Within the span of the weeks since I last wrote about the iPhone, its ubiquity has grown even more. Sales are through the roof. iPhones and PDAs have been used in jury trials or should I say mistrials. Half of all web mobile device traffic is conducted on iPhones. Applications are blossoming. More goodies such as the 3.0 OS are in the pipeline. Even my die-hard Verizon holdout friends have made the switch to the network that constantly drops calls.
I've settled into a comfort, perhaps even complacency, with the iPhone of late. I used to be a worrier about not being contactable. When I used to travel I used to fret about not having my laptop along. Now I could care less; I still have access to my email, news and AIM/Gtalk via the iPhone. In fact, my laptop's power supply has been broken since November and I am only now getting around to replacing it. The comfort of being enabled and connected by pulling out this amalgam of plastic, silicon, metal and glass is both a blessing and curse. Good in that you can be contacted almost always, but bad because you can almost always be contacted!
But more practical concern is that iPhone has become increasingly valuable as a repository of, well you and your information. Losing it could be costly in terms of personal information in the hands of a stranger and it can be costly in real money terms. Being a risk averse lawyer I've taken the step of having a passcode on my iPhone. At least I have a fighting chance at protecting my information. But, if an iPhone is lost or is stolen, it would cost $500 to replace it. Neither AT&T or Apple sell insurance or has a non-warranty replacement plan. Also, iPhones are not typically covered under your homeowner's insurance unless it is subject to theft or fire. So when ill befalls your iPhone who do we look to?
Recently, thanks to a targeted Facebook ad, I switched to State Farm for my car (the Good Neighbors slogan people) and found out that there is such a thing as iPhone insurance against loss or theft. Praise be State Farm.
So the logistics: State Farm sells iPhone insurance so long as it is tied to a personal effect like a laptop or something like a musical instruments (bicycles do not count sadly, but furs do apparently). The premium for my laptop and my iPhone (16 GB) was $35 a year. It makes sense that someone is finally selling iPhone insurance because they are everywhere. It must also be a good market sector to get into - the moral hazard is relatively low now because of people are used to safeguarding their iPhones, lest they have to bear the costs of replacing it. Now, there's one less thing to worry about. Hope I'll never have to use it.
As per usual, at the most inopportune time when I was already running late, I decided to sync my iPhone as I was getting ready to leave home today. Like clockwork, iTunes asks me if I'd like to update to Firmware 2.1. Would I? Unlike last time, I actually downloaded the update and took off to make my a Saturday class.
During a break, my fellow iPhone-laden class attendees got out their iPhones to check email, text messages and voicemail and the discussion turned to Firmware 2.1.
"Did you get it?" one fellow classmate asked eagerly.
Some of us had, and others, like me, had not. The only visual difference the few of us noted was that the iPod's song listings now listed the artists as well as the song title. But it was funny that we were talking about a firmware update like schoolgirls gossiping as the discussion quickly shifted to cool iPhone applications. Seismographs to levels to games....
On the way home, however, I ran into two of my friends who work at an Apple Store here in the Bay Area. One is a general floor rep and the other a Genius Bar rep. Both were touting the update as getting a new iPhone (essentially making the life of the Genius Bar rep a whole lot easier, me mused).
From what I've gathered from everyone I talked to today about the update (the whole point of non-geeky types talking about a firmware update is not lost on me) is the following: Somehow, Apple has increased 3G performance AND improved battery life in one fell swoop. Perhaps, some theorized, Firmware 2.1 has addressed 3G network access issues that drains battery life. Whether this involves AT&T slackening 3G access standards or if the change is on Apple's end doesn't really matter to me. The details behind the conclusion aren't critical to a lay user like me and my classmates. We saw a Firmware 2.0 iPhone placed next to a 2.1 and noting that 3G reception on the 2.0 was 2 bars while the 2.1 iPhone had 5 bars. Really? More bars everywhere for everyone AT&T?
Can't wait to see if this Firmware update finally makes good on AT&T's slogan of 'fewer calls dropped,' which has, thus far, rung hollow with the iPhone 3G.
Newly minted iPhone 'owners' with the Facebook app
(Credit: Kevin Ho)This morning Facebook told me that 27 of my friends had downloaded the iPhone Facebook application. 27 out of 300+ is a good chunk of people and speaks to the fact that more and more people are getting iPhones. Of course, this is only if they can be patient to wait at least 2+ hours in line and if a given Apple/AT&T store actually has them in stock. It's hard to imagine that this has been going on for at least two weeks.
Anyway, I clicked the link to see who actually downloaded the Facebook iPhone app. Not surprisingly, they were overwhelmingly male techie types. But, looking at the roster of friends, I was surprised to see some of my iPhone-less friends there. For example, John and Jesse do not have iPhones, but, according to Facebook, they do indeed have one. I know that these two didn't wait in line for 2 hours to get one. Did they get one magically? What these two really did was to check Facebook messages or send updates on someone else's iPhone. But having done so, they've been imputed iPhone ownership by Facebook.
This bug is indicative of the buggy nature of the iPhone Facebook app. After an update last week, I've noticed that the app has crashed more frequently. Taking and sending pictures to Facebook is dicey. Forget the geo-tagging feature. Friend status updates are now for "unknowns." Somehow "unknown" is fitting given that the most random people from high school (and sometimes their mothers) who I don't recalling ever talking to, are now sending friend requests; I may have known them 10 years ago, but now? There must be a fix coming, right? Hopefully they can merge the elegant mobile version of Facebook into the clunkier app version.
Who are these people? The iPhone Facebook app keeps me guessing who my friends are
But, what's more unnerving is that as iPhones and Facebook become more ubiquitous, storing more information about you, tracking your data and processing them as cookies for targeted ads, you have to wonder. Other people whom you haven't seen in years are, well, looking you up (depending on your privacy settings of course). While it may not be a big deal attributing iPhone ownership to those who don't have them, other possibilities with more significant consequences loom that may mistakenly send the wrong message to the world.
Instead of trying to scrawl down lyrics, doing a search on Google (only to be lead to some bizarre lyric website repository that may or may not work, all the while offering me free ringtones and ceaseless pop-up ads), with Shazam's app, I've actually found songs by, well, listening to them. Shazam is slick. You hear a song, start the app, hold your iPhone's mic up to the sound source and viola! It's been 'tagged' and identified like a wild bird you caught on Animal Planet. Another app by Midomi even lets you hum a tune in, search by title, artist and even lets you listen to samples.
Sending the sample for off-site sonic analysis, querying the proper artist remotely, album art and sending a response back to your iPhone in less than 10 seconds is pretty dang slick. The sample time itself is only about 12 seconds! Once you get your result, you can bookmark it, and, if you're in a WiFi hotspot, launch iTunes to buy the song. Most popular songs are on these services. Shazam doesn't work in loud places like clubs, bars or restaurants, but works well in cars or at home.
What these services haven't been able to do, however, is to analyze classical music. I've tried a few times. Shazam says the Beethoven Fifth Symhony is "unrecognized." What would Ludwig say? After humming the piece into Midomi, I got the strangest country folk song in response. This isn't surprising. There are very long phrases in classical music and it makes even die-hard fans puzzle as to "what was that piece?" Having these services decipher classical music presents a lot of challenges. First, recordings of pieces are almost nearly indistinguishable especially if you only had a 12-second sample of them. Also, unlike pop music, where there is one artist performing one song (sure there are cover versions), with classical you have hundreds of ensembles, conductors and performers spanning 50 years of audio recording doing the same 'song' over and over again. For example, there are more than 200 recordings of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony alone!
When (or if) classical music can be deciphered by these types of services it will probably be a great engineering feat. Progress, if this is ever attempted, would probably be incremental. First, identifying a particular symphony, concerto or quartet is, in itself, very difficult. Next, identifying the particular recording will be staggering. All those ensembles and conductors perform pieces many times over leading to various versions and editions that would be a morass of data to sort through. While there's probably not a market demand for this type of service or application, it may serve as Shazam or Midomi's Everest.
How 1.0 iPhones use battery life with the 2.0 firmware and all those tantalizing applications is something that may be worth considering against the iPhone 3G's voracious appetite for power. During the past weekend, as new applications get tested out, I've seen the iPhone 3G use more and more power with the charge indicator gradually slipping away, ultimately flashing the "low battery" warning. This warning wasn't something common with the 1.0 iPhone I had. In fact, I had never seen that "low battery" indicator even after 7 days of camping-like condition on the AIDS Ride.
Of course, with 3G, improved sound quality, GPS locating, and very loud ringer, it would make sense that battery life would suffer. Short of putting a stick of plutonium in the iPhone 3G, it would seem a safe bet that power chargers will get a good workout with the iPhone 3G. Invariably, battery fatigue will soon follow and Apple will have a secured a revenue stream of captive iPhone users who will eventually shell out $80 for battery replacement. That or third-party chargers for cars (or solar chargers) will see increased sales. Either way, this is where the 3G falls short.
Loopt has an appealing application that allows you to track your friends and allows them to track you on a graphic map. It's kind of like a GPS-sonar radar that I've just discovered on the iPhone 3G. But, is this application really more like an electronic leash? Will your significant other track you? Will moms and dads track their children this year? Yes, Loopt has an extensive privacy policy that discourages/prohibits kids under 14 years old from using the service, but even one of my most 'public' friends (both online and in off-line) was actually hesitant about installing Loopt on his iPhone 3G. Disclosing your location to a third-party seemed to bother him greatly. The thought is that if you're near a store that is having a special you may get an SMS-text bulletin or coupon. The ultimate direct-marketer's dream once Loopt obtains some demographic information. Your movement patterns are one thing, but add-in your physical location, shopping patterns, travel patterns... You've become a human cookie.
To me, it's not necessarily the third-parties I'd be concerned about, but would disclosing your location to first-parties, i.e. your friends and family, be the best thing? We are all entitled to privacy of course. (Well, penumbras of privacy under the Constitution). Some choose to have Dick Cheney-like undisclosed location privacy, while others have Martha Stewart ankle-tracker privacy. But, balancing privacy requires takes a certain amount of prudence (or sanity perhaps) that will evolve as the line between public and private blurs even more. At least, at this point, Loopt allows you to opt out and only updates your location when the application is launched. What happens then you can't opt out any more? That'll throw all of us for a loop. (Sorry for the pun).
Was it worth the wait? The 5-hour phone service/text/data outage? Do you really have to get the new iPhone on the first day? The first weekend? From a rational point of view, the answer is probably not. But, from an admitted early-adopter Apple-phile, a resounding hot tamale train YES is the answer. But, this is not without caveats of course (battery life, hassle, and jittery/buggy application crashes). Overall, the new iPhone 3G is slick. The applications (which work 90 percent of the time) are even slicker (many worth special attention to come in the next few posts). Sound quality is much improved. The handset feels bigger, but is lighter. It's more than a refinement over 1.0, but I wonder if that has to do with the 2.0 firmware update that allows those long-awaited, legitimate third-party application bringing in outside innovation.
iPhone 1.0 say hi to iPhone 3G
(Credit: Kevin Ho)In any case, with the white 3G version that yours truly got, people stop and notice and ask questions like they did last year. Today, I've already had two people stop and ask about the iPhone when they noticed it wasn't the typical one that we all have grown accustom to seeing. Sure, they've seen iPhone before, but when they spotted this one, which is different (it's white for Pete's sake) they stopped and asked to see it and the new applications with a lot of attention paid to the GPS-maps feature (deservedly so).
The fact that people stop, look and ask, and that there are still long of people willing to spend part of their weekends in line is pretty fascinating - even given the tough economic that 2008 had over 2007. As the Field of Dreams quote goes: If you build it, people will come.
It didn't take a check of other CNET stories to confirm that Apple/AT&T's registration servers have either went back to bed or checked out early on a Friday. After the cheers at 8:00 a.m. the line moved less than 20 feet within the first hour. There were at least two announcements from Apple reps (one in a utila-kilt even) that things are "a little bit slow," because of the "overwhelming demand." An insistent, we could always come back later was touted too.
At one point, I was getting discouraged. The Apple Store'ss WiFi connection was increasingly out of range as the line arced around itself. Laptop batteries were fading. Many with iPhones in line started to look antsy and bored too. A geek 2.0 shantytown was at risk of developing. Gripes about AT&T and it's 'ease' of in-store activation were heard. And yet, the line grew longer and added more people. Somehow, the line started to move - or maybe it was just my turn...
But, after 2.5 hours of waiting I was in! And yes, the white 16-gig iPhone 3G was indeed available. "Mike" my handy Apple assistant told me stories of the various difficulties that AT&T has presented to its new and existing customers. Rightly so, as I had to talk to an AT&T rep about my upgrade. Eventually, I won. But others in the store weren't so lucky. One customer apparently dropped his new iPhone 3G and returned it wanting another one. After processing that return, moments later AT&T told the customer he was no longer eligible for the 'incentive' upgrade pricing. Oops.
As for my iPhone is still begging to be connected to iTunes and I have yet to snych it yet. So, more to come. But at least I have one. And it was tax-free too.
Strangely, I found myself with 30 minutes of free time yesterday. And, instead of doing something productive, I found myself drawn to watch the latest 30-minute iPhone 3G video from Apple.
Sure, it's that same creepy guy from last year, and this time, he looks even more CGI-generated than last. I think he gained some weight too. But, the new features made up for the the excessive use of "most advanced," "incredible" and other doped-up adjectives. Those are 30 minutes down the tubes watching this man, but, the 3G iPhone does look pretty enticing. No idiotic recessed earphone jack (a 'redesign,' really?), mass-email edits, Exchange services, slick Stek Trektricorder-like GPS tracking, finally allowing legitimate third-party innovation via applications... the list does go on. The bells and whistles showcased here did partially counter the weariness I've heard some of my friends fret about the ritualized procedures (and fee increase) that AT&T seems to have imposed on the 3G iPhone launch.
This year many riders in the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the LA Gay and Lesbian Center's annual 7-day AIDS LifeCycle bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles were toting iPhones - tucked away in their spandex or in their Bento boxes on their bikes.
The iPhone was the mose commonly spotted PDA, but man riders had Blackberry devices too. In any case, having a PDA was a great way to keep up with news and to send out updates about our trek's progress. Each day the Ride featured 2500+ riders cycling more than 70-100-plus mile routes. And, at the end of the day, a massive tent city would be set up in such exotic locales as Lompoc, California, which were no more than large grassy fields or state parks. Power sources were very, very scarce if even available. So, in addition to complaints about sore backs, sit ones and tight quad muscles, many iPhone-laden riders noted the battery life was pretty dismal. When there was an errant plug-in found at the park it was immediately swamped with chargers and extension cords to get some precious electricity.
Not being able to plug-in, many ALC riders tried using solar chargers, others like me, only turned it on sporadically during the day, but even after 7 days of doing that my "low battery" warning light popped up by Day 5 of the Ride. For those using solar chargers mounted on helmets, backpacks or tents, a full charge wasn't too common, but a 1/3d to 1/2 charge was possible, enough to get by with conservative use of the iPhone. I preferred not being plugged-in as the Ride itself gave me enough to think about: what was that, another mountain to climb?
But, once again, having a camera phone that can email was great. In addition to being able to keep loved ones and supporters updated via SMS/twitter updates, this year Riders could send pictures of the stunning views from the various mountains we climbed, of the coast and of each other that we were afforded. Also, the quasi-GPS (slated to be replaced soon by iPhone-the-second) still gave us a sense that we were in the middle of no where on some days of the Ride. All in all a great device to have on the Ride, which in itself was an incredible experience.
Already looking to next year's Ride, a rider from a Bay Area solar panel and power company promised to have a service truck vehicle topped off with solar panels to soak up the sun and to offer riders a charge station for their cell phones, camera batteries and PDAs. He was already beta testing it this year with other iPhone Riders and it looked to have worked just as well as commercially available solar chargers. But within a year, he promised the technology to be improved. And, knowing how a year can change everything, ALC 8 may become even more plugged-in.
My friend Zach sends an image on the AIDS Ride somewhere in the middle of the California coast on his iPhone
From just outside of Ventura, the iPhone's camera allowed ALC 7 Riders to send updates to their supporters
