tech envy

I’ve been deliberately avoiding most of the iPhone/iPod Touch hype, telling myself confidently that I have no need for such devices, staying connected all the time is for people married to their email, and when my old, trusty 4-year-old 3G iPod dies on me (which I don’t think will ever happen, considering how strong it’s going still), I’ll be happy enough to upgrade to an iPod Classic rather than a Touch, because why do I need an MP3 player than does anything other than play music? And perhaps store some videos for me to watch while commuting.

Sadly my resistance has been assailed by the glut of iPhone articles I have been reading on my daily trawl of tech blogs, and by my sister’s recent acquisition of an iPhone, which my parents got for her because my dad was involved in Optus’s iPhone launch in Australia and could get it dirt-cheap. It’s so… shiny. The interface is lovely. There are some really fantastic apps available for it. There is, I have finally succumbed to realise, a wealth of benefits in having internet on the go. You can check out Google Maps if you get lost in the city. You can input appointments directly into Google Calendar instead of storing them on your phone calendar and processing them when you get home. You can watch Youtube. You can listen to internet radio (!!!)… and the list goes on.

I’ve always been thinking of making the switch to Mac when I move on from my Vaio, but I must honestly confess that my Macbook lust has never reached the level of iPhone lust I’m currently entertaining. Frustratingly, it is really incredibly expensive in the UK so I really doubt I’ll be getting it if I’m staying there to work. And I just changed my phone last year so there isn’t really an excuse to get a new one (I feel like this is my penance for impatiently dumping my cranky Motorola last summer - I should just have stuck it out till now huh).

Ah, shiny gadgets… why are they all so outrageously priced?

2 comments

LcT says:

August 30 2008 @ 12:48 PM

the iphone is certainly interesting, but one thing that puts me off is the battery life. apparently you’ll have to charge it daily, and it might even die on you during the day if you don’t economise battery use somewhat.

i’d really like having a (wifi + 3g) phone with pushmail too (doesn’t have to be an iphone), but i guess i’ll wait till next year before going for it. that said - if you can get it cheaply via your dad’s connections (unlocked?), why not?

p.s. how cheap, and can i get one too? =P

cui says:

August 30 2008 @ 2:38 PM

issit? that’s not very nice then. maybe we should wait a few years for apple to put out the inevitable upgraded model with kinks ironed out and even more shinyness?

sadly daddy’s connections are limited; the iphone is unlocked (good news!) but only comes cheap if you sign to an optus plan along with it. my sister’s plan was due for renewal anyway so it was really good timing for her. i think my dad paid about $50 for the phone itself, and it’s a 16gb!

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