Living with the iPhone

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

In between jobs, I'm lucky to have a few weeks off for vacation. My first destination was Iowa City, Iowa, m hometown. Iowa has been great for fiber optic connections and is not as rural as one would expect. That said, my parents don't have a broadband connection instead opting for a quaint dial-up connection. Lucky for me, EDGE network as actually faster than my parent's desktop computer.

But, the iPhone proved a lifesaver when it came to a very Iowa pastime - a presidential election event, i.e., an appearance by Sen. Barrack Obama. Somehow I ended up on-stage with him, one of those people standing behind a candidate as they talk about this or that. Of course, I wanted to take pictures and I brought my trusty camera with me. But, there was one catch - I forgot my battery in its charger - d-oh!

Ah, but the iPhone with its camera managed to save me and capture a few snapshots of this event, including the backside of a potential president. It turned out that local media caught some far better pictures of the event, but still, it was nice that I could at least snap a couple as I am far less likely to forget my iPhone than my camera.

Here are the pics from the iPhone.

This morning I saw a man with an iPhone run the San Francisco Marathon. I was using my trusty iPod Nano with the Nike+ feature instead. There was something about the iPhone that wouldn't allow me to even bring the iPhone to the race. I wouldn't check it in with my sweats, much less wear it on my arm as I run 13+ miles. I would fear losing it or breaking it. So, I went without phone - which caused me to miss one of my friends at the finish line.

This leads me to think that this fellow iPhone-laden marathoner had: (1) purchased one of the raft of iPhone cases as part of the accessories that have flooded the market recently and, (2) really embraced the iPhone as his go-to device under all circumstances. I'm not sure how I'd feel if someone called me after the 10th mile, but it'd be an interesting prospect.

But, this lead me to consider to a larger question about how integrated the iPhone gets with our daily lives. There are some like me who wouldn't even check the iPhone in with my things for fear of losing it (it did take about 15 minutes of searching to find my bag filled with my wind pants and sweat shirt at the end of the race) or breaking it. Yet there are others like iPhone man who are more than willing to wear it running an inordinate amount of miles with the ability to browse a page or two, answer a call or catch a SMS text all while running along. The iPhone's capabilities both presents increased social convenience and yet it can also increase social alienation at the same time.

For example, at the Daft Punk concert in Berkeley on Friday with my friends, the iPhone allowed us to text drink orders and locations to each other rather than trying to call them through the noisy din. Also, better yet, we had a camera along too that could allow us to take pictures of the concert/light show. The browser allowed us to look up random trivia about Daft Punk on Wikipedia. For example, did you know that Daft Punk's first album was influenced from attending a rave at Euro Disneyland?

But there is an anti-social element to having an iPhone along in daily life too. Sure you can be inherently social by taking photos, having constant accessibility and having an iPhone as a conversation starter. But, as I've often experienced in the past month, when a friend pulls out their iPhone to text, browse, or what not, it's pretty obvious that your friend is no longer looking at you. And, since the iPhone is both larger and more beautiful than an ordinary cell phone, you really notice when people have broken eye-contact with you to look at a text message, email or webpage that's just loaded.

So what does this mean overall?

Perhaps the iPhone heralds a shift in the way we interact with one another. It's only a part of a larger trend sure, but the iPhone may well lead to people being less social in person, but more social in the abstract, i.e., with people who are not physically present. Worrying about this, I've recently learned that I should try harder to keep my iPhone out of sight and to enjoy the company I am with or to enjoy that bit of in-accessibility, especially when running a road race. (Also, at the movies, anyone checking their iPhones should realize the screen's size makes it a virtual flashlight!)

This is all kind of appropriate because one of the big things Daft Punk 'sang' about was the difference between "human" and "robot" - Where does the line end and start? Add in the new Bluetooth headset to the fray and a truly confusing situation could emerge.

Anway, I've attached some photos of humans and humans pretending to be robots (I think) from the Daft Punk show that I took (obviously) with my iPhone's camera.

Humans (my friends Max and Zach) being social at Daft Punk as captured with the iPhone's camera.

(Credit: Kevin Ho)

More humans (Me and Logan) being social at Daft Punk as captured by the iPhone.

(Credit: Max Tiran)

Humans looking like robots, Daft Punk in concert as captured by the iPhone's camera.

(Credit: Kevin Ho)

One of the joys of the iPhone is its camera.

I didn't think that I'd like it or even use it very much. But in addition to the phone's SMS texting, e-mail and Web-browsing technologies, I've actually used the iPhone's camera feature much more than I thought I would. I've already posted a few photos on this blog, but here are some more random pictures and thoughts.

(1) The iPhone camera works best at moderate light and is great at capturing stealthy candid shots, which are the best ones, I think. In low light, however, the iPhone's pictures are grainy, so hold your camera very still if you want to get a decent picture.

Hold your iPhone camera still in low light.

(2) Random people have asked me at random places to take photos of, well, random things (as with the woman in the post office who asked me to take a picture of her pet parrot).

Yes, in the post office!

(3) The iPhone is sturdy enough to go on bike rides in various forms of "pockets" and pouches that biking spandex allows you. In testing the EDGE network (which is slowly improving, I swear) during bike rides, I've used the iPhone with sweaty and greasy hands after riding on uneven roads. Also, even though I may be exhausted, the iPhone's user interface is still very simple and easy to use.

(4) Self-portrait pictures are doable with the iPhone's camera, but you have to learn some muscle memory to remember where the virtual 'shutter release' is on the iPhone. Perhaps, a future option for controlling the iPhone's camera would use the home key as the shutter release.

(5) Once you get your iPhone out in a social setting (better yet if you have two other friends who have theirs too) people will want to look at them, so don't have any incriminating e-mails, pictures or text messages on your iPhone for all to see.

More attention was paid to Zach's iPhone than the sushi.

A candid picture of Zach at Dolores Park Cafe in San Francisco.

(6) The iPhone allows you to take pictures of people who wouldn't otherwise ordinarily agree to have their pictures taken, and it allows you to take pictures at times you wouldn't ordinarily consider. It's small, subtle and doesn't look like an imposing camera with a zoom lens the paparazzi would use. Take advantage of this. In other words: spontaneity.

(7) San Francisco is an amazing and picturesque place--where else would there be free symphony concerts in the park, parrots in the post office, a massive park to bike through that empties out onto the beach?

The S.F. Symphony in the park, as captured on the iPhone. Too bad it doesn't have video functions.

The Conservatory in Golden Gate Park, as captured on by my iPhone.

The iPhone's 2-megapixel camera provides decent-quality pictures. But what's really cool and useful is its seamless integration with the built-in e-mail functions or the iPhone's ability to sync with programs like iPhoto or Google's Picasa. This ultimately enables you to share these pictures with a lot of people--and fast.

And, as cheesy as it may sound, the iPhone's camera allows you to share and capture the world around us, really. You can bond, take pictures that you can delete, you can be goofy, you can smile more.

Max and I in the middle of a bike ride at Ocean Beach (a self-portrait too!).

A captured moment: Smile!

I know that in the future, the camera will have a higher resolution, a flash, an image stabilizer and video functionality. I will be sure to get that version of the iPhone as quickly as I got this one.

Inexplicably, three of my friends and I ended up at the Fisherman's Wharf Hooters in San Francisco last week after we got our iPhones.

We actually went there for the food--no, really. We wanted buffalo wings, and where else to go but Hooters? Anyway, the usual siren-like charm of the waitresses went unnoticed by us. From my understanding of how it works at Hooters, usually the customers fawn over the waitresses, who are the objects of desire. Well, this day it was the complete opposite, since the ogled became the oglers as soon as we whipped out our objects of desire--erm, our iPhones.

After their giggling and squealing, the girls insisted we take pictures of them using our iPhones. Being the nice guys we are, we obliged. I've posted some of those pictures here so you can judge the quality of the 2.0 megapixel camera. As we took them, I swore I could see looks of envy of the other iPhone-less guys at Hooters, but I may have been imagining it. (I suppose if one is so inclined, the iPhone is a great mack-daddy device: get their phone number, picture, email, take notes about them, wow them with useless trivia as accessed via the Internet?)

Telling my other friends the Hooters story required the use of the iPhone's Camera Roll feature. And this is where I have found my first consistent iPhone-crashing bug that requires a full reset. The Camera Roll feature is pretty dang cool. Most of the time the feature allows you to flick and flip through pictures with impunity, all the while only using your fingers. You can resize, rotate or drag. You can email, add to contacts and just generally be paparazzi-like. That said, there are pictures--in this case the ones of the Hooters waitresses--that when accessed will literally stop the iPhone in its tracks. After I get to the Hooters girl picture it's no longer possible to move forward, zoom or, well, do anything. Pressing the "home" key does nothing. The girls are just there on screen, staring and smiling at you. (One time, however, the screen went blank, only to be replaced with white and yellow stripes. I'm not sure which is worse).

I soon discovered the only solution was to do an iPod "reset" function, as adapted for the iPhone. This consists of holding the "home" key and the upper right switch down at the same time for 8 full seconds. It was the 8 seconds that got me at first--I thought it was 5.

This got me thinking: These girls sure are pretty and could conceivably stop traffic in its tracks, but it's another thing for them to stop the iPhone in its tracks.