20 Reasons I’m Happy with the iPhone
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Argh! I hate eating crow. I really, really, really do. It doesn’t taste that nice. My original “20 Reasons” I didn’t get an iPhone on the first day are still relatively valid. I didn’t want to wait in line on the first day, I didn’t want to get caught up in the hype, and I really don’t think that most of the first generation’s shortcomings are fixable through software updates.
Unfortunately, Apple has to play by the rules of lame-ass “exclusivity” with wireless partners here in America (and likely abroad as well). It’s what is keeping a lot of people from picking one up for their own use. Should’ve been a WiFi enabled device with the option for EDGE, in my opinion - that would have been truly revolutionary. As it stands, however, the iPhone is a vendor-locked piece of hand candy.
It’s very imperfect, but I’m still glad that Ponzi provoked the experience. I don’t think I could’ve brought myself to it, otherwise - suffering from the “I’m fine with what I already have” syndrome that many geeks have. I can tell you that it’s much easier to come up with reasons I’m keeping the iPhone than it was thinking of reasons why I didn’t want it on the first day.
- Jeez, you can’t deny that Apple raised the bar a zillion miles past any other kind of mobile device experience. Windows Mobile 6
hasn’t even shipped yet and it’sUI already seems overtly antiquated. [WM6 has shipped, but seemingly to little fanfare - or any kind of direct notification from my provider, AT&T. I actually think I remember hearing it shipped, but that fact slipped my mind when I decided to do this before heading to bed at 5 in the morning.] - IMAP email, despite small hiccups, is finally a joy to access from a mobile device. I do more reading than responding, so this is perfect. Plus, HTML email finally looks like HTML email.
- The photo app snaps the shot when you release the button, not when you press it. There’s no lag in this case, and that’s a small touch I wasn’t really expecting.
- I don’t really watch the stock market, but it’s never been more fun to do. Seriously, could someone tell me why I keep using this without a seemingly valid reason?
- You can get sucked into the Google maps feature for four hours straight without ever finding or bookmarking anything important.
- Bluetooth connectivity with my car, barring a few hiccups, is pretty damn sweet. I finally have a phone that displays its signal and battery power on my car’s dashboard. Moreover, I can EASILY switch audio sources without skipping a beat - going from the car’s HandsFree mode to iPhone “regular” to Speaker in a button press.
- Managing call waiting is exceedingly simple. Big buttons, no crazy keypresses.
- Voicemail is… finally the way it should have been all along.
- Despite my many years of using devices that allowed me to install third-party software, I’m somewhat not very disappointed that Apple hasn’t released an SDK for people to potentially mar the elegance presented in this simple package. Web site services are fine for now. Same holds true with the customization options. I’m at the point where I just want something that works (and the iPhone certainly does work much better than the $700 Samsung i700 I purchased from Verizon a few years ago).
- Gah. Zooming in and out of anything shouldn’t be this much fun. It’s a crime. Flipping for the sake of flipping is also flipping nutty. Why, WHY does this have to be so… addictive?
- I thought I wouldn’t like another touchscreen device, but the iPhone proved me wrong (thus far). The keyboard is a bit crazy, and predictive text could be better handled, but this really is a joy to touch (you have to try it in person - the commercials don’t do it justice).
- The cursor zoom feature is another one of those small touches that just impressed the hell out of me. I mean, talk about attention to detail.
- Apple has already released a firmware update and… it was mindnumbingly simple to implement. I wanted to cry. I’m not an iTunes fan, but damn they really hit it out of the park with what was previously a very painful experience for ANYBODY.
- SMS never made much sense to me before… until it was threaded in a conversational style.
- World Clock, Alarm, Stopwatch, Timer… I’m finding myself setting a Timer to set the Alarm for when it’s time to start the Stopwatch to see how many Cities I can add to the World Clock within five minutes.
- I kid you not: Word document (email attachments) look better on this Apple device than they ever have on any Microsoft “pocket” device. Ever. EVER.
- General web browsing and “tab” management is near perfect.
- I don’t want to admit it, but I’d just as soon have this thing with
EVDOEDGE than a tricked-out something-else with 3G. Sad, but I find that true (for myself). - YouTube integration is near useless right now, as you can’t get to its entire index (really, then, what’s the POINT to that). However, it’s nice to have community videos at my fingertips without having to go through some insipid wireless provider’s idea of “entertainment.”
- The animations and transitions seem natural, as if… that’s just the way God intended them to be.
This wasn’t just a feature-by-feature rundown, folks - Apple has nowhere to go with this thing but up. Rand Fishkin compared the iPhone to Barack Obama last night, but… I’m still not quite sure I followed the reference completely (it was late, and I already had one beer in me). Regardless, it really has me wondering what the hell the rest of the industry has been smoking - and what they’re going to do to even come close to the experience that Apple now provides.
Don’t buy it for the hype - TRY it for the hype, but buy it because you’re tired of the shit everybody else keeps shoving into your pocket.
I’ve made a few small edits to this list, and probably should have waited until I was more awake to post it originally. No matter, if you made a comment pointing out my errors, thank you - it didn’t get moderated. You’re certainly more than welcome to call me crazy for writing this list in the first place!
To tell you the truth, I haven’t even installed iTunes on my Windows machine - so my contacts and calendar are not on the iPhone yet. I really don’t use Yahoo mail since they burned me with Qwest DSL a few years ago, and there’s no simple way of making an automated, private URL push from Outlook (klutzy third-party apps seldom seem to work well, no matter the price). I really haven’t felt the absolute need to sync this with a computer yet - and Apple’s goal should be to remove the computer connection from the equation altogether, making it equally as simple to update PIM data and media over the air.
I really don’t want to hack my iPhone - but it’s cool to see that some people care enough to do it themselves. Stability is very important in any situation, and I don’t care to introduce unknown variables on any given mobile device. Some people have noted that it takes more clicks to get things done on the iPhone, but if that’s the case - it certainly doesn’t feel half as painful. And to tell you the truth, I really don’t miss the myriad of buttons I used to have, either…
Am I encoding the MP4 videos from my podcast incorrectly? Seems that they’re not working right on my iPhone, and I don’t know what I’m doing wrong (I can see a static thumbnail of the video, hear the audio when it plays, but no actual video playback).
54 Comments
Noebie
August 4th, 2007
at 6:17am
i’ve been sitting on the fence - you may have just pushed me off
micah
August 4th, 2007
at 6:20am
Mostly, it just damn easy and enjoyable to use. I find myself surfing the web and looking at my photos just because…
Of course #8 is the killer app of the phone for me.
masseym
August 4th, 2007
at 7:39am
Do you find that it takes a while to load each email? Same with viewing word/excel docs? It just seems sluggish…
justine
August 4th, 2007
at 8:02am
That was beautiful. Glad to hear you’re happy with your iPhone. Speaking of iPhones, I’m reading your blog and writing this comment on mine! Yay!
Jonathan
August 4th, 2007
at 8:14am
Thanks for the write-up. What car system are you using that can display signal and power info on the dash? I would think you’d need explicit iPhone support, which isn’t really there yet.
I’m testing a Samsung m620 (UpStage) right now and I’ll agree that the iPhone really is a breakthrough. Most current cellphone interfaces, even those with touchscreens or simple control pads, often feel like they were designed by someone with only the faintest idea of what a user would want. The m620 is fine only on the surface, but delve into a menu and you’ll realize that the user was a distant second to getting the features in.
Nick R (mabuspwns)
August 4th, 2007
at 8:17am
Definitely 20 good reasons to get an iPhone, made me want one even more now.
flint
August 4th, 2007
at 8:19am
I agree with most of this and think Mail is far better than you and nearly everyone gives it credit. You missed my favorite tho’…. the screen is the single most drop-dead gorgeous thing out there and it rivals the sun for brightness. Every other phone, camera and pda is utter crap by comparison.
Strangely, I think Apple will update it quite regularly and ‘fix’ some of those shortcomings… its only software after all.
Bob R.
August 4th, 2007
at 8:51am
Courious… What car do you drive?
BOB MISH
August 4th, 2007
at 9:06am
WOW GREAT JOB
BlizzConvicts and BlizzConverts » The Year of Coffee Blog
August 4th, 2007
at 9:19am
[...] Next week I will be at Gnomedex, where even Pirillo is gushing about the iPhone. Last time I was at Gnomedex, the Apple presence was just about even with the PC. This year, with everyone (Scoble, Winer, et al.) converting to MacBooks (Pros), I am curious to see what the mix will be. BlizzCon, gnomedex, iphone Poetics of PeetsShare This « BlizzCon - Day One | [...]
Foo
August 4th, 2007
at 10:54am
In 18., I believe you mean EDGE, not EVDO (which is 3G).
Brendan
August 4th, 2007
at 10:57am
Wow, coming from you Chris I’m really really impressed. Can’t wait to see them when they hit Ireland. Thanks for this.
Dennis (Cadco.TV)
August 4th, 2007
at 11:44am
Chris, that was brilliant! I am truly amazed by this phone every day more and more. I guess that is why I bought two of them. Keep it coming Apple!
Kevin Edwards
August 4th, 2007
at 12:02pm
This is a great overview of the iPhone. I’m a bit confused about point 19. While it doesn’t have a listed index, you are able to search the YouTube index. What am I missing here?
Craig Kuehne
August 4th, 2007
at 1:27pm
Chris -
Glad you like it, too… This is, by far, not just the best phone I’ve ever bought, but the best portable device I’ve ever bought… I freakin’ love it.
BTW, your video podcast is fine - the iPhone puts all video+audio of a video podcast into the ‘Videos’ category of your ‘iPod’, and leaves an audio-only version in the ‘Podcasts’ category.
Left Of Center
August 4th, 2007
at 1:35pm
Chris Pirillo »20 Reasons I’m Happy with the iPhonePosted 88 minutes ago
derekjay
August 4th, 2007
at 1:43pm
20 Reasons Chris Pirillo is Happy with the iPhone
Jim
August 4th, 2007
at 2:27pm
Chris, just a heads up. A buddy of mine saw my iphone and liked it so much he bought one. He synced it to his windows machine and it sync’d with Outlook seamlessly. He said the syncing process was exactly like it was in my Mac version of iTunes. It also sync’d his photos flawlessly.
Take the plunge and sync it to your machine.
Taxman: The Blog
August 4th, 2007
at 2:51pm
from his beloved he gave it a try. Now, he’s seen the light and given us 20 reasons why he’s happy with the iPhone. Like Chris suggests, let the hype lure you to try out the iPhone and then let the experience convince you to buy one. It’s that good!Link to Chris’s 20 Reasons
MacFan
August 4th, 2007
at 3:13pm
Yes, you have to try it to really get it. But I still won’t buy it. I just won’t buy first generation products. I’m weird that way. I want 3G and need end-to-end encrypted email to Exchange - hey, my work requires this. But, damn, I can barely wait for the upgrades! Hurry up Apple!
Apple Rocker Report
August 4th, 2007
at 4:30pm
Read original article.1 read
Patrick Murphy
August 4th, 2007
at 4:32pm
Chris, there are two ways to play video podcasts. 1) Use the iPhone’s iPod application “Video” button at the bottom. You’ll see a list of videos, which should include your podcast. If you play from here, the video should play fine. 2) Use the iPhone’s iPod application “Podcast” button, which may be after the “More” button. If you play from the podcast list, it will play in audio mode only.
Hope this helps!
Che Robinson
August 4th, 2007
at 4:47pm
You need to navigate to the podcasts through the “video” option and not the “artists” options. It makes no sense, but that is how you get the videos to play rather than a thumbnail.
13 Crows...
August 4th, 2007
at 5:58pm
20 Reasons I’m Happy with the iPhone ~ Chris Pirillo
ayoalex00
August 4th, 2007
at 6:16pm
hey chirs I didn’t like the iPhone that much either and I still don’t but these are some good reasons on why to like them and I understand why it was alot easier for you to come up with twenty reasons on why you like it then why you don’t..
later
ayoalex00
Bwana.org - Blogging about everything and nothing
August 4th, 2007
at 7:33pm
expressed positive feelings for it. Chris was still against it to some degree and vowed to stay away from the iPhone. Until today. [IMG It takes a real man to admit he's wrong] Chris recently expressed20 reasons why he’s happy with the iPhone: It’s very imperfect, but I’m still glad that Ponzi provoked the experience. I don’t think I could’ve brought myself to it, otherwise - suffering from the “I’m fine with what I already have” syndrome that many geeks have. I can tell you
Mitch
August 4th, 2007
at 10:52pm
Chris,
I’m glad you like the iPhone.
But, do have it synch with your contacts / datebook (calendar). The iPhone handles contacts really, really well. It’s one of my favorite parts of the phone.
You should also synch photos to the iPhone. Viewing photos on the iPhone is awesome (the new wallet photo holder).
Also, the custom ringtone application (iFuntastic) is really easy to use and works like a charm. The White Stripes as a ringtone beats the stuffing out of anything that ships.
I am skeptical that the iPhone naysayers have really give it a fair evaluation.
Enjoy the phone.
p.s. Good work Ponzi
Home Office Lawyer
August 5th, 2007
at 1:35am
’s hardware lineup really is. I plan to get one before the end of the year. In fact, if my wife would not have been with me, I might be using one right now. And if you don’t believe me, check out20 Reasons I’m happy with the iPhone.
Joe S.
August 5th, 2007
at 9:32am
“You need to navigate to the podcasts through the “video” option and not the “artists” options. It makes no sense, but that is how you get the videos to play rather than a thumbnail.”
How exactly doesn’t it make sense to tap video to watch a video?
Neil Anderson
August 5th, 2007
at 9:57am
“I’m at the point where I just want something that works [...]”
That pretty much sums up the Apple experience.
iPhone.best-blog.co.uk
August 5th, 2007
at 11:05am
Chris Prillio, Lockergnome founder, has come up with 20 reasons why he’s keeping his Apple iPhone; this after his earlier “20 Reasons” why he didn’t get an iPhone on the very first day piece.chris.pirillo.com
Jake
August 5th, 2007
at 11:09am
OMG. I can still remember watching your live rant against the iPhone hysteria. Pretty funny in retrospect, but yeah, I feel basically the same way about mine.
Tom
August 5th, 2007
at 11:18am
Great list. When InfoWorld published a silly article about the iPhone having more “misses” than “hits,” they could only think of nine pros to go with 52 cons for the device. That’s ridiculous.
I took that opportunity to knock their list, and started listing some real pros; I ended up stoppoing at 60 even when though I wasn’t even finished:
InfoWorld BS article about the iPhone.
links for 2007-08-05 | mad dog in the fog
August 5th, 2007
at 1:15pm
[...] 20 Reasons I’m Happy with the iPhone ~ Chris Pirillo This coming from a guy who originally said that he was not going to purchase an iPhone (tags: iphone) [...]
Mattingly
August 5th, 2007
at 2:45pm
Sluggish after only one beer? You’re a lightweight.
jpm
August 5th, 2007
at 3:01pm
Chris,
Funny to see your change on the iphone. I had similar views about all hype by I played with one in the store one day, for like an hours, and bought one. I have been very happy with it and can actually have the real internet without my laptop! And I find new things everyday on it, like hitting the little car symbol in Google maps to get live traffic info.
I know a lot of people into hacking them and can change the icons, color, and whole layout on the phone. I’m like you and don’t want to do all that stuff, but I do want my own ringtones. There is one programmer out there that made a GUI program for ringtones and its only 10 bucks and it works great.
Heck, I even found your blog again by searching for the iphone. I live in the bay area and use to watch your call for help show all the time.
jpm
August 5th, 2007
at 3:04pm
Oh, and if you go to dailymotion on your iphone the videos there work.
Sean Sloan
August 5th, 2007
at 3:31pm
Chris, I’m sure that crow tastes horrible but humble pie, on the other hand, is delicious! It’s actually pretty encouraging to see that you’re willing to admit when something “just works”.
Ken R
August 5th, 2007
at 4:02pm
I have to hide this article from my 13 year old son who has been saving his money since the first announcement. Can you say good bye Verizon?
massa
August 5th, 2007
at 6:54pm
Kevin:
I think you can’t see or search all youtube videos because iPhone only searches or accepts H.264 formatted videos. I guess Youtube guys are converting all their videos to H.264 in the near future to comply with AppleTV and iPhone formats.
Chris:
Thank you for the nice overview of iPhone in iPoints (the 20 points).
Lynn Stratton
August 5th, 2007
at 8:30pm
Chris, you’re great. I lusted after the damn phone after the tv ads, and after reading your rant I was so glad I felt justified, verified or whatever. I still like the way it looks though, so I’ve been waiting for it to get cheaper. Looks like it won’t…..what do you think? I’m a poooooor secretary and don’t have that kind of money but I guess I can pony up. One thing that worries me: I don’t have the kind of time to spend on all the extras; wish I had some person to set it up for me without spending four years reading it all.
Thanks again for the info from the “little” people out here with barely enough time to go to work and get up again! Good going Ponz!
Lynn
the iPhone mania « Rage Online
August 6th, 2007
at 3:40am
[...] Well, if your seriously thinking to buy it or not, check out this man’s blog - 20 reasons to buy an iphone - he is a certified geed btw and hated it at first (i believe so) [...]
Steve A.
August 6th, 2007
at 6:16am
I’ve played with the iPhone, and I really do like the interface, but for the most part, overall functionality *is* better with a windows mobile device. Blasphemy? Case in point: the ATT 8525:
1. The WM5/6Interface is clunky in comparison.
2. Does IMAP, plus direct push capable
3. Photo snap on release is nice - but I don’t believe the iPhone has a macro capable lens. 8525 does.
4. Stock market tickers/watch programs are nothing new to windows mobile.
5. Google maps for mobile has been out for around 8 months for the 8525. Nothing new, also shows live traffic.
6. The 8525 does the same thing. But even better, it connects to my laptop and acts as a wireless modem via 3G.
7. A similar, and easy touchscreen interface for call waiting.
8. I envy the iPhone’s voicemail.
9. Looking down your nose at 3rd party aps? Surely you’ve never tried TCPMP. It’s one media player that’ll spit out any audio or video format, including divx or xvid. Can the iPhone play those?
10. The iPhone’s multitouch is cool.
11. The 8525’s sliding keyboard is superior. I’d go fingertip-to-fingertip against any iPhone typist and blow them out of the water in texting speed.
12. That is nice.
13. Firmware updates for the 8525 aren’t too bad: plug it in, run the app on your desktop, sit back 10 minutes, done.
14. The iPhone’s threaded messaging is superior.
15. How is this new? The 8525 has all of these.
16. How about editing a word document? Or copying text? It may look pretty, but you can’t do anything with the files.
17. Look up and tryout MS’s Deepfish browser. It’s been beta since Feb, and is a pretty nice ‘true internet’ browser.
18. See #6 for the need for 3G. True 800kb down, 250kb up a large part of the Seattle area. The coverage is stout enough to give a full signal in Sumner and Graham near Tacoma.
19. The 8525 supports flash. All of youtube is accessible, not just a handfull of videos.
20. Eye candy is nice.
Here’s a video I made just before the iPhone came out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3-MbVvtI6k
Don’t get me wrong, the iPhone’s interface is superior, but I think that in overall functionality it falls flat. The lack of support for stereo bluetooth headphones is ridiculous for the ‘best iPod yet.’
DarkAlly
August 6th, 2007
at 6:27am
I guess i will have to go try it out….and think about switching from Alltel…
cameron i/o
August 6th, 2007
at 2:32pm
Chris Pirilloin 20 Reasons I’m Happy with the iPhone. Via Rickr.
uiop
August 6th, 2007
at 8:52pm
Chris, as far as I know you are uploading the videos right. I was able to watch them when I synced with my old XP machine. But when I tried with Vista, it was messed up, as you described. Dammit Vista.
bobsaf
August 7th, 2007
at 9:29am
The many complimentary comments coincide closely with my respect for your opinion. No question in my mind that your support will significantly influence iPhone fence-sitters to take the plunge - my case also, although living in Spain I’ll have to wait a few months for availability - hopefully with improvements. I join those who’d like to know more about your auto switching device. Good job, Chris.
Larry Rubin’s Design Aesthetic - Tips, tricks, and musings from the age of information
August 8th, 2007
at 3:00am
have been enjoying my iPhone. User interface candy for sure. Every so often I hit a rough spot with usability, but the overall user experience so far has been great. Chris Pirillo had an interesting quote about the iPhone a few days ago in his post “20 Reasons I’m Happy with the iPhone
bLaugh! « Wisdom of Crowds
August 9th, 2007
at 4:33am
[...] These are all the things that I used to want to be (except maybe for the last 4 words). Now I am clueless. I’m Ctrl-c, Ctrl-v -ing this profile onto my Facebook profile anyways. Hope nobody will sue. Also check out why he’s happy with the iPhone. No. 15 is my favourite. [...]
iPhone Release Note « tipmeo
August 13th, 2007
at 10:11am
[...] iPhone Release Note Here’s a handy tip I ran across recently from Chris Pirillo’s blog post 20 Reasons I’m Happy with the iPhone. It turns out that the iPhone’s camera app takes the photo when you release the button. [...]
moody
August 27th, 2007
at 8:37pm
hey
the videos you make for your ipod need to be encoded in h.264 for your iphone to play it. mp4 is not enough, if not then you’ll see the still hear sound when you play it but see no video
you can use isquint for this
Petixe » the iPhone mania
October 14th, 2007
at 3:15am
[...] if your seriously thinking to buy it or not, check out this man’s blog - 20 reasons to buy an iphone - he is a certified geek btw and he hated it at first (i believe so), now he’s liking [...]
Pirillo lists 20 reasons he’s happy with Apple iPhone « Apple News
October 30th, 2007
at 4:08am
[...] Reasons” why he didn’t get an iPhone on the very first day piece.[…] Thanks to charholly9 for providing this nice story on Digg (more than [...]
Chris Thompson
November 10th, 2007
at 7:39am
My rational head said no … It’s not the perfect device, but my non-rational side said queue up on launch day and get one… I’m so pleased my non-rational side won … Iphone rocks!