right away!

The Safari browser is a bit slow using the Edge network, but it's great when you hook up via wi-fi. The iPod feature is nice, although a bit less intuitive than the iTunes program on my iBook.

One thing I didn't like is the inability to bring in .mp3 ringtones or use a song that's already in your iPod as a ringtone. You can go into iTunes and create and download a ringtone for 99 cents (which is far less expensive than it is to download one online through normal AT&T methods), but it still seems a bit unfair to charge me twice for the same song. I also have a short song I want to use as a ringtone, but the current methods don't allow for it. Come on, Apple! Don't you make enough money from the phone itself???

Another negative is the lack of voice dialing. Apple needs to add this feature, especially for those who use a bluetooth headset and need to dial while driving. With voice dialing, I don't even have to take a look at the phone.

Overall, my first impression is one of glee. I can tell I'm going to have a lot of fun with this phone. That is, if I can get my co-workers to quit asking to see it.