Go Go Gadget Shopping!
Al got me an iPhone for my birthday last year, and though I wasn't as startled or skeptical as when he got me an iPod for Christmas back in 2003, I wasn't really sure I needed one. I was grateful, of course, because I'd never have gone out and gotten one for myself, and as with the iPod, it turned out to be a revelation. (Al's always ahead of me on the gadget curve.)
When the 3GS came out, I drooled over the upgraded camera and video capabilities (and more recently, over the true GPS capabilities that enable golf rangefinder apps), but I decided that the software upgrade was probably good enough for me. There was nothing wrong with my first-gen phone: it still worked perfectly well, still had good battery life, still took perfectly decent photos, and with the software update, now had the feature I'd missed most (copy & paste). No reason to spend money on an upgrade.
Al had talked about how he'd take my old phone and use it as an iTouch when I finally got around to upgrading, but push came to shove when we visited the Apple store yesterday to see if they could fix a screen issue on the Beaner's iPod* and Al started playing a game called Let's Golf on one of the iTouch or iPhone display models. He asked me to buy it on my phone right there in the store.
The Genius Bar was full up, so we made an appointment for the next day (today)... and Al spent the rest of the night alternately saying, "can I use your phone?" and "I think you should get a 3GS tomorrow." (I think this moment might have come sooner if Apple had announced the 3GS in the middle of our joint Jewel Quest II addiction last spring, but as they didn't, we just fought over the phone. Now, of course, there are upgrade options that hold out the prospect of happiness for both of us.)
And so it was that I ended up getting an iPhone 3GS today when we went in for our Genius Bar appointment. The two test photos I took in the store were lost when I synced my new phone with my old phone's settings, but I plan to try out the camera in earnest tomorrow. I've already taken my first goofy video and been fairly stunned by the audio quality. It also feels zippier, and I haven't even given the 3G network a real test yet—the zippiness is mostly in the typing, paging, and app-switching.
So once again I'm grateful to Al for giving me the shove. And I'm hoping the work that looks like it'll be coming my way will pay for it. (I haven't seen anything on paper yet, but we've agreed on money and are now talking start date over e-mail. That's a good sign, I think.)
*Yes, he has an iPod. It was a Christmas gift from my sister—one that we were not totally in favor of at first—but it's turned out to be pretty great. I put music on it originally, and Al loaded on a few Blue's Clues episodes. Since then I've added several audiobooks (he's particularly fond of Arthur's Audio Favorites), and car trips have never been the same. He switches among music, audiobooks, and shows as he chooses (and he *does* switch; it's not all tv shows and movies), sometimes announcing, "hey Mom, Liam Finn!" or singing a Ralph's World