Saturday, September 3, 2011

On Becoming an iPhone Junkie


I just discovered an new app for my iPhone that really has me wowed. I can scan the bar code on the side of my prescription bottles and when the scan has connected, the phone makes a little beep. A few hours later I go to my local pharmacy to pick up my order. No more annoying phone tree.

The last time I flew on Southwest Airlines, I learned you could scan your ticket bar code onto your iPhone and use it at certain airports as a boarding pass.

I love my iPhone. It is to the 21st century what the Jeep was to World War II. It is a utility vehicle that never lets you down.

A friend of mine, who drove on some of those cross-country car races for a car magazine in the 1970s (the germ of the Smokey and the Bandit movies), told me that as they were driving, they talked about wishing they had a device that was like a little Encyclopedia of Everything that they could look stuff up in while they traveled.

Now he has an iPad Touch and says: "That's exactly what we wanted."

When I was re-reading William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich--a fabulous book, but one you can't read in a casual way--I kept my iPhone by my side to Google the German characters he mentioned early in the book to find out if they survived the war and Hitler's wrath.

My friend Leslie is gone for the summer so she asked me to pick up a chair she had re-upholstered. It really looked great as you may have seen in these pages.

Leslie's chair in my living room.

She and I had chosen the fabric together, and I was so excited about how it looked I called her up to tell her.  She was out on a boat with her husband, and he has an iPhone.  So I texted his phone and attached photos of the chair. She called back immediately, and, instead of mentioning the chair, she said: "I think I want one of those iPhones."

I know this isn't like saving the world or anything, but that instance, and many others lately, have made life easier and just a little more fun for me. And if there is anything I've learned about life; it is that harmless fun should be appreciated at every opportunity.

It was my niece's birthday today and this morning I used my iPhone to text her a Happy Birthday and learn about her plans for the day.

My cousin teaches at a private school and all her third graders were issued iPads this year to help them learn about science.

Bored waiting for your dentist or doctor to appear? Play Angry Birds to while away the time.  (I keep downloading the free versions.)

The only thing I haven't been able to do with my iPhone, is take a picture of my iPhone for this blog! So I had to download a clip art version of one. I'm sure they will invent an app for that one day soon.

I am really sorry to hear that Steve Jobs is so ill he's stepping down at Apple. He started with nothing and created a zillion dollar company that employs lots of people and turns out stuff everybody else copies. What an American story.

Perhaps someone else will invent something to save his life so he can resume his duties.  I'd like to read that headline on my iPhone.  

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7 comments:

Don Meuler said...

I fear for you. Soon you'll be on Facebook and/or Twitter, gleefully tweeting your location and menu choices whilst speeding down the road...

Robin Chapman said...

No idea what u mean ... Oh heck ... Just missed my freeway exit &$&$$$@@@?

Joanne said...

That's the beauty of an Apple product. Once you get hooked on, then there's no coming back!

Janet Grunst said...

I got an Android in June and have been enjoying it. I can't believe I can actually text my sons in Afghanistan and get responses from them quite soon. I remember the days/weeks it took to get letters and tapes to and from Viet Nam ooooh soooo long ago.

Robin Chapman said...

Wow Janet, I didn't know you had sons in service overseas. Blessings and thanks to them and strength to you. We need more families like yours and hope this will soon pass.

Oregonized said...

I go, ergo iPhone. As the saying goes, an Apple a day keeps the doctor away! OK, I admit to being an iPhone junkie, too. But that's not a bad thing, is it?

Robin Chapman said...

I like connecting iPhonism to Cartesian philosophy. I believe we are onto something here.