My iPhone Experience

Everybody else is blogging about this. Why not me?

So in the weeks and days leading up to the launch, I was certainly "keeping my finger on the pulse" if you will. With everything that Apple was posting along with the plethora of tech blogs, it's amazing how much you could learn about the iPhone before it was even out. And the hype generated by all this coverage was out of control. Some of the notable items:

• The dude who got in line on Monday morning for the Friday launch. Turns out he's a "chronic line sitter".
• Apple updating their site with content and videos throughout the week. I was eating these up.
  
• Guided Tour (Check out the Google Maps feature if you haven't already. It starts around the 18-minute mark.)
  
• How to activate
• How to get ready
• Pretty much every 3rd article at Digg.com was about the iPhone. Each "talk-back" featured an epic battle pitting the Apple fan boys against the haters. Those who were drooling over the phone would "digg" any and all articles onto the front page. And then all the haters would rip the phone apart with their comments. Hilarity ensued. It's hard for me to describe how entertaining this was throughout the week because anti-iPhone types just became more enraged as more iPhone articles came out.
  
• Certain tech reviewers got advanced copies of the phones and everyone flocked to their reviews.
• This crazy story popped up the day before launch. Steve Jobs "pulls an Oprah".
  

Getting the phone

So I spent all day checking various forums and websites to see what the hubbub was around Tucson. Early on, it looked like I might not even have to wait in line at all. I had it on good authority that my chosen AT&T store would have 70 iPhones. At noon, the line was 20 people so all seemed cool. I exercised some serious restraint and didn't make the move to line up til around 4:45pm. In case you didn't know, all iPhones went on sale at (and not before) 6pm local time.

I decided to just walk to the AT&T since it's really a block away. I brought my big iPod and a book. Crazy thing is that, as I was waiting to cross the one intersection I needed to cross to get the store, there was a 2-car accident. I had my back turned so I only heard the initial impact. Everyone was fine, but I actually went ahead and called the police to report the accident. Kind of a weird moment.

ANYWAY I found myself around 40th in line. People were a little nervous about getting one. Quite a few were calling around to check on lines. Eventually the AT&T guy came out and I found that I'd be getting one after a little interrogation. By that time, there was a pretty fair amount of people behind me. Enough people that some who drove up and parked chose to leave and try their luck at another store.

6pm rolled around and they allowed 8 people in the store at once. There was a police officer at the door. He was basically the bouncer. He would let one in after one came out. Slightly annoying for most of us in line were the people that actually shopped once they got into the store. Some would take time to try out the demo units and look at all the cases ... hence increasing our wait time. I got in the store around 7, went straight for the checkout line - "One 8-gig, please." The clerk asked me "do you have any questions?" I couldn't help but reply "No. I know way too much about this thing."

So I walked home and after some chores, began the unboxing and activation. I have to say that unboxing Apple products really is enjoyable in itself. See the picture below. Apple puts so much thought into everything.



I activated the phone with almost no trouble. I had to wait a little longer than expected, but it was probably only around 10 minutes. It looks like I just beat the rush because, as has been reported often, AT&T was not ready to handle so many activations at once. Anyway, I finally sync'd the thing and started to play with it.

My review falls in line with most reviews. Most of all, it's just a gorgeous device. Looking at it and watching it flow through the different menus is amazing. It is certainly lacking some things that many cell phone owners are used to, but the thing to remember is that it's an entirely software-based device. Apple will be releasing free software updates in the weeks/months to come and I'm sure they'll fill in the holes. For me, this thing meets the hype. It's easily the most amazing "gadget" I've ever seen, much less owned.

I look at it like this. It's the most gorgeous iPod Apple has created. It's a handheld MacBook with a touch screen that no one else has. Oh and you can call people with it too if you want.

The aftermath

• Looks like I should have just gone to the Apple store. It's now Sunday morning and just about every Apple store in America still has iPhones. Also, I think the "launch experience" would have been a bit more fun at an Apple store.
  
• Someone chose to spend $600 and then immediately disassemble the thing in order to see its inerds.
• 
• I found the stress tests unbelievably hard to watch, but it's quite the test to watch before you consider buying a case. Looks like you don't need one at all.
• Crazy story about a woman buying a spot in line and intending on buying thousands of iPhones.
• I think this is a very fair review.
• Finally, this is hilarious even when you know that the phone can handle a fall.
  

Roddick and who?

Most random fact you'll ever learn while watching coverage of Wimbledon:

Boyd Tinsley and Andy Roddick are good friends.

My last 5 runs

Nikeplus.com now has a cool thing that allows you to post your runs on things like blogs ... [glances down]

The thing about intervals is ...

If you've ever found yourself on a treadmill, stationary bike, stairmaster or some other type of sweat-generating device, you've probably fallen victim to something that Janeane Garofalo coined "the stair master minute". A stair master minute is any minute spent on the stair master and, according to Janeane, the stair master minute is the longest minute in the world. I figured out how to fight that.

I actually had come to terms with the stair master minute long ago. I actually kinda sorta like cardio. However, I recently started running intervals on the treadmill. My interval as of now is 2 minutes of "jogging" and 30 seconds of "running". The idea being that your running speed is faster than your jogging speed. So in 30 minutes, you run 12 2.5 minute intervals.

So here's the thing about intervals: you spend most of your time hoping that time goes slow. After your "run" time, your "jog" time is meant to allow you to catch your breath. So, when you look at the clock during jog time and you see you only have a minute left before your next run, your natural reaction is "crap, only a minute left." You're hoping the next minute actually goes by slower. And with my interval, four fifths of my time is spent jogging, hence 24 out of my 30 minutes on the treadmill is spent hoping the clock will slow down. 12 intervals later and I'm done. It's pretty wild.

So, if you're interested in switching up your cardio psychology, give intervals a try.

The Funniest Commercial On TV - Vol. 3

Here ya go. If you don't laugh, you don't have a soul.

Mayer Count

Ok, so after this post my blog will basically be just a collection of youtube videos and posts about John Mayer. I didn't mean for it to happen this way. What are you gonna do?

I saw John Mayer again last night in Phx. Click here to read my review. It occurred to me during the show that I should determine what number Mayer show this is for me.

As of 3/3/05, I had seen Mayer 16 times. Let's count it off from there.

17 - in Vegas with the Trio
18 - in L.A. with the Trio
19 - in L.A. with the Trio again
20 - in Phx with the Trio
21 - in Phx opening for Tom Petty
22 - in L.A. with Sheryl Crow
23 - in Phx with Ben Folds (I'd like to thank Blackberry Curve for bringing me this particular show)

Twenty three. I've been seeing him since 2001 so I guess that's about 3.25 concerts a year. I'm fine with that number.

My accent

I know most Americans say "I have no accent", but I know that I do have an accent - an American accent. Apparently what's below gets into a little more detail:

What American accent do you have? (Best version so far) Midland ("Midland" is not necessarily the same thing as "Midwest") The default, lowest-common-denominator American accent that newscasters try to imitate. Since it's a neutral accent, just because you have a Midland accent doesn't mean you're from the Midland.

Click Here to Take This Quiz

Signs

OK, so, if you're one of those people that makes signs and then brings them to professional sporting events (e.g. the NBA Finals), I have a question for you. When you attend a San Antonio Spurs home game and you make a sign that says "What happens in San Antonio stays in San Antonio", what does that even mean?

Seriously.

More Accurate Movie Titles

And now I'd like to present my personal list of movies that I've re-titled for better accuracy. Click on my title to see the actual title.

Remember the Basketball Titans
Remember the Swimming Titans
Out of Sight 2: Now With More Star Power
Armies Vs. Dragons
If You Make Me Watch The End of This Movie, I'll Cry My Eyes Out
I Still Know What You Did Two Summers Ago - think about that one
You Got Served In Atlanta

I know I have more of these that I can't remember right now. I'll try to update later.

I have a new motto

It's official. So You Think You Can Dance is more entertaining than American Idol. Unlike Idol, I'm almost certain I'll watch this show all the way to the end this season. Granted I can't stand the host and the ballroom judge, but the DVR fast-forward button has me covered there. We're currently in the early auditions and they're just as entertaining if not more than Idol.

And that is mostly due to this man. You don't need to watch the whole clip because it gets a little weird when Nigel (the judge) picks a fight with this guy, but I friggin' lost it when the dude declared his new motto. And his few lines before exiting the stage ... the man has comic timing that he doesn't even know about.