Wendy's iPhone Thoughts

Well, it's been about three months with my iPhone. I still love it and use it more frequently than my phone or iPod. I have stopped using my iPod Nano, and I now carry the iPhone with me to the gym - I'm careful with it but not overly obsessive as I had been (probably thanks to other people on the team admitting that they had dropped their phone and did no damage.)

My only problem lately is using iPhone with Penn State Webmail, and I am not exactly certain if the problem is with my phone or with webmail. Every time I try to access webmail from my phone in the past several weeks, I am getting a 503 Error Message indicating that the server is temporarily unavailable. This is happening a lot, and I am getting pretty frustrated with it. Up til now, I was happy using webmail, even though gmail is much easier to deal with. Yesterday, I received the 503 error message on my phone, so I ran up to our computer to compare - and webmail was working fine. So I opened it up again on my iPhone, and it was fine - until I clicked on an email, and then the 503 message appeared. I checked the computer again - fine, and then I checked my iPhone again - down. Either it's my iPhone or my timing - not sure. Would love to know if anyone else is seeing this.

Now to other things. A friend sent me the link to the new iPhone ads the other day (http://www.apple.com/iphone/ads/ad11/). I had not seen them on TV until yesterday evening during the Cowboys game. I think these ads are great - I definitely can relate to them. They certainly emphasize how the phone visual features make it so easy to use - and how having the web at your fingertips opens up so many possibilities. I have used my phone so many times when I have rushed off to a meeting and forgot which specific room I was heading to, to get a restaurant phone number and menu, to check the weather, etc. Again, whoever came up with the idea for these commercials must have based them on his/her own experiences with the iPhone.

As far as its features, I tried one for the first time a couple weeks ago, when a friend of mine was visiting Haiti. I really, really hate to admit this is a public setting, but I have never used text messaging. Goodness - I can actually hear the gasping as I type this. Anywho, back to my point. So my friend visits Haiti on some government grant, and there is no internet access and the phone connection is just terrible - so what ends up working out to be the best means of communication? Texting. And it works from anywhere in that country or the Dominican Republic - and I'm talking the rural, mountain areas - not tourist attractions. I was just amazed. (BTW, I also called up ATT&T twice to ensure that my plan covered this, and both representatives confirmed that it did.)

The final "new thing" for me is realizing that I can now download ringtones from iTunes (I might be behind on this, but I've been a tad busy due to the start of the semester and all the course-related problems it brings). It looks easy enough, but the selection on iTunes is very disappointing. Nonetheless, it's good to have options, and I'm sure more will be available as time goes on.

To sum up - three months in - still love the iPhone - but not feeling it for Webmail. ;-)

Well, I've had the iPhone for two months now. I continue to use it every day, and use it more than I ever did my cell phone. At this point, these are my likes and dislikes.

Like it because:
*I can look up anything, anytime almost anywhere.
*I have the option of using the EDGE network or WiFi.
*It's user-friendly and the more I use it, the more I discover little features that I wasn't aware of (shutting off typing sound, making the number not viewable by caller ID, etc.)
*It's everything rolled into one - so I am always reaching for it - phone, camera, ipod, internet access.
*It's sleek and visually appealing (weird, I know, but it does make a difference.)

I don't like it because:
*The size works for and against it. I took it to the gym out of necessity one day, and it was as awkward as I expected it to be. If I didn't have a purse, I probably wouldn't use it.
*It is too fragile, or at least that's what I have convinced myself - so I am always worrying about where I lay it, how good a grasp I have on it, etc. In other words, I am still not at ease with it.

Would I give up the iPhone at this point? Absolutely not. It will be interesting to see how I feel six months or a year from now, but currently, I am still in awe.

I was talking to Barb Smith the other day, and I happened to mention how the iPhone has improved my mood in certain situations. These situations being "waiting." For example, last week, I arrived about 12 minutes early for a hair appointment. After sitting around staring at the hair care products, I pulled out my iPhone and started checking and responding to my emails. My appointment time came and went, but I was still waiting. The receptionist looked at me nervously and said he'd check on what was going on. He came back and informed me that my stylist was running very behind - was this okay? As I checked the weather for the remainder of the week, I said it was fine.

Twenty minutes past my appointment time, my stylist cautiously approached me to say she was ready. Normally, I think I may been short with her, but I honestly wasn't bothered. I didn't feel as though I had wasted time - in fact, I felt as though I had been rather productive. This wasn't the first time I relied on my iPhone to pass the time, but it was the first time that I realized that it's user friendly design made passing time fun.

After my last entry, it occurred to me that I had blocked out the most horrific moment on my trip. On my last night in D.C., I fell asleep and forgot to turn off my iPhone. Upon awaking, I found the "low battery" warning and immediately plugged it into an outlet to recharge. I checked on it after about 10 minutes, and the screen was black - and would not turn on. Since I only had the phone for about two months, I didn't think it could be the battery, so I tried plugging into another outlet. Nothing.

I was pretty upset over the short life of the battery, and even more upset over the thought of shipping off my phone to get the existing battery replaced.

Fortunately, Campus Technology had an email cafe set up - which no one was using because EVERYONE had a laptop with a wireless connection. I was able to access the iPhone's User's Guide, and found a helpful solution - press the main menu button and off/on button down simultaneously for at least 10 seconds - quite similar to a frozen iPod. Bingo - my iPhone lit up and all was right with the world. :-)

Attended the Campus Technology Conference during the week of July 31- August 2. Got all my things packed, and then added my laptop - a lot of stuff to carry. Did I really need to take that heavy laptop with me? I had my trusty iPhone - was it enough? I thought back to a question I had heard asked: "Could a course be taught entirely on the iPhone?" Initially I thought that there was no way the iPhone could replace a laptop for a course - or even for a week-long conference stay, but as I lifted up my heavy laptop to take to the car, I suddenly thought I should give it a try. Thus, I headed to D.C. with just my iPhone tucked in my purse - a total last-minute decision.

First, I have to say for long car rides or plane trips, the iPhone is the perfect distraction. I had mine out the entire time. Checking the weather, reviewing directions, responding to email, etc. The EDGE network was great - I only had two instances where I didn't get service, but they only lasted a couple of minutes each.

As we neared D.C., pulled out the Mapquest directions and compared to those suggested on the iPhone, and of course they did not match. Tried to locate a specific highway - George Washington Memorial Parkway, which I was able to do - but then as I tried to zoom to a specific point, I got disoriented. Tried using the satellite feature, but it was taking too long to load. Found myself missing a big screen - actually, found myself missing two large monitors from which to work from. Finally shoved the iPhone back in my purse and depended on the printed out version from MapQuest - having the large image allowed me to orient myself and understand where I was going.

Once I was at the conference, the EDGE network worked fine in my room and in the lobby. It did not work, however, at the conference which was located across two lower levels of the hotel - both below street level. I looked around and saw the other conference goers checking email using the free wireless network provided by the hotel. Went into my settings, switched on wifi, and located the wireless connection - all bars showing, so it should have been a strong connection. Went back to email - nothing. Tried to access the web - nothing. Getting messages that the server could not be located. Went back into my settings, chose a weaker connection, still nothing. Switched back to the edge - nothing. Switched back to the strong connection - nothing. Noticed that I was distracting others around me, so again, the iPhone was tossed back into my purse. At a break, went upstairs to the lobby, and was able to access email and the web with no problems.

As the week progressed, found myself falling further and further behind in emails (using PSU webmail). The inability to cut and paste became a major obstacle; found out that although I could view google docs, I could not edit them; occasionally came across emails that I had missed on previous days - probably because the small screen size caused them to get lost; could not initially compose something in word to copy/paste into email - or blog for that matter.
For casual emails, found myself switching to my gmail account, which made things a lot easier. This was also the account used when I took and emailed pictures. Gmail, however, would sometimes freeze when pictures were attached, causing me to accidentally send out repeat emails.

Found that although the web truly looks like the web on the iPhone - which was one of my biggest attractions to it in the first place - when one is trying to get work done, it is not an advantage. The way websites are currently designed, too much time is spent scrolling around trying to locate a link or specific point and waiting for the page to load - very frustrating.

For communicating on the run and for pure enjoyment, the iPhone is definitely tops. Visited museums and found that the iPhone images were superior to two different digital cameras, mainly because it did not have a flash. Iphone was also a great way to discretely take pictures without looking like a tourist. ;-)

So going back to my original question, can the iPhone replace a laptop? At this point, no, but I think in the near future, it probably could. The iPhone desperately needs word processing capabilities or at least allow one to edit online documents like google docs. Plus more web sites needs to be designed with the small screen in mind. In addition, those of us accustomed to having two large monitors will have to adjust our habits and adapt to the new environment - something that we all take in stride at this point.

Feeling frustrated right now. I am able to connect my iPhone to iTunes at home without any problems, but I am having difficulties here at work. When I connect my iPhone to my computer (tried both USB ports in docking station and on side of computer), I get a message that "new hardware has been found," then my iPhone makes a chirping sound, and I get the dreaded blue screen on my PC, causing the need to restart my machine. Between yesterday and today, I have tried four times, and I can't figure out why it is doing this. Couldn't find anything in the trouble shooting guide in the User's Guide, and still looking for similar reports on Google....

At meeting today, Cole Camplese mentioned that we should think about how the iPhone could be used for research, among other things. That got me to thinking about accessing PSU's library resources.

First, I was able to use CAT to locate a book, a specific journal, and an e-journal using both the basic and advance search (drop down menu makes scrolling half-screen appear).

To locate a specific full-text article, I was connected to the Ebscohost Professional Development database. I located the article by entering the year, volume, issue and starting page. Once the article was located, I had the option of downloading a PDF or emailing it.

The PDF opened fine, but took a little time to load. It was only six pages, so lengthy articles may time out before they download. Sometimes there is an option to open up the article in HTML, which might be a better option if you only have access to an iPhone.

I also tried the email option. I emailed the article to both my gmail account, which I could view easily on my iPhone, and also to my PSU account. Everything worked smoothly, except after I sent the email, a pop-up window appeared confirming that my email was sent, and I couldn't make it go away. Nonetheless, the article was sent to both my email addresses within seconds - both with a pdf attachment that opened just fine.

What does this mean for faculty or students doing research?

1) They can search for books and articles at Penn State using the iphone.

2) Once they locate a specific article, they can find out its physical location in the library - or if it is in an e-journal or available in an online format from a database, they can view the abstract or full-length article in PDF (if short in length) or HTML (if available) using their iPhone.

3) They can email a copy (PDF) of the article to their PSU or preferred email account, so they can view/printout the article.

3) They can share abstracts, articles with colleagues or other students via email.

The only problem is the Library's time-out feature. One has to be quick - however, I was taking notes between tests, so the inactivity may have caused it rather than a problem with the edge network or iphone itself.

Okay problem solved - explored the Talkr site more and you can download podcasts. From their site:

Talkr can also provide you with a podcast of your favorite news sources. This means that you can plug your MP3 player into your home computer once a day and Talkr will provide you with hours of audio content with no additional work on your part. Talkr will keep tabs on your feeds and send audio to your computer as those audio files become available.

If you have already installed a "podcatcher" or "podcasting client" on your home or office computer, it is simple to tell Talkr to podcast to your computer. (Which podcasting client should I use?)

1. Go to your My Feeds page.
2. Select the feed that you would like to automatically download to your computer.
3. Copy and paste the link from the podcasting icon image into your podcatcher.

In early May, I attended the USDLA 20th Anniversary Conference where I heard a presentation entitled: Individual Devices Enabling Access (IDEA): Creating Intelligent Tutoring Adaptive Technology. Educators at Broward County School District located software (Kurzweil 3000) that converted text to speech, which was extremely helpful to students where were learning English as a second language, had learning disabilities or had visual impairments. This software allowed them to take text, enlarge it, and add narration, plus highlight the sentence (in yellow) and specific word (in green) along with the narration. Next, to make the content more portable, they used Camtasia to capture the content modified in the Kurzweil 3000, and then downloaded it on to an ARCHOS handheld device. In addition, they took video of sign language interpreters for courses, and uploaded these to ARCHOS as well.

They chose ARCHOS 504 after comparing it to a number of other handheld devices including the iPod, Palm One Life Drive, Microsoft Zune, Nokia Internet Tablet N800 and Rover TV. Compared to the others, ARCHOS had the largest screen and was easiest to use.

Since I attended the conference, the iPhone has come out, and it’s screen is about the same size as the ARCHOS. Thus, the iPhone could possibly be used as an “individual device enabling access. The difficult part, is of course, how to download the content to the iPhone. With it’s web browsing feature, content could be converted to quicktime format and stored in ANGEL and then opened up via the iPhone. Converting it to a podcast or vodcast might also be an option. If any of these worked, think of the opportunities. Will have to run some tests on this and post what I find.

Thinking back to the USDLA conference, I remembered a free online tool that converted blog entries to speech. What could be better for those with visual impairments? I went to the site, talkr.com, added my own blog, and it produced an mp3 for each entry. I listened to the mp3 on my computer – wonderful! I then got on my iPhone – would it work? No, it would not open up the mp3 file from the website. Nonetheless, the Talkr site is AMAZING. You register for a free account, select your blog feeds, and presto – in less than a minute – they are converted to mp3s!

Here is a screen capture of my blog on Talkr with mp3s:

Thanks to Jason Heffner's suggestion, I was able to get into the PDA mode of ANGEL by entering this URL: https://cms.psu.edu/display/default.asp?title=PDA&ts=51028
as opposed to trying to click the button on the profile page.

I was able to take and submit the quizzes without any problem. After submitting the quiz, I was able to view my answers with corrective feedback. The screen did not turn white as it had in the normal mode.

I was also able to post a message in the discussion forum. The text box for my message was not blocked by the keypad as it had been in regular mode. However, I still was unable to open my post or any of the other posts. When I clicked each, it highlighted and the title became underlined and turned from a blue-colored font to a green-colored font, but it did not open.

Whoa - wait - the problem isn't the iPhone - it's me. The postings are opening - but they show at the bottom half of the screen. I just wasn't patient enough for it to load nor did I scroll down far enough. The postings show up just fine.

Thus, the iPhone works extremely well with ANGEL quizzes and discussion forums in the PDA mode.