So this iPhone thing is pretty damn cool. But I have to say, I feel pretty damn slow on the whole “über-intuitive Apple interface” thing. Given that I’ve never owned an iPod, or even a decent MP3 player or a complicated phone, I feel pretty behind. I only even touched iTunes a few months ago, and I managed to royally screw up all libraries of all music in a few short hours.
That said, I’m damn proud of how well I’ve done so far! Apple’s pedantic but clear videos helped some, and fellow iPhone owners also weighed in with some good tips. I managed to get some great apps, like a Wikipedia button and of course Bejeweled. I’m bummed to learn that the iPod version of Peggle doesn’t work on my phone, but perhaps it will someday soon.
And OH MY GOD, I can listen to MUSIC and write EMAILS and TEXTS and NOTES and APPOINTMENTS and look up DIRECTIONS and take PICTURES, ALL WITH THE SAME DEVICE. I know this is old news for many, but it’s brand-spankin-new for me, and I friggin’ love it. I can’t get over how functional and efficient I am!
Speaking of functional and efficient, I got perhaps the smartest iPhone accessory of them all — a line-in adapter for normal headphones. This super-simple device is a flexible cable with a deep iPod-compatible male adapter on one end, and a female jack on the other end that will accept non-Apple devices.
So we can use our existing two car stereo adapters, plus our computer speakers, with my new iPhone — and we don’t have to spend an extra $200 on Apple-only accessories. (I mean, sure, I’d love an excuse to shop, but I’m friggin’ unemployed and I’m already going to have to pay a contract termination fee with Verizon.)
I was super-pleased to find this, because all the potential mounting costs were freaking me out. (I wanted to get the headphones that allowed you to skip tracks and answer calls without having to dig out the phone itself, plus I wanted the requisite snazzy iPhone case to protect my new baby.) But thank goodness I watched the Apple iPhone instructional video — it turns out the headphones that ship with the iPhone do exactly that, but the mic/button part is so teeny that I didn’t realize! And it also turns out that there are some fabulous and CHEAP iPhone cases on Amazon.com that are pretty much identical to the overpriced and limited selection at my local Apple store. Hooray for doing your research!