My iPhone Annoyances

1. You can't wrap the headphones around the iPhone, as it causes problems when answering calls. Like most people, I wrap my headphones' cord around my iPod--it's the most convenient way to keep the cord untangled and stored away. But if you do that with an iPhone, you've got a problem when a call comes in. The wrapped cord can prevent you from pressing you ear to the handset, or the end of the cord swings around, or the wrapped cord can just generally hurt your face or annoy you. It's a puzzle to be solved, and I think the best thing to do is to remove the headphones from the phone when you are not using the iPod function.

2. It's hard to dial with one hand. Here was the situation: I was carrying bags of food in one hand downtown. I decided I needed to call my buddy. I dig the iPhone out of my pocket and attempt to dial. With one hand, I struggle to unlock and have to swipe my thumb at an awkward angle several times. Once the phone is unlocked, I accidentally hit a menu option--I didn't even realize I was touching the surface, I was just trying to get a good hold on the phone (this accidental touching happens a lot, especially with one hand). I become so involved in in the process, I nearly walk into someone. I have to stop, walk out of the way of everyone, hit the home screen, then go through the whole process all over again.

3. There are too many steps to dial a number. I want to call my buddy Fred. I unlock the phone. Ok, where's Fred's number? I have to tap "Phone." Ok, now where's Fred's number? Tap "Contacts." Hello, Fred? Oh, I have to find him by his last name. Scroll and hit Fred. Hello Fred? Oh, I have to hit his telephone number. Hello Fred? Finally! Frustrating!

There are moments where I wonder about the practicality of the phone in challenging everyday situationss. I enjoy the phone immensely, and I won't say that I'm totally frustrated by it, but there are moments where the more basic nature of my Nokia or iPod shuffle just worked and didn't make me pause my day to work the device.

My suggestion is for Apple to focus on the phone first, and sacrifice ease of use for other applications to increase the phone app's ease of use. I can't browse the Internet while walking down the sidewalk, so why put it on even ground with making a phone call in terms of accessing each application on the phone. Make it harder to access the Internet and make it easier to get to the phone.

I want the ability to view my contacts with one tap after unlocking. Or, to view my favorites after one tap after unlocking. In fact, I want an option for the screen to automatically show my contacts after unlocking. Turn the iPhone into a more simple phone, or at least give us the option to.

Hilarious New iPhone Parody

A parody about the iPhone's lack of flash support.

Waiting for iPhone to Update.

The iPhone is one week old this weekend, and we are still waiting for an update for the phone. There is some basic housekeeping issues that need to be dealt with. One big problem I am having is that my Safari browser crashes frequently. I spent an hour browsing the web last night, and Safari crashed six times during that hour. Safari also seems to have a problem with the iPod function playing music.

I'll put any wishes for extra goodies aside (non-web games please!) to get these stability issues fixed first. I'm still loving the iPhone though.

New Apple Patent Could Bring iPhone Features to Macs

Imagine making the iPhone's flick gesture on a touch-screen multi-touch mouse, and suddenly on Safari, tabs flip across your iMac's screen like photos or cover flow on the iPhone. That could be just one possible use of a new patent Apple is applying for featuring a multi-touch mouse. This patent application is worth a second look. It portends a leap ahead of Vista if they release it with Leopard. Remember the cover flow features being built into Leopard?

Also, at the very least, a mouse like this would also keeps smudges off, say, a touch screen table.

Games on the iPhone: iChess

Web games designed to fit the iPhone's screen real estate are popping up. I recommend iChess. It's still in beta--so the pieces move pretty slowly after you direct them. But, if you really want to check out the potential of the iPhone as a gaming device, try out this game on the phone. It's the touch screen experience that is very interesting here, even if it is rudimentary.

iChess.

*Tip* The easiest way to add this game to your iPhone is to bookmark it in Safari, and then sync your bookmarks iPhone (iTune should be default synching your bookmarks anyways). Also note that iChess will require a connection to the Internet (Edge or Wifi) to play. Can we get a third-party app chant going?

iPhone Activation Resolution

My iPhone is activated! However, no thanks to AT&T (or very little). It was mostly my own research on the internet that got me the last little push to get activated.

In my previous post, we left off with me getting a new, "modernized" AT&T Wireless plan and then connecting once again to iTunes only to get the "AT&T needs more time" message. I was also told by a customer service rep it would be an hour after I connected to iTunes until my activation. However, several hours later, I was still waiting.

Well, I went online and somehow drifted to the Apple Support forums. A post there advised people with grandfathered in AT&T Wireless plans to get a new SIM card along with their new plan (which I had already done per my initial AT&T customer service rep--turns out she was right, only she didn't tell me what to do after, even though I specifically asked). But, if you read my last post, you'll know that a following customer service rep said the SIM card was pointless. However, the post on the Apple forum said to put the new SIM card into the iPhone. I did this, turned my iPhone off and on, then connected to iTunes. It worked! All that waiting for nothing.

It is clear now that no one from AT&T customer service knew the entire process for me to get my iPhone activated. There were bits and pieces correct, but I had to do go online to put all the pieces together myself. Thank god for the Internet.

My iPhone Activation Has Been a Mess

So far it has been over 24 hours since I've attempted to activate my iPhone, and it's still just a paperweight. The whole thing has been a mess of error messages from iTunes and emails from AT&T customer service. Shame on both AT&T and Apple. If you do not have an iPhone, my current advice is to wait until you hear these problems have been solved. It is not worth the aggravation or your time.

To prep for my iPhone, I downloaded iTunes 7.3. However, I now have an error message popping up when I launch iTunes 7.3 stating that my iTunes library cannot be saved. What a headache to have during my already frustrating AT&T activation experience! So far, there is no official fix from Apple, although some posters on MacRumors forums have given suggestions.

I received a follow-up email from AT&T this morning telling my old AT&T plan was out of date. It took them 24 hours to figure this out. They gave me a number to call. The customer service rep told me I need to go to an AT&T store and update my plan to a modern plan. She also told me I needed to get an orange sim card because if she tried to update my current phone with the current sim, the card would "burn." I laughed and asked her to repeat that. "It would burn," she said. I had to chuckle as I envisioned my phone bursting into flame, all because a customer service rep in India was attempting to modernize my AT&T account. Just think, at anytime in the past, according to this rep, AT&T could potentially set fire to my apartment while I'm sleeping, and potentially I could die. That's power my friends. Do not piss off AT&T. And check your smoke detectors.

So this afternoon, I traveled to the AT&T store, "modernized" my AT&T Wireless account, and received my new AT&T sim card. The customer service rep had instructed me to give them a call back after I finished updating my account. I decided to call them form the store and not go home. However, ny cell phone was now dead (my only phone). Thank god I stuck around in the store.

My new customer service rep told me I was all ready to go; I just needed to go home and connect my iPhone to iTunes and finish the activation.

"What's the new sim card for?" I asked.

"Oh, I don't know. They did't need to give you a new one. I don't know why they're doing that," she replied.

She then warned me there would be additional waiting time after I hooked my phone up to iTunes because "everyone is trying to activate their phones" and it's slowing down the system. "It's been around an hour wait for most people."

I'm now waiting for another email from AT&T. It's will be the fourth (the first from the iTunes store and the final three from AT&T). It's been about 30 minutes since I've hooked up my iPhone.

One lesson I've learned in life that a zebra doesn't change its stripes--at least not with a lot of mess. I am not looking forward to my experience with AT&T, and I feel very bad for Apple that they had to use their wireless network. I'll just have to look forward to the day when the iPhone is no longer exclusive. Maybe Apple's contract does not cover the iPhone II. Dare to dream.