Yes, I am an early adopter. Computers, gadgets and such are my hobby, so I didn’t give too much thought to the fact that this was my third iPhone in 38 months. And that I actually was quite happy with my iPhone 4.
But, hey, life is short. So I got a 4S yesterday at the Apple Store (reserved it the night before online). That place was like Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve (well, smaller and the people were better dressed), but crazy busy — at noon on Tuesday.
The 4S is exactly the same size as the 4, so for once all your existing (that is, iPhone 4) stuff will fit. Most of the griping two weeks ago about the fact that it wasn’t an iPhone 5 (and therefore “different”) probably came from the after-market vendors — makers of cases and such.
I have only taken one photo so far, but all of the reviews say the camera is terrific, even for video. As good as any $200 camera (but as an add-on in a phone!).
The antenna problem is fixed. You can use the 4S naked. The phone I mean.
It’s faster than the 4. Apps open more quickly.
(But they’re the same old apps.)
Except, of course, for Siri, the voice-activated personal assistant. To my mind this technology is as significant, perhaps more significant than the introduction of the mouse or the touch screen. Human beings could talk long before they could write and eons longer than before they could type. This is the beginning of the end of typing.
Just to experiment.
Me: “Pizza”
Siri: “I found 19 pizza restaurants…13 of them are fairly close to you:” [listed with reviews and distance].
Me: “Directions to Donna’s house”
Siri: “Which Donna? Donna [Surname] or Donna [Surname]?
Me. “[Surname]”
Siri: “Here are the directions to Donna [Surname’s] House” [with distance and map].
Me: “Population of Albuquerque”
Siri: Statistics (via Wolfram Alpha) of population of city, metro area, nearby suburbs, and a graph of change over 100 years.
Last night I was able to text and send emails completely by voice. Blogging will be next.
How soon before Siri is available on my computers? (Of course it already is in other forms, but Apple will make it a must-have.)
There are all kinds of problems in the world, none of which Siri or iPhones will solve. The device is just a tool (and in many ways just a toy). But what a tool! What a toy!
I would give up my iPad without much fuss. I would kill you if you tried to take my phone.
I just recently upgraded to an iPhone 4. (Of course I did!! I’m always a couple-o-hundred bucks behind the next upgrade! Gah!) I like it very much. I just updated to OS5 and like that very much. I am quite envious of the iPhone 4s for only one reason: Siri. It’s sooooooo cool. I listened to an NPR segment on it and laughed out loud. How fun! I’m sure I’ll upgrade (just prior to iPhone 5 and probably the next best version of Siri, knowing how I roll… *sigh*) at some point.
The only thing creepy about it is that, every time I read or hear “Siri”, I can’t help but first think of Suri… and Tom Cruise and what’s her name.
Kinda disturbing.
😉
Kill? Really?
Call me old-fashioned but I like typing things out.
No not really “kill” for a $300 phone. I believe that is what’s known as a rhetorical flourish.
Old-fashioned? You?