How I'm Feeling About Owning An iPhone

"Pretty good."

It's hard to deny that the iPhone is a great gadget. But also the iPhone is obviously a temptation. I bet that $1.99 apps can add up. And, like pretty much anything, it seems to me that the iPhone can be used to aid or to hinder communicating with people.

I am not going to go into any kind of deep reflection on the pros and cons of owning an iPhone. So far, I've mostly liked having it. A few times I have thought it too much of a distraction. For what it is worth, here's my favorite iPhone things to date:

The Essentials: Pictures (I've liked having the camera available), Gmail, Facebook, Tweetie 2, Flickr, Dropbox

Really Like: Logos Bible (free version), GuitarToolkit, Surf Report, 2010 World Factbook, Wikipedia Mobile

Fun Games: Ragdoll Blaster (love physics games!), ... from ustwo, Glaurung Chess

Dangerous: 5-0 Radio (handy to have, not to listen to all day), Doodle Jump (which I didn't put on my iPhone cause I've played it on my wife's iPod - way too addictive)

Anyway, curious about your thoughts on iPhones (or Nexus Ones). Handy tool? Distracting menace? Favorite apps? Horror stories?

Comments

[Jim Van Donsel]

I find my iPhone to be a wonderful tool, and most of my apps are free.

However, in the spirit of your Challenge, wouldn't even "free" items be considered to be possessions?

If you were to spend hours looking over all thousands of free iPhone apps available, downloading some, trying them, getting bored with them, and repeating the process - wouldn't that be tantamount to consumerism, albeit with no money changing hands?

[Ajourneytosimplicity.blogspot.com]

I don't have an iPhone, but I do have a Palm lifedrive. It is a wonderful space saving device... I use it to read books, write notes, as a portable music player, portable video player, scribble pad for my kid, portable game machine.. you name it! I can even surf the Net with it if I want (tho it does suck the battery). I have heard a lot of good things about the iPhone, but my Lifedrive does all that I want to and more for me at present. Great blog btw! Just found you from the article on Time.

[guynameddave]

Jim, totally! I have been trying -- sometimes successfully -- to put some major limits on my iPhone app browsing and purchasing.

I want to say more, but need to process this a bit. In one way, I'd say that the abundance of apps is an example of our consumer culture's insatiable desire for more stuff to alleviate our boredom. But then, the iPhone and many of its apps don't fit that stereotype. So it's probably more nuanced.

[Bob]

It's an interesting question what is "consumeristic", I guess you could say, and what is conducive to a more mindful life. My iPhone apps tend to form more of an external brain, rather than being distractions. For example, I use a calorie counter to help with weight and fitness, a similar app for money management, Yahoo IM to talk with friends and family, and a shopping list-style app.

Having just found the 100 Things idea, I've begun to put it into practice by removing all but one of the time-wasters/games I had picked up along the way. I think i will keep the different music apps, though, they're too useful for working or working out.