eye phone, part two

Scratch my previous post. I’m now on day four of iPhone ownership, and I love it.

Love it? OK, maybe “love” is a strong word, but it really is a miraculous, well-designed and revolutionary piece of hardware. Its seamless interface with the Web is a geeky wet dream. The photo and camera functions both make my old Razr seem like a horse-drawn carriage. (Note the ghostly self portrait I snapped the first night. Most of my other photos, though, have been dazzling and clear.)
I can’t imagine how I ever got by without having a Google Maps button in my pocket. And the touch screen itself is just beautiful.

I’ve only encountered two problems. First, some programs seem to freeze up, or else send you back to the home screen for no reason. I’ve seen this happen twice in four days.
Second, using the actual phone takes some getting used to. I ran into this yesterday when I dialed a doctor’s office and got their automated voice system, which required me to keep choosing menu options. Not a big deal, but it took an adjustment to have to keep pressing “keypad.” Such a trade off is worth it for the visual voicemail (seriously, why haven’t other companies offered this? It really is a no-brainer), which makes me never want to go back to my old phone again.

I’m also frustrated that the keyboard doesn’t turn to landscape orientation the way photos and Web sites do. This would be really handy when hammering out a text message, though I suspect that my clumsy thumbs will adapt over time.

But really, these are all minor squabbles. Nobody gets an iPhone expecting it to be completely bug-free; it’s all about techie prestige, right? I was standing in line at the dry cleaners yesterday when my phone rang. After I hung up, the lady behind the counter was ecstatic: “You got an iPhone?! Lemme see!”
I handed it over and she thumbed through my recent calls, asked to see the Internet. I showed her and she said she wanted to get one — but not for a year.
“I’ll wait for gen two,” she said, handing the phone back to me. “I’m fine with my Blackberry.”