Day 3: MMS = FAIL July 24, 2008
Posted by Pip in General.Tags: frustrations, mms
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I realized that this thing dildnt send MMS (picture) messages, but what I didn’t realize (and should have) is that it can’t receive them either.
It simply never occurrd to me that a phone this advanced and grounded in consumer-level telefuckery would lack even the basic ability to get a picture message.
Epic lame.
What’s more is, when somebody tries, you get a text directing you to log in with a randomly generated username and password. And since iPhone has no cut and paste, and Safari quits when you switch over to the text message app, you’re stuck having to remember not one but two strings that look something like hg5sd1z.
Which is fine when my buddies are trying to send me pictures of their balls, less so at other times.
Day 3: Typing Sucks Less July 24, 2008
Posted by Pip in General.Tags: typing
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Okay, I can admit when I was wrong. I’m still not as fast as I was on the Blackberry, or as accurate, but you do get used to this after a while and my speed is really improving.
It still sucks but I feel marginally less like jamming a spoon in my eye.
Day 3: Success. Sorta. July 24, 2008
Posted by Pip in General.Tags: advice, experiment, mail, push, spam
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Well, the email plan worked. To some extent anyway. As it turns out, you can’t have two MobileMe accounts synced to the same phone or push seems to choke. I don’t think it’s supposed to be that way, but the MobileMe launch has been plagued with issues.
Since the email address on my primary MobileMe account was the one everybody has, that was the one I had to forward. Which meant I had to switch my contacts, calendars, etc to a new account I created with my Family pack.
That done, though, everything worked beautifully. Messages push nicely, I get significantly less spam, my messages are all archived on Gmail should I ever need to retrieve one I deleted, and it sends as the forwarded address. Other than the fact that I will occasionally need to check Gmail spam folders, it’s perfect for my personal needs.
This email set up is a little like the plot from Back To The Future 2, so if you have questions about it, post in the comments below.
Day 3: Junk Mail July 24, 2008
Posted by Pip in General.Tags: experiment, junk, mail
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I get waaaaaaay too much junk mail on my iPhone using my MobileMe account. MobileMe’s server-side junk mail filter appears to be some kind of joke on behalf of the MobileMe development team. Seems all a junk mail message has to do is basically wink at the filter, and the filter will happily bend over and take it where it’s put.
Day 3: Light At The End Of The Tunnel July 23, 2008
Posted by Pip in General.Tags: aim, apps, hope, push
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I’ve done a bit of research, and apparently Apple intends to release some kind of push server in September.
The forum chatter suggests that this server may mimic background operation for selected apps such as AIM, pushing new messages to the program to enable alerts. The specific details are beyond me, but if this could be made possible for AIM and, say, Facebook this thing could almost be useful.
I understand Apple’s allergy to background apps. It is, after all, a mobile processor, and giving that kind of power to undescriminating developers risks security and lag issues. Still, for a communication device, background notifications are a necessity.
Day 2: One More Frustration July 23, 2008
Posted by Pip in General.Tags: frustrations, sms
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You know how when you send a text message in your Blackberry, it cues it up to send off and you can go about your business?
Not on the iPhone. Your phone makes you wait while the message sends, which given data rates in my home area takes longer than I’d really like.
Day 2: Typing Gets A Little Better July 23, 2008
Posted by Pip in General.Tags: advice, keyboard, typing
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I’m getting a bit faster at the keyboard. Apple suggests starting out by finger-pecking, which in my infinite wisdom I scoffed at and started trying to double-team it right away.
Turns out, this was responsible for a lot of my mis-types. The way my thumbs are accustomed to working on the BB simply doesn’t fly on the iPhone; I’m used to keeping my thumbs tilted at a certain lazy angle, and that’s been causing accidental key-presses.
iPhone really needs finger-tip presses, so I’m learning to angle my thumbs at a sharper tilt, and tap rather than sliding my thumb to the next letter and pressing down. If you’re experiencing the same frustrations, try experimenting with a lighter and more deliberate tapping maneuver.
Day 2: Time For Some Praise July 23, 2008
Posted by Pip in General.Tags: browser, praise
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I’ve bitched about the iPhone a lot in the last two posts, but I should point out that I was actually able to set up this blog through WordPress.com, and then post to it, moderate comments, etc… all from my iPhone. Additionally, there’s a pretty decent free WordPress app on the App Store that lets me manage my posts from a native application, and that, my friends, is awesome in the extreme.
Granted, there are ways to do this from a BlackBerry – I can load the dashboard in the Browser and there’s always the post-by-email option – but it’s simply not as elegant as a native application.
Day 2: AIM = FAIL July 23, 2008
Posted by Pip in General.Tags: aim, frustrations, typing
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Arghhh. Typing on this thing makes me want to weep, and then die. I’m going to trust this will get better with time.
Best to simply trust the auto-correct, though since my line of work has a lot of lingo, that can get very annoying at times.
Right now, though, my chief frustration is the inability to run my IM program In the background. I used to use JiveTalk on my BB a lot to chat with people on their computers. iPhone has an AIM app, but without notifications from the background it is completely pointless.
The whole charm of IM is the ability to put it on the backburner. To surf or check your email while you wait for a response. When you have to sit there staring at the bloody screen while you await a response, well… I just don’t like people enough to do that I suppose.
Also, so far Google Maps just quits if I try to open it from my home.
Day 1: Acquisition July 22, 2008
Posted by Pip in General.6 comments
These are the first words typed on my iPhone. So far they are like slow torture for somebody used to about 30 wpm on the BB keyboard.
If you want an iPhone in NYC by the way, go to the 5th avenue location around 3:30 am. I only waited about 2 1/2 hours, as opposed to the folks who came around 7 and waited for five hours.
I’m going to be typing this blog entirely on my iPhone to get accustomed to the keyboard. As a Blackberry user who is skeptical about (but forced to) purchase an iPhone, I’ll sort of document my experiences switching over for current BlackBerry users considering taking the plunge.
