<p>After playing with my daughter’s iPhone, I have decided I want one! I have no NEED for one, it would be for fun only. For some reason I have decided I want to have a phone with internet and email. I will be able to count on one hand the number of times I would need to use internet or email, but I want it anyway! I never buy anything for myself, but my husband and kids have all sorts of “toys.” It is time for mom to have something fun :-)</p>
<p>Texting looks like it will be slower for me on the iPhone, much to my children’s delight; but hopefully I will get quicker as I go. I will use the phone primarily for talking and texting(more talk than text,) but I will use the other features. For those that have a iPhone and/or a Blackberry, what is the big difference between the two? My daughter does not like the way the internet looks on the Blackberry; she had a Samsung Blackjack previously. What are the biggest pros and cons for both the iPhone and a Blackberry?</p>
<p>Looking for the easiest for a 50+ year old mom that is somewhat computer savy, but not a real fast learner. I have not played with a Blackberry at all, but I don’t see how it could be cooler than the iPhone!</p>
<p>I love my iPhone (got it a couple months ago). I am getting faster with the texting as I learn to trust the “key board.” I’ve used the internet a lot when out and about… directions, reservations, ordering takeout but can’t remember what’s on the menu… but my best iPhone moment was this:</p>
<p>We went to set up freshman D’s dorm room in Seattle and H was hooking up her laptop to the college server. It asked for her student id and password that we had set up months earlier and that she had “lost.” So, while they were trying to remember the numbers and possible password configurations to no avail, getting more and more frustrated with each other, I quietly got on my iPhone, found her student id on a piece of email, accessed the university website and created a new password. Problem solved. Network up and running. The other alternative was to trek down to some office across campus, show school i.d., which she didn’t even have yet, and trek back. </p>
<p>It really is like a computer in your pocket.</p>
<p>I posted this in the last thread a few days ago. It will give you some good information on the iphone v. Blackberry Storm. The Storm is NOT the traditional Blackberry with keyboard.</p>
<p>I have both a keyboard Blackberry (work) and an iphone. There are many differences. For your purposes, get the iphone. You will love it and you will get better at texting. For a business device, Blackberry still wins out.</p>
<p>I love my iphone. I generally always had the free phone, the hand -me -down phone when one of the kids needed/wanted a new phone and I could make do with whatever still took a sim card and turned on. I used a computer until it died. As the breadwinner, I drove a VW bug when stay-at-home husband drove the Lexis. When the iphone came out, I just wanted an iphone. I had not bought anything for myself in awhile and I just did it. I love it. My sister has a Blackberry and its more like a phone/PDA. Her husband gave up a Blackberry for an iphone after I got mine and never looked back. </p>
<p>We have been ATT since ATT started wireless, so that made it easy for us to keep our family plan, continue to share minutes, etc. </p>
<p>GO for it. You will have fun with it. Texting gets easier. The continuous conversations that run like an AIM conversation are also nice. You will use it more than you think. The maps and traffic info is great. And the new apps are great. I love the weather bug and the weather channel for radar when traveling. I have only free apps, and the reference material, if you have a need, is great.</p>
<p>The Solitaire game I have is amazing. I paid for it (a few dollars) but it is such a great way to mindlessly kill time (doctor’s offices, airports etc).</p>
<p>I love mine. I was hesitant last year when husband suggested we get them for Christmas. Helps me daily. It is often faster to get info at work than our computer system-not saying much. I use gmail to store info. With my iPhone I can search my gmail and bring up info/articles. I love the maps, use it all the time for phone info. Last week I needed to get something that several pharmacies don’t bother with. Went to maps entered the town and Target, got the phone # and called. My husband loves to play annoying games, he loves to punch bubble wrap. Last week a manager at our sister facility deleted the link to a web conference. I forwarded the email to him and we watched without having to call for a new link I also used to have the cheapo creepo phones, would hate to go back to them.</p>
<p>One down side - the battery charge life is pretty poor on the iPhone so you need to plan on recharging it more than you’re probably used to. Some apps, like a couple of GPS ‘distance tracker’ apps I’ve used when on long walks, can suck most of the charge down in less than two hours. The battery’s also not user replaceable which is ridiculous (but I bought it anyway). However, I’ve seen add-on type batteries available that can extend the life if one wants a long time on a charge - like for watching movies on a plane or something.</p>
<p>I have a bowling game that I can’t seem to work right. I can only throw gutter balls. Am I doing something wrong? It’s Flick Bowling by FreeVerse.</p>
<p>It looks like moms love the iPhone! Is this the first “toy” for many of you? I can not believe I am getting excited about getting this phone. I also have always had the cheap phone for AT&T. We have been with AT&T for our cell phone since we had cell phones in 1987. My first phone was a built in to the car; what a dinosaur! While we still have two landlines phones with AT&T, we also have 5 cells phones. The kids forget they can use the landline at home, and their friends don’t have our home number anyway. We are all on a family plan with unlimited text; good thing as my husband can be know to text as much as the kids!</p>
<p>How is the iPhone as a phone? Do do find the reception as good as other regular phones? I have a very slight hearing loss and I worry about the sound quality of the iPhone. I use a bluetooth earpiece as I find I can hear better with it than without. I need to make a call on my daughter’s if I can sneak it away from her. I got in trouble yesterday as I was playing with the texting and sent a text by mistake to no one! I entered my own name in the send to and now she has a contact with my first name; I am listed in her phone under mom, not my first name. I am sure she can delete the contact, but she grumbled anyway!</p>
<p>I have had just about every new device that has come out. I have had a Blackberry since the first ones.
I find that my iphone does fine with calls. A few get dropped, but the last two software upgrades have fixed most of the problems. My son has a lot of problems with phone reception and dropped calls in Philadelphia, but he may have a bad iphone. There are some that need to go back to Apple. I think you will find the sound quality just fine.</p>
The one I have is called ‘iBowl’. It’s one of the top 50 free downloads so it’s easy to find. Whoops - I see there’s also an iBasketball now - I’ll have to try that.</p>
<p>Also on the iPhone, I like the ‘AOL Radio’ free download tfor lots of streaming radio stations.</p>
<p>The other day, I heard a song on a tv show that I couldn’t place. I asked my son if he knew where the song was from. He pointed his iphone at the tv while I replayed it, and told me the name of the song, and the original artist. Really!!!</p>
<p>I think that music recognition software is shazam. My daughter swears by it. MOWC – what’s the name of your solitaire game? I’m currently obsessed with Trism.</p>
<p>3bm103: The name of that app is “Midomi”. It is very cool! You can also just hum a tune into the iphone and get the name. Midomi is also free! </p>
<p>Have not had it long, and I know I only use a fraction of the capability, but i really like my iphone. Have never had/used a blackberry, so can’t compare. </p>
<p>Snowball: you will get faster at texting and the other parts are not difficult to learn. There are tutorials and a downloadable user guide on the Apple site.
[Apple</a> - iPhone](<a href=“http://www.apple.com/iphone/]Apple”>iPhone - Apple)</p>
<p>I’ve had my iPhone now for about a year. I LOVE it. The best part for me is the calendar and address book which wirelessly sync with my macbook. I never have to plug it in, except to download stuff for iTunes. Some hints for battery life - turn off WiFi unless you are going to be using it (under “settings”. The phone will continuously seek Wifi unless it is turned off. This alone was a huge battery saver for me. Another battery saver is the backlight. You can dim it to about 75% and it will save some battery. The accessories that are vital for me are the rubber case - the iPhone is a slippery sucker! If I want to put it in my pocket, I remove it from the case, but otherwise I always have it on. The other is the iPhone/iPod car charger. Like most battery-powered things, let the battery drain before fully charging it. I check email and text, find restaurants and directions on the road (college visits especially) and never need a computer!</p>