
Motorola SLVR, iPhone 3G and iPhone 4
These are the last three mobile phones I’ve owned. I’ve actually have owned five phones all together but I no longer have all of them with me.
2006
In 2006 I switched from Sprint to Cingular and bought the Motorola SLVR. I liked the candy bar layout and Motorola was pretty popular at the time. Maybe you can recall the days of RAZR fever, I feel like everyone had one. At the time the SLVR was probably close to $200 but with a new 2-year contract I got it for around $50. Overall the phone was solid. I never had any real problems with it and the reception was strong. I got really good at T9 text messaging during my time with the SLVR.
2008
In 2008 Apple announced their second generation iPhone. The iPhone 3G brought higher speed data services and GPS to the iPhone. They also announced for the first time the iPhone could be acquired for a mere $199 if you signed a 2-year contract. When the first iPhone was released I didn’t even consider purchasing it because of the inflated price tag. Fortunately, this time around I was due for an upgrade, it was like the stars aligned.
Me and a couple of friends waited outside an AT&T store from 2am until opening on the iPhone 3G launch day. There were problems on launch day with activation but when the servers finally cleared up I could access the non-WAP internet from my phone for the first time. Having Google Maps at my fingertips changed my life. I could drive anywhere and I could decide where I wanted to go next on the fly. No need to call that 411 number ever again.
The iPhone apps brought flexibility to a device that would otherwise just be a phone. Steve Jobs was right. The touchscreen gave the phone the ability to be anything. It started with a keyboard with unlimited characters then a piano then a game controller and beyond.
On the downside the iPhone 3G suffered from pretty spotty reception and crashing. The hardware was just not up to par. For some reason it was incapable of making long calls in 3G mode from my bedroom.
2010
In 2010 Apple announced their fourth generation iPhone. The iPhone 4 brought a whole new look to the iPhone and sported a higher resolution screen, front-facing camera, and more powerful hardware. I was unable to upgrade my iPhone when the iPhone 3GS was released but the iPhone 4 was released as my 2-year contract was expiring. It was like the stars aligned again… but actually Apple just releases a new phone every year.
This time around Apple decided to go with a pre-order system. On June 15th hundreds of thousands of people rushed to make their pre-orders online. Obviously the web servers were crippled by the weight within seconds. That morning I headed to an AT&T store and found out they weren’t allowing any in-store pickup pre-orders. Lucky for me there was a Best Buy nearby that were giving out in-store pickup pre-orders. When June 24th came around I didn’t even have to wait in line. Best Buy’s appointment system made it really easy to just walk in the store pick up your iPhone 4. Unfortunately they only had about 20 iPhone 4’s on launch day.
The first time I saw the screen of the iPhone 4 I thought my vision improved. The iPhone 4 has twice the resolution of the iPhone 3G and it really makes a difference. The more powerful hardware was immediately noticeable. Finally, the front-facing camera allows the iPhone 4 to use FaceTime (wifi video chat).
Unfortunately, many people have complained about the iPhone 4 reception issues. I haven’t witnessed any dropped calls under regular use so far but I have been able to reproduce the depleted reception bars when holding the phone in the described way. I’m still claiming these people are just exaggerating.
The iPhone 4 hasn’t changed my life the way the iPhone 3G has but the hardware changes has made those life changing features faster and more stable.