I have been wanting to get a smartphone for quite a while. After going to the BlogHer conference I am finally convinced that I need a smartphone. After my most recent One to One session at the Apple store I am seriously leaning toward the iPhone. What am I waiting for? I am waiting for iCloud and iPhone 5. Whether this will be September or October, which everyone is trying to guess, doesn't matter to me. I am sure that iPhone 5 and iCloud will come out before the Christmas shopping season unless there are some really serious technical issues. So what has finally convinced me to get an iPhone?
My involvement with computers has always been from a hardware perspective. I have been studying networking through a Cisco CCENT and Network+ perspective and building and repairing computers from an A+ and volunteer teacher's aide perspective. A phone has always been just another piece of hardware to me. I own an older iPod touch that has been nice but it has not been a computer replacing experience. The iPod touch can connect to the Wi-Fi in the building at work and it can play music in the car. The iPod touch apps have mostly been a fun experience but nothing life altering. Most of the apps go on the iPod and are used for about two days and are then forgotten after that. I like to play games on my computer but the iPod game apps are something (luckily) that just don't interest me. I tried to use my iPod to study with but eventually the small screen just wore me down. My small netbook cost about the same as an iPod touch and it is just so much more useful. Adding a phone functionality to the iPod touch would be nice but not for and extra fifty dollars a month for a data plan on top of the cost of a phone plan. That extra six hundred dollars a year could be used to buy some other shiny new toy or something even practical. The smartphone looked like a luxury to add to a digital life but not as a replacement for a computer as the media has been trying to hype. I guess that is why I never bought into the idea of having a smartphone because from a hardware and software perspective a smartphone is not the equal of a computer. I am not convinced that the smartphone is the "new" computer. What I am convinced of is that the smartphone is a new tool that adds to the computer experience and gets people connected. The BlogHer conference convinced me of that.
I went to the BlogHer conference because I was looking for advice and ideas for this new blog. I found out on a Monday about it and went that Saturday. I brought a camera, some quickly made up business cards and my old cell phone. I like my camera but it was always in the way. I like my old cell phone but it was there just in case and it never got used. The business cards came in handy with connecting with people but something was missing. I was still kind of disconnected the whole time I was there. I wasn't able to connect to my blog to do even a short post. I could have brought my netbook but then I would have had to bring a backpack too. I wasn't able to surf the Internet in order to search for people's blogs either. I came across some interesting blogs but I had to wait until I got home after the conference to look at them. There were times I needed to put my camera away. It would have been nice to have a camera that was easy to carry in my pocket that would take still photos or video. It would have been nice to use the BlogHer app instead of carrying a program guide.
With a smartphone I could have saved myself a lot of hassles. I was disconnected without a smartphone not only from the resources I needed for myself but also from other people as well. Two times I was asked to tweet about a product in order to win a free gift. No smartphone, no Internet connection and therefore I had no way to tweet. I have resisted getting involved heavily with social networking media. I tried MySpace a while back but could never get into putting embarrassing photos and comments up on the Internet that will stay there forever. Well, I am doing a blog now so being connected is finally important to me. BlogHer stressed to me that once you start to get connected on the Internet with a blog all the social networking platforms are important to get involved in. A month ago Google+ wasn't that interesting but at BlogHer I jumped at an invite to Google+. BlogHer convinced me to get up to date and therefore get connected by buying a smartphone. So which smartphone should I buy?
I am waiting for the iPhone 5 and iCloud to come out before I make a final decision but the iPhone seems like the likely winner. I like the Apple Store One to One training sessions. One of the best decisions I made was to pay the extra hundred dollars for the One to One training when I bought my MacBook. Those One to One training sessions not only cover the computers but also the iPods, iPhones and Apple TV products as well. The one bad thing about One to One is that you can only get it by buying a computer and adding it at the time of purchase of that computer. You can't buy an iPhone and then get the One to One training sessions. Apple should really consider changing this as a marketing strategy. Once you take a One to One session you get plugged into all the Apple products. Training in one product shows how it connects to other Apple products and therefore sells more products to the trainee. Some people only want a smartphone. If Apple offered the One to One training package on the iPhone then those users might turn around and buy a MacBook or Apple TV. Apple would sell more products but I don't think they want to admit that their products require training. When you go in an Apple Store one of the selling points is that you "don't need training" because their products are so much better than Microsoft or Google. Apple should ditch the sales pitch and bundle the One to One training with all their products over a certain price and provide it as an option to buy for less expensive products. If I could have bought that training with my iPod touch I would have bought my MacBook a long time ago.
This is one thing that Google (Android) doesn't have going for it. They can offer a product that is "better" than Apple's but if you don't know how to use it then those extra features do you no good. Google can post detailed instructions or great videos explaining how to use their products but there is nothing like having someone show you how. A lot of people will say that smartphones are "intuitive" and easy to use. I have run into lots of people at work that have questions about their smartphones, iPhones included. Once they leave the sales floor where they bought them they struggle. They eventually settle on using a few features and are totally unaware of the others. When they run into problems where do they go? Some people "play around" with their phone until they "get it" but that usually results in a substandard solution. Availability of training is just as important as hardware or software when you buy a product. Apple's One to One sessions let you sit down with a trainer for an hour and ask questions about how to do things. First time smartphone buyers like myself just can't pass this up. There is no equivalent Apple Store One to One training experience for Google/Android users. Microsoft's phone is still getting off the ground as well as their stores. Does BlackBerry have a similar store and training experience? Except for Microsoft trying to offer training in the few stores they have on their products Apple seems to have the only training game in town. Microsoft could jumpstart sales of their phone by advertising free training with their smartphone in order to get a bigger piece of the market. Apple should beat them to the punch and make One to One training available to iPhone users and not just Mac users.
The iPhone on its own is a great product. When you pick it up it feels and looks great. It seems to be fairly intuitive to use and my introduction through the iPod touch has helped me feel familiar with it. But the best thing about the iPhone is that when I am in the Apple Store I can not only ask a question of the sales staff, but I can get a one hour private training session on any question I have about it. The best smartphone is the one you know how to use and for me the iPhone fits that description. Maybe down the road I will get an Android but the iPhone seems like a great place to start. Hopefully Apple won't mess up on the new iPhone or on iCloud. I really want to stay with Apple for at least my first smartphone.
