BlogHer - iphone - Comments

I too would marry my iPhone

dewhug — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:48:15 -0500

If I could.

I am mildly obsessed with it and can't seem to put it down. I Tweet, check my Facebook... my 8 month old watches Baby Einstein videos on You Tube if we're out on the town and she's being hard to deal with.Like you, I don't talk much on it. Shoot, no one hardly ever calls me, but darn it I use those applications and so it's worth the almost $200 per month that my husband and I spend... Well, not really. I HATE that we have to have AT & T, we live in the desert in California and service is HORRIBLE!!! (gag) No service, dropped calls... it's a joke. And, Apple has too many holds and who can make an app & what kind of app we can use. As long as everyone is getting paid (because that's what it's about) what's their deal? That's why so many people are "jailbreaking" their iPhones and stuff like that....

I can't stand the monopoly...

Dawana
www.abittersweetexistence.com

I love, Love, LOVE, my

no_I_am_zoe — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:59:10 -0500

I love, Love, LOVE, my iPhone. I'm not much of a phone person, but I love having internet access. And games, and my music, and a camera, and a calander, and GPS, and all the cool aps...and did I mention the internet?

It did bother me that we had to use AT&T, especially since we didn't have AT&T service in our area when the iPhone first came out so we couldn't get iPhones until about a year and half ago. But, then AT&T bought out a regional carrier and made upgrades, and I've got to say, we get such better service with AT&T than we've had with our other carriers, that it turned out to be a win-win.

Love it as well

moonfever0 — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:27:45 -0500

Since my company blocks all sorts of sites like webmail and IM, my iPhone is the only thing that keeps me connected to the outside world. And since I got my first iPhone 2 years ago and since upgraded to the 3GS, I still haven't gotten used to the new features like voice command.

Like you, I hardly use it as a phone, and I've got the Skype app installed and never used it. I think Apple has the right to allow or disallow apps on its device and people who absolutely need Google Voice can get themselves an Android. When you buy Apple, you are buying into their whole corporate philosophy, like it or not. Exclusivity is what the brand is all about. Wouldn't be Apple otherwise.

Angela at mommy bytes
BlogHer Contributing Editor in Mommy & Family Cribsheet

AT&T = Gas Station

msjen — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:25:58 -0500

Hi Denise,

The metaphor I like to use for the mobile carriers/operators like AT&T/Verizon/Sprint/T-Mo/Etc is that of a gas station.

I bought my car at Toyota, but I can choose to go wherever I want for its weekly fuel up and for its services. I can go back to Toyota for a maintanence or I can go to Oil Can Henrys or to the 16th St. Garage if I want.

I wish the FCC would break the non-competitive grip that the carriers have on the wireless market in all ways to make it so that all consumers can buy their device/handsets from which ever manufacturer or 'used' mobile lot that they want to and then buy the wirless 'gas' at whatever suits their fancy. Consumers could get in contracts to buy the wireless services from a carrier if they so choose, but they should not be forced into consuming the service from one carrier or not be able to consume the service if the carrier says no.

I bought my most recent mobile device, a Nokia N95, from Amazon.com. My sim chip is from AT&T and I have a voice plan and an unlimited data plan. And that is where AT&T's involvement in my mobile life ends. I also have a Spin Vox and a Google Voice services to handle my messages (Spin Vox does a better job at translating, but has become unreliable in delivering the texts recently in the US). I also can choose if I want to use a Google Maps application or the built in Nokia Maps.

So on and so forth. AT&T can't tell me what services and apps I can use on my phone, because I spent the extra money to get an unlocked phone from another source. But I think the FCC needs to make sure that all consumers have the choice and are not locked into AT&T or Verzon or [insertnamehere]'s bizarre sandboxes.

Shell & Chevron don't dictate to me how I use my car, nor should AT&T dictate to you how you use your mobile.

Black Phoebe :: Ms. Jen

Good coverage and standardization

Denise — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:43:16 -0500

I get pretty good coverage as well and was kind of surprised to hear some Chicago bloggers saying AT&T service is bad in Chicago. I don't find that to be the case - unless I'm in a basement or something like that.

I've never really had a cell service provider that I loved. Maybe if I had, I'd be more unhappy about AT&T? I would prefer it if we weren't required to use one carrier, I like choices. ;-)

I don't love the idea of forcing all apps and functions to be available to all customers. But I also don't like preventing access to apps, either.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings

I love my iPhone

Virginia DeBolt — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 07:50:02 -0500

too. But I get pretty decent AT&T coverage where I am. That makes a big difference in how you feel about it.

The Google Voice issue reminds me a bit of the browser wars from 10 years ago. Maybe we need to start a movement for standards in phone apps and function so consumers could use everything on every phone.

Virginia DeBolt
BlogHer CE
Web Teacher
First 50 Words

I seriously considered Big

LMAshton — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 22:42:19 -0500

I seriously considered Big Oven, both as a desktop app and as an iPhone app. BUT their iPhone app doesn't sync with the desktop data. Instead, you have to upload your recipe to their online database, and then you can access it through your iPhone. Not a great solution, but at least somewhat reasonable if you want to access your recipes when you're at the grocery store--if you live in a country where the grocery store has WiFi.

Where I live, there are no free WiFi spots. Some hotels and the airport have WiFi, but you have to pay. Widespread WiFi is still years away from being implemented.

I asked the people at Big Oven why they can't sync a person's recipes from their desktop app directly to that person's iPhone, and they displayed a very clear lack of understanding of what the iPhone can and cannot do - they said it could not be done based on the iPhone APIs. My husband is an iPhone app developer and he's done similar things for other clients and their apps.

I would love to have a desktop recipe program that could sync with my iPhone. If anyone knows of one, please let me know. :)

As for other useful iPhone apps - as I mentioned, my husband is an iPhone developer. He created two apps. CookieCal and CookieCal Lite. CookieCal Lite can convert baking temperatures between verbal instructions (moderately hot, for example), Fahrenheit, Celsius, gas marks. You can also convert between C, F, and Kelvin.

CookieCal has that, plus can convert volume to volume, weight to weight, or even between volume and weight for ingredients. This is the primary reason he wrote the program - I bake using weights, not volume, since weights is far more accurate and can provide much more consistent and predictable results. Think flour - get ten people to weigh a cup of flour, and you'll get results ranging from 80 to 250 grams, depending on whether they scoop, sift, spoon, or whatnot. So I convert my baking recipes to weights before I use them, and then hone the weights based on the results.

Laurie in Sri Lanka

Chilli & Chocolate

A Canadian in King Parakramabahu's Court
LMAshton on Twitter

Aquarium

Denise — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 07:45:58 -0500

Hah. That is a brilliant app. I don't buy fish, but I know smart when I see it.

TW rants all of the time about not being able to find the perfect grocery list app. I just shrug and wait for her to find what she wants. :-)

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings

Epicurious has an app??

Give And Get NYC — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 21:43:04 -0500

I have been using the application 'Big Oven' since I got my iPhone, after it was reccomended to me by a friend who was a seasoned iPhone user. It allows you type in ingredients that you have, and spits out a recipe, and also has a glossary of terms which is helpful while watching Top Chef or other food network shows that use terms you've never heard before. And of course, it has your standard recipes with pictures and reviews, that can be found by search. But I use epicurious online often, so now im excited to download the app I never knew existed.. !

www.GiveAndGetNYC.com

~Read about my volunteer experiences, and share your own, in the Open Forum~

MotionPHRis one of the most

Selmah1 — Sun, 24 May 2009 14:19:39 -0500

MotionPHRis one of the most useful iphone apps I've tried so far. It isn't free but it's well worth the $9.99 price. Ihave two kids and I can keep track of my whole families medicalinformation. When I go to the pharmacy or the doctor, I take it withme. It even keeps up with the prescription #, pharmacy phone #and can even send me reminders on my iPhone. Schoolathletics forms are a lot easier because I keep all the dates of thekids immunizations right on my iPhone. I don't have toworry about security because all the data is encrypted. For methat's a key to wanting to carry it around.

I read somewhere the price of the iphone service plan is going to drop about 5 dollars a month if that's any help. Probably not, I personally think they should really make a more sincere effort to make it more affordable.

I tried it...

moonfever0 — Wed, 06 May 2009 22:04:23 -0500

I tried Yowza! in the super retail district of Nashua, NH, there were no coupons that showed up. Oh well, I deleted the app.

Angela at mommy bytes
BlogHer Contributing Editor in Mommy & Family Cribsheet

what a great app

hipgirlie — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:20:59 -0500

I am going to get this app right away and give it a try. It sounds great. The fact that is pulls in relevant coupons for you locally is going to save me some cash for sure.

Sophie

www.HipGirlie.com

www.ShoeSpotlight.com

Cool Tip!

jharb_weave — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 18:27:38 -0500

I'm pretty excited to get an iPhone - thanks for this great tip!

[Blog]

Interesting!

bellab12 — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:00:28 -0500

So do you just show the retailer the coupon on the phone? Interesting app -- I'll have to download it and try it out!

Thanks for the tip!

Bella B.

www.beautyXpose.com

Trying out Yowza

kayobe — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:46:10 -0500

I just got my iPhone and I'm already madly in love with it. It's making my life easier as I am a work-from-home consultant who isn't crazy about being home so much when spring has finally sprung here in the northeast. Being able to get online and answer emails while being out and about means I'm technically 'working' and I'm loving that.

I installed Yowza because I'm a huge Target fan. I'm there almost every week. There's one just 2 miles from my house and several within the 15 mile limit. Unfortunately none of them show up in my list.The Container Store appears as does Saks and Finish Line. I don't shop at Saks (too expensive) and I'm not sure what Finish Line is. Next time I head to the Container Store (which is not too often) I'll give it a try.

I'm hoping they'll roll out this to all Targets soon. This is something I would totally use.