Sure, I liked my old Motorola Razr, so sleek and compact, until it became increasingly difficult to turn back on when I turned it off. Taking the battery out for a few seconds helped. Since it was three years old, I figured it had outlived its natural life and bought a new one.
But after three months, I had the same problem. On Sunday, I turned it off for a minute and when I tried to restart it, the phone came back on but the screen was blank.
Apparently I'm not alone. One suggested (and I'm sure unauthorized) fix I found online - banging the phone on a hard surface a few times - didn't help.
I decided it was time for a change.
About 80 percent of my day - including when I'm at work or sleeping - I have access to a computer. Maybe 5 percent is spent driving. But it's that last 15 percent when I've thought, "It would be nice to have Internet access right now."The iPhone 3G was $99, same price as the Razr. I was already using AT&T and they let me keep my cheap cell-phone plan, $17.99 a month. My only added expense is $30 a month for the Internet. (I also had to pay a one-time $18 upgrade fee.)
So far, it's been great.
If I'm stuck waiting in a doctor's office for two hours, as I was this week, or I'm running around doing errands, I can check my e-mail or catch up on the latest theatre news via Twitter. I can use it as a radio to listen to my favorite NPR station.
I'd tried out the keyboard a few times at my local Apple Store and it was awfully small and kind of difficult to type on. But now that I've used it a few times, it's much easier than I thought. I'm much more accurate than I thought I'd be.
I downloaded my first "app" from Apple's App Store, the Internet Movie Database.
I was hoping to find some Broadway or theatre-related ones but apparently my options are limited, according to this blog post from producer Ken Davenport. It would be nice if the Internet Broadway Database could be adapted for the iPhone.
Having an iPhone with the movie database would have come in handy a couple years ago when I saw the musical Grey Gardens on Broadway.At intermission, I turned around and realized the actor who played "Hesh" on The Sopranos was sitting behind me. At the risk of sounding terribly gauche, I introduced myself, told him how much I loved the series and confessed I didn't remember his name.
He was very nice - his name is Jerry Adler. Later, I realized that he was also in the movie Manhattan Murder Mystery, with Woody Allen and Diane Keaton. If only I'd known!
