Let's talk apps...

[indysteel]

You are all making me want to get an iPhone, something I've successfully convinced myself I totally don't need and wouldn't switch my carriers for. UGH. I need to stop reading about all of this.

I was thinking the same thing. i have a Blackberry Curve that's about 2 1/2 years old. Like Tulip, I really don't want my phone to be a time sink. But then again, there are a lot of handy and fun apps. I'm a Verizon customer, and while I don't talk on my cell phone very often (like maybe once every couple of weeks), I rely on it rather heavily for email, and DH and I use the Internet on it a lot when we're on the road. My biggest concern is that when I've tried to use the "keyboard" on the iPhone, I've found it rather cumbersome.

[SadieKate]

Indy - I've had an iPod Touch for awhile now and just got an HTC Incredible Droid a few days ago. The keyboard is better than the iPod hands-, err, fingers-down. Hubby prefers the Incredible's keyboard also.

[indysteel]

Thanks for the tip, SK. One of these days, I'll replace my Blackberry. I will say this: While the Blackberry isn't nearly as phone, it sure has been problem free. I've been pretty pleased with it.

[Becky]

I will say this: While the Blackberry isn't nearly as phone, it sure has been problem free.

Same here. I'm not really looking forward to the day that I have to replace my Curve...

[Possegal]

Indy - I've had an iPod Touch for awhile now and just got an HTC Incredible Droid a few days ago. The keyboard is better than the iPod hands-, err, fingers-down. Hubby prefers the Incredible's keyboard also.

So can you use all these types of apps on that phone? I admit, I'm totally app-deficient. I'm a bright kid, I swear I am. I just haven't paid any attention to this realm of technology.

[SadieKate]

The Android operating system is from Google and has its own appstore called Android Market. Developers may or may not write apps for both the Apple OS and the Android OS. For instance, Weather Bug is available for both.

There are a lot of brand loyalty preferences so to each his own, but one thing I like about Android is that it is not leashed to one hardware device so you can get it on many different brands. We're watch the tablet computer industry closely to see what comes out for Honeycomb which is the tablet computer OS from Android. I just happen to think that open source is nice because hardware manufacturers can come up with best of breed rather than being tied to one man's (Steve Jobs) ideas.

[Geonz]

I am looking for a tablet myself -- I re-upped for two years with a really simple phone in May, when I found the only online stuff I was doing on my Blackberry was GPS, so I bought a GPS. I'd rather have something that's not tied to my phone, tho' it may end up working out that way... and I, too, would rather not be chained to STeve Jobs. That whole Apple design of "knowing what I want" never quite worked for me; too often I want something a *little* different... That Galaxy Tab might be where the "skipping the vending machine to put this in the jar" money goes...

[indysteel]

Eek. I just read over my last response. "Nearly as phone"? I gotta start proofreading a bit better. Make that nearly as fun.

Possegal, I'm like you. I just can't get my head around some of this. Thankfully, DH keeps me from living in the Stone Age, but it's a struggle for me to keep up. I didn't even have a cell phone until late 2006.

[SadieKate]

Thankfully, DH keeps me from living in the Stone Age, but it's a struggle for me to keep up. I didn't even have a cell phone until late 2006.

I just about fell over when a couple weeks ago my completely non-techy hubby said he almost bought an iPad and then decided to wait to see what the next generation of tablets would bring. He knew enough to know that the 1st gen iPad was only a launching point for an early market share grab.

[OakLeaf]

SK, I'm the same as you, except I've had my Incredible since July. I finally gave up waiting for a Verizon iPhone, and I haven't been a bit disappointed. I didn't have much invested in iPod apps, so no huge loss there, and I was having huge issues syncing my calendar with the iPod.

FWIW, my next door neighbor just got a Droid X and it seems pretty counterintuitive. She thought she could have me show her how to use it rather than RTFM , but the Motorola hardware makes it look a LOT different from my HTC phone. I'm not Ms. Tech, but I couldn't make heads or tails out of it just poking at buttons. DH (who pretty much is Mr. Tech) says that that's just a fail, at this point - you shouldn't have to read the manual.

For some reason DH got me an iPad for my birthday this fall. I'd never have bought one for myself. It is nice for travel, though. Typing on the screen is slow, but it's a whole lot easier than squinting at a phone screen and trying to thumb a phone keyboard, and a whole lot lighter and faster booting than a laptop.

[Possegal]

You are all helping me understand - and glad I'm not alone. I love that I feel I need to state that I am smart, it isn't that this is all above me. Like I need you all to believe that. I feel like that dinosaur who says - no new technologies, I'm done learning new things. Seriously, when did I become my father?

When my older brother showed off his 'smart phone', I realized that the PhD in the family shouldn't have the 'dumb phone', so maybe I should pay more attention. Plus, I do really love gadgets, so it makes me laugh that I keep refusing to pay attention to the smart phones and apps and such. And of course every year will be THE YEAR I finally get myself back into shape. So I love hearing about the apps that folks use for exercising and tracking food. In fact just emailed some to my brother, as the whole getting in shape things seems to be a family-wide goal this year.

[lunacycles]

This American Life app is pretty amazing, if you like TAL--you get their whole audio archive for $3.

Wurdle
Shazam
AllRecipes
Facebook
Google
Flight Control
Carpenter--has a level, ruler, plumb bob--all quite nice for a framebuilder when I can't find mine!
WhiteNoise
Urbanspoon
Pandora, of course

I have never met someone who has gone from Blackberry or Android or whatever to an iPhone, and then gone back, or even wished they hadn't switched. I never liked cell phones or PDA's but my iPhone is really really a great tool. Oh, and there's a phone on it too.