Not really a phone

Thought it might be a good time to share how things have changed so much. I have chucked my front page of my phone here.

Messages - yeah texts nothing new there, however the fact that the messages answer each other in chat style, makes life so easy because you can track a conversation and go back to numbers or information in a snap.

Contacts - nothing new here, not so, these sync with every email, phone and chat address, and they sync with cloud too, so they cant be lost, nice.

Calendar - This is actually seven calendars and they can come from google, .mac, whatever, with all the alarms and reminders that you will ever need, essential.

Camera - still or video, yes nothing new here, however being able to mms, email, mobileMe, youTube, flickr are nice options. It also uses gps to tag the photos.

Compass - This is actually a gimmick, I will never need a compass, but I know where north is (true and magnetic!)

Expt4GDocs - Basically this is a google docs reader, every doc, all my folders, all my shared docs. This is priceless, it doesnt allow editing the docs but I don't care, I have access to everything I need at a snap.

Ping - is texting over wifi or 3g, therefore you can text other ipod or iphone people. It has potential within a school or when overseas and international texts or roaming costs too much. At the moment its only for iphone/ipod but an app like this will grow or skype will reinvent itself to push.

Notes - You can use cool things like evernote (see @mumbleboy no 1 fan) or you can keep notes simple by just writing, sync, email. All good and very useful.

App Store - This a gem, there are thousands of useless things your phone can do and the app store has them all, this is why you need @mumbleboy or macash they sort the rubbish out and install it on their phones and then tell you what are the good apps. Trainspotter heaven. It was only a couple of years ago that finding third party stuff for computers was a nightmare, good old steve has all the third party peeps dying to be part of itunes, nice work steve and you are getting $ from developers, up there for thinking down there for dancing.

Maps - Ok doesn't every man know the city he was brought up in? Not true, Auckland has suburbs called Botany and Danemora, and then if you visit any city in the world you get a map with your location marked, never print a page, its the bomb.

Weather NZ - Everyone is an expert on weather, the problem is not everyone is a golfer, I've gotta have accurate weather. Plus if I bump into an old person I can always say "they reckon its going to rain this weekend" this is usually a sign of knowledge, you know, someone who reads the paper or listens to the wireless.

Settings - You gotta tell your phone what you want it to do.

TVNZ - Not a bad app, actually it beats watching the news, it has the main NZ news with fast loading links to stories and or videos, the sports links are great too. New bits added to this app quite often, big ups to the tvnz generally followers, now leading.

Twitterrific - Ok everyone has their opinions on twitter and or which is the best app to use for twitter. Personally what works for you is all good. This has a very nice search box, the @'s and dm's are great. I am a sucker for nice looking icons and the bird chirps just keep me coming back.

NetNewsWire - My fav iphone app by miles. This is an RSS reader. The desktop app syncs with google reader and the iphone app does the same, the "mark all as read" box is a favourite of mine. To be able to read in your down time with quick and fast access is just brilliant, no book, paper, or computer. You aren't reading a small can't see screen either.

Facebook - Not sure that Facebook is everyones cup of tea, the app is brilliant, no bloody ads or joining this poxy group, take that stupid quiz crap, just keeping in touch and using it the way I want to use it.

Phone - I almost forgot its a phone - ha, someone should tell Vodafone it has other uses.

Mail - Yes you get em all to your phone, and because it pushes you never get double ups. You can VPN if you really want to know who is using the hall in period three. I have found it very useful to delete email on the fly. Really easy to reply, forward, send, receive.

Safari - Useful to be able to browse the internet on the phone, I have found that I use this less and less as the collaboration web 2.0 apps have been released for the phone. The pinch and spread screen thing is brilliant for iphone so you can get to pages that need zooming.

iPod - Can't do without your music? I can, but can't do without my podcasts that I subscribe too. Also the odd episode from the town of Royston Vasey, Green Wing and or the odd youTube video can kill time while on the plane, especially those golf lessons that I need to review every now and then.

So thats one page on the phone, i have another 50 apps, and some of them are just mindless rubbish.

What will kids be holding in fifteen years? Where are we going with these devices,?

It has certainly helped me learn new stuff, helped me find new communities, helped me find new ideas, meet new people, respect my colleagues, appreciate the sharing of peers, stay connected and I can turn it off any time I want!