Wendy's iPhone Thoughts

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.