[Closed] iPhone users - why constantly refer to it as an iPhone?

OOoh, get you. Jealous much?

[size=1]Sent from my iPhone[/size]

i know what you mean! i have a nokia i dont know what..its a phone, no camera just used or the phone and sms..simple..

It's not something I've noticed mate. Have you got iPhone envy leading you to mishear "my phone" as "my iPhone" thus winding you up enough to post it on an internet forum 😆

ha! thats another one..pics emailed to work by my colleagues have that line..

sent by my iphone..

(and...?!)

Just viewing this on my Latitude and I've realised my Diesel's are no longer the correct presription. Also my Calvin Kleins are a bit tight so I'd best go and change into some Henry Lloyds. That remindas me, need to pop into Tesco on the way home to get some Goofella's. I think I'll be ok to leave the Kona outside, as long as I Kryptonite it outside.

When I get in it may be dark so will turn on the Osram's, then walk across the Karndean to store my Ortliebs in the cupboard. Then its off tot he Armitage Shanks for a wee.

Whats so bad about that?

Graham - it was your post the broke the camels back 🙂

No, not jealous - I'm the one person everyone chuckles at due to having a 4 year old phone but doesnt actually mind (I could happily afford a better one if I wanted to, but while it works I dont really care!).

Sent from my 4 year old Nokia 6630.

It's not something I've noticed mate. Have you got iPhone envy leading you to mishear "my phone" as "my iPhone" thus winding you up enough to post it on an internet forum

😀 no, I have an irritating friend that constantly stresses the point and now I read it all over STW 😀

Because it is the best thing in their life? Maybe.

sent by my iphone.

the [b]phone [/b]does that itself!

If you want a serious answer then I think the issue is that it is much more than a phone and there isn't really really an acceptable generic name for what it is.

"I keep my smartphone in my pocket" sounds equally daft

As does "I keep my handheld mobile internet, GPS and telecommunications device in my pocket"

I'm sure Palm and Blackberry users have the same issue.

How would you like us to refer to it?

K - Member
Because it is the best thing in their life? Maybe.

Sadly, many people would think that! I know of people who queued up overnight to get one. It's just a phone you ****monkeys!

Its just a phone. We all know phones (several makes/models) are capable of this, there is no need to specify that your phone is somehow different from a phone with a couple fewer features? Is there any conversation, especially online, where knowledge that you have an iPhone instead of a normal phone is important information? I cant see any unless, of course, you're discussing what phone you have.

Transported to the office by my Ford Fiesta, because its so much more than a simple cheap car without AC/sat nav etc.

(incidentally I dont own a fiesta).

sfb - well done..cant you turn it off with all its great gadgetness?

It isn't the fault of the consumer, but the very astute marketing by the manufacturer.

Like Hoovers

and (in America) Xerox.

And, as I am sure will now be told, a great many others.

That's a bit strong flash...jeez, a few geeky fanboys want the latest bit of kit..give 'em a break

But its the same as cars as far as I've witnessed.
BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar(jag),ferrari etc are all refered to by there onwers in reference to the make and not the model
I've never hear a Ford or Vauxhall owner refer to the make, they would say my modeo of focus or vectra etc.
It a show of superiority.
I'm Non apple owner. My car, my phone, my road/commute bike, my mountain bike type of person.

Graham - it was your post the broke the camels back [:)]

Thought it might be. The one on the ICE card thread?

In that instance I was identifying a particular application that solved the issue for me of having a locked phone and still wanting contact details to be seen.

I could have avoided mentioning that it was an iPhone. But as the app in question is an iPhone app and therefore only actually works on an iPhone that wouldn't have been very useful.

[i]Edit:[/i] therefore I am excused by virtue of your own sub-clause:

Is there any conversation, especially online, where knowledge that you have an iPhone instead of a normal phone is important information?

In this instance it was important and relevant information.

I've never hear a Ford or Vauxhall owner refer to the make, they would say my modeo of focus or vectra etc.
It a show of superiority.

No they dont, 90% of people refer to cars as "my car". The only time people stray from this is when they're discussing what car they have or if they have to differentiate between their multiple cars! (as a two car person who has a phone and a few bikes that are referred to as the SS and the FS).

Graham, yes, I can see your point in that case - it just brought the point into the forefront of my mind and I had to blurt it onto the forum 😀

I refer to my mobile telephone as my "cell". This drives some people nuts. 😉

I refer to my mobile telephone as my "cell". This drives some people nuts.

My dad refers to his as his cell or radio, that really confused me at first.

I guess it's just like I call my iPod my iPod and not my MP3 player..?
Pieface, was that an extract from [i]British Psycho[/i]?

[i]I refer to my mobile telephone as my "cell". This drives some people nuts.[/i]

Do you also say you're "pissed" when you mean "pissed off"?

Must admit my iPod is my MP3 player or "my MP3" if in an incidental conversation (not factually correct I know).

Of course 'cell phone' does actually sum up the actual function of said phones very well, as masts operate in a cell manner, meaning it is possible to make a phone requiring very little power as its signal only ever has to be able to reach the nearest mast cell, which then passes the signal to the next mast using its own pwer (and so on). Sorry - I think I must have accidentally listened to someone once somewhere.

sfb - well done..cant you turn it off with all its great gadgetness?

I find it quite useful, as it indicates they're not using a desktop, so for instance it only makes sense to send smallish JPG files for that size of screen...

"It’s like people who say Tannoy when they mean public-address system"
- Alan Partridge

The "Sent from my iPhone" thing only appears on emails (I added it myself above to be a smartarse). It's just the default email signature and can be turned off very easily.

[i]The "Sent from my iPhone" thing only appears on emails (I added it myself above to be a smartarse). It's just the default email signature and can be turned off very easily. [/i]

thank god for that. Maybe they need to let iphone owners know it's easy to turn off. Otherwise it tends to label the sender as a cockweasel.

Nah, it's like people who leave their phones on the default Nokia/DomJoly ringtone.
It labels them as technically incompetent (or tragically disinterested).

For most iPhone users it is the first thing they change after they get Mail set up.

[i]Actual iPhone smugness may be greater than shown[/i]

I don't own an iphone and have no desire to. I find SE phones do everything I want (and probably more) and I have an iPod for music (which I got reluctantly as there didn't seem to be much in the way of alternatives).

What do they do that is so great? If a normal phone was that big no one would buy it.
There are normal phones that can access the internet, can be used as sat nav, take video, take photos, play games on etc. etc.
I was amazaed at the things you COULDN'T do on an iPhone that you have been able to do for yrs on normal phones (although I think some of these things have been updated now).

I just don't get the whole iPhone/Apple/iPod thing. I think they used to be owned by the few, but now they are so common now that you aren't a quirky, fashionable 'Apple' person.....just someone else with a touchscreen.

stumpy: its the first Apple device I've owned and I'm definitely not an Apple-fanboi. In fact I'm positively anti-Apple in many ways. But it is a great device as anyone who has one will smugly tell you.

(I could list how it is better than a "normal phone" but I don't want to further ruffle feathers).

If you don't understand what the fuss is about then you've obviously not used one.

----------------------------------------
Sent from my iPhone
Cos it's quicker than the PC
And I can use it at work.
😉

Robdob LOL

I've got one and its phone / text fuction accounts for about 5% of its use -I thibnk of it more as something to email / surf with, that I can also use as a phone. Don't think I ever said 'have you seen my iPhone?' just refer to it as a phone but can understand why people dont really think of it as such.......<goes off to hide>

[i]Sent from my iPhone[/i]

But that's my question.....I don't have a problem with them or the people who own them. I don't care either way what phone people have. But apart from a large screen (that presumably gets covered in greasy finger marks), what do they do that is so great?
When they first came out, they didn't have 3G (so the internet was slow), you couldn't send picture messages on them (that you've been able to do for what.....5 yrs or more now?) and the camera on them was streets behind other offerings, but people still queued round the block for them.......!? The mind boggles.

And why do iphone users all seem to have to put them on display at the first opportunity?

i edited signature to read "sent from my phone" as I want people to understand it'll be short and sweet, I don't need to advertise its an iPhone, problem is my old windows mobile was more useful in many ways as easy to add a voice memo reply (great in the car) and they have no cut and paste so I can't copy things easily and send them on to people.

robdob.....I have had a fiddle with a colleagues iphone, but haven't used one extensively. That's why I am asking......genuinely curious as to why they are better, but people don't seem to be able to given an answer, apart from saying things along the line of 'because they are....', which isn't much of an answer.

Good point - I'll be expecting the complainers just to talk about going out on their "bike", from now on rather than "the Nomad", "the Pitch" or "the Five" from now on...

i have a mate who won't bring his out as it's too good. he uses the iphone at work and at home and when he comes out he has some old shitter! bonkers what's the point in owning it!

Post ignored from my iPhone

Would it annoy you if I referred to my google phone (gphone)?

Bloke at work gets wound up by his housemate always using the "i" bit e.g. Is that my iPhone ringing ? etc. So matey has renamed his mobile his "myPhone" and counters with "Have you seen my myPhone?" and the like.

I suppose you have to be there.....

😀

I can't really give you a good answer on why they're better other than other phones.....but use one for a day and you'll never go back to anything else!

Good point - I'll be expecting the complainers just to talk about going out on their "bike", from now on rather than "the Nomad", "the Pitch" or "the Five" from now on...

Not quite the same, if we were one a phone forum it'd be acceptable (says overlord CoffeeKing 🙂 ). If we were phone developers in a meeting it would be fine, but in the pub, in the office, on a bike forum? Definitely whiffs of iSmug which is, in my opinion having played with one belonging to a sane mate (but not owned), founded on a bed lacking evidence. The only good thing about it is the interface, and even then its harder to text with than a normal phone, the camera is cack, the lack of MMS is annoying, the rest of it is average.

I like the myPhone adjustment, most amusing 😀

I just don't get the whole iPhone/Apple/iPod thing

Don't you? Really?

Right okay...

I think yoshimi comes closest to my opinion.
It isn't a phone. It is a mobile internet device that includes a phone.

This isn't as w@nky a difference as it sounds. As yoshimi rightly says I mainly use mine for surfing the web, doing email and playing with various apps. I've probably spent longer watching movies and iPlayer on it than I have in actual call time.

The fact that it is/has-a phone is secondary.

If a normal phone was that big no one would buy it.

It's not huge for a "smartphone" and most of its size is the screen.

There are normal phones that can access the internet,

Most don't have a real web browser that shows you the same web pages that you get on a PC. Instead they rely on sites providing crappy "mobile friendly" versions.

can be used as sat nav

Not many have Google Maps (including street view) built-in.

take video

Got me there. iPhone can't take video (I have no idea why).

play games on etc. etc.

Not many phones let [u]anyone[/u] write applications for them. And (I think) Apple are the only ones to provide one central marketplace where the apps can be downloaded (most other rely on dodgy companies like Jamster to sell apps). How many apps do you have on your own phone? How many have installed yourself? How many were free?

Most don't have a real web browser that shows you the same web pages that you get on a PC. Instead they rely on sites providing crappy "mobile friendly" versions.

My 4+ year old phone does, and it wasnt expensive at the time. Screen is a tad small and it doesnt cope with java/flash stuff, granted, but that makes no odds to me.

Not many phones let anyone write applications for them.

Users have been creating their own apps for symbian based phones for ages. Google also provides access to its software free.

But the point is it IS just a phone or at least its closer to a phone than a laptop. There's no need to differentiate it from a phone while discussing something else as it adds nothing to the conversation at all. No-one cares if its an a phone or an iPhone, I dont send emails from my simulation workstation with "sent from big powerful computer" and then go home and write emails with "from laptop", or when out on the bike send emails saying "from my nokia" - no-one cares, it adds nothing to the other person in the conversation!

it's marketing genius. Not only do apple *know* where all the access points are, but they also bring words into the english language to replace ones that are already there.

Lots of people call their MP3 player an ipod even if it's not made by apple.

Metal hats on lads!!!

Lots of people call their MP3 player an ipod even if it's not made by apple.

Mine is known as a pea-pod.

Ok, I think I am starting to understand now....

I use my phone for phone calls and texting. If I am out somewhere without my camera or I want to upload a picture quickly to someone, I will use the camera on it.
If I need the number of a cab company or curry house, I will use the internet, but I would not use my phone to BROWSE the internet, as it were.

Most phones can access Google Maps - mine has got it (even though it doesn't have GPS) although I am unsure about streetview. Not sure what the advantage of this is though on a phone?

I guess the apps thing is a fairly strong differentiater, but something I am not sure I would find a need for? What apps would I need in my life? Can you get a sunset compass? That might be handy.

I'm off for a ride on my iBike

i have a mate who won't bring his out as it's too good. he uses the iphone at work and at home and when he comes out he has some old shitter! bonkers what's the point in owning it!

Is that any different than having a 'good' bike and a dumper for commuting etc?

Some older phones are good becaue you can take them appart easily and replace the key pad or screen or front etc if they get damaged,it's not always as easy with newer phones.

I don't need anything more than to be able to send and recieve texts and phone calls on my phone.

Repairability is a good thing. (normal smiling not grinning smiley face)

My 4+ year old phone does, and it wasnt expensive at the time.

Yep, and how many times did you use it? I happily sit and surf on my phone pretty much every night. I've had phones with browsers before too, but it always felt like more of a chore and something that you'd only really do if you were stuck, rather than a normal way to surf the net.

Users have been creating their own apps for symbian based phones for ages.

Yep and how many Symbian phone users have ever tried a user written app? I'd be willing to bet good money that if you took a fair sample of Symbian users that most of them had never installed an app and wouldn't know how to. I'd also be willing to be that most iPhone users have installed multiple different apps.

Usability is just as important as functionality. Plenty of other mobiles have all kinds of interesting functions and most of them go completely unused by the folk that own them.

But the point is it IS just a phone or at least its closer to a phone than a laptop.

Other way round I'd say. Closer to a laptop/netbook than a phone.

There's no need to differentiate it from a phone while discussing something else as it adds nothing to the conversation at all...

This bit I do agree with!

Camera is ok, you can download another app which takes much better pics. If you use the keyboard for a week you start to see how it works, and it's much faster than any other phone. Auto corrects loads of stuff. Lack of MMS is an issue but you can always jailbreak it to get that or wait a couple of months for the next update. Same for cut and paste.

In the first couple of weeks it is a little disappointing, you think it's a bit simple and basic. Then you delve deeper and find out that firstly, it's not complex as Apple have made it work properly out of the box. Use iTunes and the app store and you soon find loads of stuff you can use.

It CANNOT be beaten for web browsing or ease of texting IMO. Emailing is a doddle, games are ace and more like a PSP than a phone.

Dunno, personally I dont browse on my phone much because I have computers for that function. I wont buy a netbook because I want to be able to see the page properly and type properly, and use intensive programs (i.e. I want to be able to use it as a PC rather than a large phone!). Again, I have tried user-generated apps and some extras, but it did take a little finding (google for 2 mins).

Obviously it could be the dogs danglies of creations, its not really important, its the blatent use of iPhone as if its some sort of badge of excellence that annoys me lol.

My N95 does all the things that an iPhone does - maybe not as well, maybe better, I dunno. But it's still called a phone, and I've only ever heard to it referred to as that. So that negates the "it's so much more" argument.

And btw there are stacks of Java apps available and Symbian ones - which my phone can run both 🙂

What apps would I need in my life? Can you get a sunset compass? That might be handy.

I have PhotoBuddy installed which does various camera calculations (exposure, depth of field etc). It gets my location from the GPS and then tells me what time sunrise and sunset will be, the phase of the moon and when the next full moon is. No compass though but I'm sure some other app has that.

Other apps that might be useful: OS Maps, streaming radio, VNC (to remotely control my desktop PC), "Now Playing" (to tell me whats on at my local cinema), "MyRail" for train times.

There are currently 25,000 apps in the App Store. You'd find something you like!

molgrips: you seem a fairly switched on N95 user. How many of those stacks of Symbioan/Java apps do you actually have installed on your phone right now?

It's a language / generic terminology thing imo. Before iphones were around Blackberry users used to do the same thing - they just looked like bigger w@nkers as there were so few of them around at the time.

It's just another example of apple's clever marketing, how it permeates language and society, note how almost all of their products have generic functional names that sort of describe what the product is? Macbook, powerbook, ibook, ipod, mac mini etc etc.....not many Inspiron 5200's or K990's in there. Obviously it's something a lot of manufacturers of any number of products are trying to emulate without much success.

Anyway that's just my opinion of course, but whatever it is they are doing it seems to work on shallow, vaccuous, image obsessed twunts with more money than sense and a sort of sick desperation to have the latest shiny piece of iTat.

Throw your smart phones in the bin. Get a rubber brick that sends and recieves calls and texts and be liberated.

I've got an N95 and compared to missus deadly's iPhone it's a crumbling piece of crap. Yeah, it's ok and all that, but gimme the myPhone anyday

Can you get a sunset compass?

Just had quick browse on App Store:
"Astro Compass" gives you the astronomical positions (azimuth and elevation) of the sun and moon, the shape and orientation of the moon, and the position of the sun and moon on a map relative to your current position (or any position on the globe).

That do?

I must admit, I am an Apple 'fanboi', and love their computers. Indeed, Apple ought to give me commission, as I've persuaded several friends to buy an Apple machine.

I love the whole iLife thing; iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iCal, etc. The way the apps can integrate with each other is really good. You can't fault Apple for their OS and software, it must be said.

BUT: I find this whole iPod/iPhone thing a bit sad, really; that people will fret and fuss over having the latest thing all the bloody time. My mate bought a perfectly functioning iPod off ebay, for about £20 or something; older model, but was in pristine condition. Ebay is awash with iPods and stuff, as the sellers will be looking to 'upgrade' all the time. Apple's marketing is truly brilliant.

What I find disturbing, is how people will queue up overnight, to get their hands on a new Apple product; just to be one of the first to own an i-thingy. GET A LIFE.

Look, you'd think he'd won the World Cup or something. Sad tw4t.

[img] [/img]

I've just come off the 'phone (cheapo landline thing) to BT, who need to send me an IMEI code or something, to get my BT mobile 'phone unlocked. Great device; it has MP3, Internets, everything. I fell over backwards, on discovering I could watch BBC News on it, one day. Stuck Skype and Google Earth on it, and a couple of other things. First few days, I coon't stop playing with it.

Because that's what these things are; Toys.

It's nice to have them, but we don't really need them.

I'm from Sunderland. I have a WhyAye phone

It's nice to have them, but we don't really need them.

Well obviously RB. We could physically survive without any of them.

We could go back to a system of yodelling, foot messengers and carrier pigeons.
But I generally find phone calls, SMS, email and the internet are all quite useful.

So matey has renamed his mobile his "myPhone"

We christened a friends his PiePhone.

[i]Sent from my work PC[/i]

I'm from Sunderland. I have a WhyAye phone

So if you are from Scotland it is an Och-eyePhone?

And what if you are from Japan? Is it a Jap's..

Also, because we can. 😀
Sent from my Mac!

lol at the och-eyePhone too.

<posted by several computers pointlessly, VNC'd from my laptop to my server and my server VPN'd and VNCd to my work computer, none of this you need to know>

Dunno, personally I dont browse on my phone much because I have computers for that function.

So do I. It's upstairs in the study. I'm downstairs on the sofa.
If I have anything "intensive" like work or photo editing then I'll go up and use it. If I'm just surfing then __phone is fine.

Granted I could use a laptop/netbook from the sofa instead, but that's somewhat awkward to use lying down cuddling my wife. Or while on the bog. Or on the bus. Or in bed.

its the blatent use of iPhone as if its some sort of badge of excellence that annoys me lol.

No argument here. Other phones are available. gPhone/Android and Palm Pre both look interesting.

Surely you shouldnt be using the _Phone and cuddling your wife, they must be mutually exclusive activities to be carried out well? 😆

Quite like the look of the android. Wont be buying one in case I drop this phone in the sea too.

I am most definitely not an Apple fan boy, I'm a pc techy who looks down my nose at apple users/fanboys.

My g/f got an iphone and now complains that she never get on it, due to me stealing it constantly.

I can't recommend them enough, I've seen other mobile internet phones and they are just crap, don't float my boat in anyway - have I mentioned I only have a mobile, as my brother gave me pay-as-u-go sim and an old phone.
After 8 odd years of pay as u go I will be entering into an 18month contract to get one, I'm not doing that for fashion, i believe they are truely useful tools.

personally I dont browse on my phone much because I have computers for that function

Also you'd be surprised how many ppl get on with the iphone, from tecnically adept users to complete techophobes, they all love it.

I mean its not exactly a life changing phone

VNC'd from my laptop to my server and my server VPN'd and VNCd to my work computer,

__phone has VPN built-in and a VNC app, so you could have done it from that 😛

Surely you shouldnt be using the _Phone and cuddling your wife, they must be mutually exclusive activities to be carried out well?

Nah, we've been together for 14 odd years. Cuddling is an automatic reflex now.

She'll be watching telly, reading or surfing on her __media-player-and-internet-device__

I could not care less about jealous types who don't have an iPhone and make daft "it's just a mobile" comments.

The iPhone is without doubt the one gadget/device that has made a dramatic difference to my everyday useage of mobile/internet/MP3/gaming/etc. etc. stuff.

As an all-in-one device I use my iPhone for a load of uses from video on my commute to facebook on the go etc. way more than I ever did with a regular mobile.

It's so way beyond what I was expecting that I have become a complete iPhone fanboy. The detractors who have a go just aren't bright enough to get it imho.

I'm with z1ppy here.

OK, I've been a Mac user for a couple of years now too, but I was highly sceptical about Macs in the first place. Initially I just wanted to see what the fuss was about with the iPhone, so decided to pop in and have a look at them the day they were released. Funnily enough, my local 02 shop is in the arse end of nowhere, and there were 6 sales assistants to 2 customers on the night the iPhone was released!

Anyway, long and the short of it was that after 10 minutes playing with it, I was totally sold. Got the original iPhone, paid £269 plus monthly contract (not cheap i'll admit, though what you get for that is quite a lot), used it for 9 months before I then got a FREE upgrade to a 3G iPhone. So I then sold my original iPhone on for £225 (£47 for 9 months use, not bad!) and now have the 3G one which is even betterer...

Life changing? A large claim, but in many ways it is. Many other phones do similar things, but none in such an easy to use interface. They are definitely a Marmite item, people either love them or hate them, and nothing inbetween. I'd never try to convince a sceptic why they're as good as I believe they are. But for me my iPhone simplified a lot of things, it also means that for 90% of my computing needs (email, web browsing, viewing docs) I don't actually need a computer!

I really don't like Apple as they're such an evil company, and won't get an iPhone because I can't write proper applications for it without spending a fortune on buying a mac, but I have to admit, they've done a jolly good job of the whole applications thing. Features wise, it doesn't actually do masses more than several of the Nokia phones, which also have web browser, email, blah di blah, but it just does it in a way that any idiot could use.

Like I know someone who upgraded from an n95, and is super excited about being able to use maps on their phone, having had a phone with maps built in for 2 years without realising.

Similarly, being able to easily find and download applications is a massive advance from the Nokia phones, where you have a nightmare of a zillion places with apps, application signing meaning that more experimental stuff is a real nightmare to install, pay for apps all having a different way of paying to register it, and the nokia get applications thing that you have as a link in your web browser being basically a rubbish, mobile unfriendly website, rather than actually something integrated with the phone.

The G1 from playing with it seems like they have similarly good ideas about the user interface, although not such pretty hardware (hardware keyboard is handy though).

It appears that if you let computer companies design mobile phones, they do a whole lot of a better job than mobile phone companies, by focusing on the software running on the phone, rather than the stuck in the 80s hardware focused design of the mobile phone companies, which gives you a nice handset with crappy software. As a bonus, whoever makes the iphone for Apple seems to have done quite a good hardware job too - although given the price I guess they really ought to have.

Joe

I can't write proper applications for it without spending a fortune on buying a mac

Agreed. This is classic Apple lock-in stuff and one of the reasons I generally dislike them.

I'm currently looking at installing OSX on a virtual PC and using that to develop iPhone software.
If not then I'll just have to bite the bullet and get a second hand Mac off eBay.

I think GrahamS sums it up best. FWIW, I haven't edited the iPhone sign-off, partly 'cos I'm too lazy, partly so that people are aware that I'm not sat at a computer, so an immediate answer will probably not be forthcoming. I had a Nokia N95 prior to the iPhone, and frankly it sucked in just about every area. Battery life is woeful, the GPS is virtually useless, web browsing is painful, the camera is almost useless... I could go on. At the moment I've got apps that allow me to track routes with the GPS, get up to date weather, check movie times, get tv schedules and set-up my sky+ box, get info from Wiki, read any of the hundred or so ebooks I have on disc, browse STW and contribute to the forum, listen to music, take photos and tweak them on the phone...
It's just so much more capable and ergonomic, (look it up), than any other phone I've used, and It's just going to get better with every update, MMS, (which I've never used on any phone I've owned), cut-and-paste, turn-by-turn GPS, A2DP Bluetooth and a bunch of other upgrades will be available free from June/July, plus there are a load of hinted new features for the next version of the phone, which I'll have to wait a year or so for. Like a lot of things, if you don't 'get' what is so good about using an iPhone, or other Apple products, then it's very difficult to describe, and a lot of things, like the camera, which gets slagged off, isn't that bad, it's certainly much easier to use than others I've tried. It's really a PDA, rather than a phone; my calls are generally no more than a couple of minutes a week!