The Verizon iPhone

I am not what you would call a cellphone junkie. I never cared to have the latest and greatest model. It is not because I don’t like gadgets because I most certainly do. If I had deeper pockets or stopped feeding my children my home would be outfitted with a lot more electronic gear than it is today. It is kind of funny to me that my son doesn’t realize that his father is much more of a gear head than I appear to be. The television in our living room is a 26″ beast that has been servicing our needs for about 13 years now. Every now and then I think about replacing it, but there are always things that get in the way, like tuition.

The cellphone, er smartphone is a different story. I switched from a basic phone to the Palm Treo five years ago and never looked back. The Treo and I enjoyed a solid two year relationship that was marred by a few hiccups, such as its proclivity for dying every six months. Eventually I tired of its antics and moved over to a BlackBerry, the worldphone.  It was a great change and I was very happy. It was Jack, the BB and Verizon a stalwart trio if ever there was one. The iPhone was introduced somewhere around this time and many people I knew made the move.

I did not. I had a bad experience with AT&T and their network a while back and saw no reason to switch. I watched as iPhone mania took over and admit that there were times that I wanted one. I listen to music constantly and wished that my iPod could be my phone too, but still I didn’t switch. RIM made my life easier by working out a relationship with Apple. So when I upgraded my BB to the then new Curve I was able to move 500+ songs to my phone.  And life was good again. But slowly I found myself growing weary of some shortcomings with the BB.

It was exacerbated by the happiness that many people found with their Driod phones. I was very impressed with the Droid X that @blindreviews showed me. That sucker is pretty cool and for a while I thought about picking one up. The main thing that kept me from switching is the price. Verizon simply charged far more than I wanted to pay for it.  One of these days I have to share my thoughts on how we are gouged by the cellphone providers, but that is a story for a different day. Anyhoo, the Droid X and I merely shared some flirtatious glances across a crowded room and I thought that would be it. I would wait a bit longer for the price to drop and then pick one up.

Except, I find myself intrigued with the idea of the iPhone. Now that it has made it over to Verizon I see myself eyeing that sucker and thinking about its sweet siren song. I am not a Mac person. Aside from the iPods there are no Apple products here, but I admit that there is something attractive about it. So I was intrigued to read what David Pogue thinks about the Verizon iPhone.

And to answer everyone’s question, the Verizon iPhone is nearly the same asAT&T’s iPhone 4 — but it doesn’t drop calls. For several million Americans, that makes it the holy grail.

That certainly catches my eye as does this:

In general, the Verizon and AT&T iPhones are identical. Same sleek, thin, satisfying, plastic-free body — all glass and metal. Same gorgeous, high-resolution screen — 960 by 640 pixels. Same battery life — you’ll need a recharge every night. Same camera on the back, which can take 5-megapixel stills or excellent hi-def video — the flash doubles as a video light. Same low-resolution camera on the front, suitable for Wi-Fi videochats, using Apple’s FaceTime software for iPhone or Mac.

Even the prices are about the same. The 16-gigabyte phone costs $200 with two-year contract. The monthly service costs, for example, $70 for unlimited voice calls, plus $20 for 5,000 text messages, plus $30 a month for unlimited Internet use. (Verizon says that it will soon eliminate that unlimited plan, just as AT&T recently did. Instead, you’ll pay something like $25 a month for 2 gigabytes of Internet data. Good luck figuring out how much that is.)

The single new feature in Verizon’s iPhone is Personal Hotspot, where the iPhone becomes a Wi-Fi base station. Up to five laptops, iPod Touches or other gadgets can get online, using the phone as a glorified Internet antenna.

Although, I have to concede that the price is still far above what I want to pay. The monthly service charges are significant, even though for me they are business related I never forget that I still have make the payment each month. Nor have I forgotten Apple’s proclivity for introducing new phones three days after the old one comes out. So I think for the time being I may sit and wait a bit longer. There really isn’t  a rush and I still haven’t decided about the touchscreen. I have big hands and there is something nice about having actual keys to press.

Decisions, decisions.

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8 Comments

  1. subWOW April 1, 2011 at 9:42 pm

    I have been following (cough stalking cough) you through your posts and you got an Android phone right and you are happy with it right? Your excitement over Amazon cloud is actually quite understandable. This sounds like the beginning of a real virtual existence…

    • Jack April 3, 2011 at 9:16 am

      I did. I purchased a DroidX and I love it. It has been outstanding. I miss how fast the email was at delivering my email and the battery life is a hair short, but otherwise I am very happy.

  2. Aidan Donnelley Rowley February 4, 2011 at 7:19 am

    Decisions, decisions. Isn’t this what life is all about? I applaud your patience and thoughtfulness. I am the absolute opposite. When there is something new, I want it. Just like a kid!

  3. Wolf Pascoe February 3, 2011 at 5:20 pm

    Like you, I loved my Treo. Instead of the BB, I got an iTouch and a separate (non-smart) Verizon phone. I’m going to wait for the iPhone 5.

  4. Erica M February 3, 2011 at 12:27 pm

    You are a responsible family man. That said, treat yourself to new gadgetry every once in a while. A dad with a 13-year-old TV deserves the latest of something.

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