I purchased an Apple iPhone last July when they were just hitting the market, and I can honestly say it has changed my life. It is both a good change and a bad change depending on how you look at it. Over the next few paragraphs I will give a little insight on the things that have made my life “different” than it used to be.
1. Being lost is no longer something that is possible with Google Maps.
Unless of course you are standing in the middle of nowhere and cannot get a signal from any cell phone towers. Then your just out of luck. But seriously, I can be standing downtown of any major city and within seconds I can Google map any location I want and the phone will tell me how to get there.
Just this morning, I was walking towards my car at lunch hour and a man pulled up beside me and asked if I could help him out with directions. He said, “Do you know where 613 Grant is?” I responded with “no, but I can find out.” So I put it in my phone and the next thing you know I am telling him which direction and which cross streets to look for. I would say this change is for the better, because it is nice to not have to worry about where anything is anymore. I vary rarely have to print out directions on how to get places. I guess you could say I am saving the environment by printing less.
2. The Notes application built in with the Apple iPhone allows me to jot down random thoughts, lists, and to-dos where ever I am.
I cannot say enough how this has been a life saver in certain situations where I reached for a pad of paper and realized I did not have a pen or pencil. It is really nice to have your shopping list in your phone since 9 out of 10 times I leave the list on the refrigerator door when I go to the grocery store.
3. Texting on the Apple iPhone has definitely changed the way I communicate with people.
I used to be the call and talk type of person. I hated typing text messages using the number pad in my old Razr. Now that I have an iPhone, I am the text before calling person. Why? Who knows, I guess you could say it’s the easy way out haha. It is really easy to type long messages with the iPhone keyboard so I tend to text way more often than I ever thought I would. I am just glad I signed up for unlimited texting or my phone bill would be something to cry about.
4. Even the weather application has changed the way I look at the weather.
I can click the weather icon and know what the weather is like in 10 cities I have inputted into the application. Watching the weather on the news is no longer even something I would consider. Matter of fact, I don’t even go on weather.com anymore like I used to do all the time.
5. I almost forgot to mention the fact that the iPhone also has an iPod built into it.
I have 8 gigabytes of my favorite music and videos in my pocket at all times. This is something I sure could of used sitting in study hall back in high school. Watching movies would of been awesome.
As you can see, these are some pretty significant changes and I haven’t even gotten to the biggest ones yet. Thats right, the next two (3 counting Facebook) things are the major changes that have happened to me; the Internet and Email.
6. Email used to be something I checked about 4 times a week back in high school.
Half the time my Hotmail account went so long without a login that all my mail disappeared anyway. Now, I check my email every 15 minutes, or at least my phone does. It literally connects to my work mail and Gmail every 15 minutes to see if I have any new messages. And if I do, it vibrates to let me know. So now, day in and day out, I am checking my messages like 100 times a day. Email has become my main means of communication. The phone option of the Apple iPhone is something I hardly even need anymore.
7. The full blown Safari web browser that comes standard on the iPhone is truly amazing.
I remember when I had a slow internet connection on my old phone that took me to “mobile” websites that didnt even resemble the real websites. Now I can literally surf the internet day in and day out from my cellphone. You cannot believe the impact this has on your life. Having internet access in your pocket all the time. I was driving the other day and heard a song I really liked but was not sure what the name of it was. So when I parked, I Googled the song and found exactly what I was looking for. The best part of all is using it in the car when someone else is driving. When I took a road trip to Las Vegas (worst drive ever), I was sitting in the car the whole time surfing the web. It sure makes time fly by.
8. This goes along with internet, but I decided that Facebook needed its own paragraph.
Mainly because of the impact it has had on my life. Ever since I bought the phone, I have pretty much been logged onto Facebook. Facebook has its own version just for the iPhone and it is simple to use. The problem, is I spend way more time on Facebook than I ever used to. Now I sit at work looking at what my friends are up to just because I can. You could literally call me or message me on Facebook and get the same response time. My phone vibrates every time a new friend adds me, someone messages me, or even if someone rates me on the Hot or Not application.
True Story: I was once sitting on the rooftop of Club Pure in Las Vegas at a VIP table we paid a ton for, and guess what I was doing? Someone poked me on Facebook so I thought I had to hurry up and poke them back. If that wasn’t enough, I proceeded to Facebook the girl I was sitting with. That’s right, I literally asked her what her last name was, looked her up, and send a Friend request at the bar. A little excessive? Yes indeed. But on a good note, I guess it helps build your social network.
So after all that, I can conclude that technology plays a significant role in life. It is our portal to information. At the same time, it can also distract us from things that really matter, like living life. But what really makes me wonder, is if Apple’s iPhone is so advanced now, where in the heck are we going to be 50 years from now?
I’ll save that for some other time…
Photo by williamhook
