iPhone 4

The day has finally come for me to retire my old and trusted flip-phone. My 2 year contract with Verizon was up last October, so I qualified for for a new phone with a new contract. I didn't get a new phone right away because my phone was fine. Beat up, yes, and some of the buttons didn't work right, and okay, the front screen was burned out, but it worked fine. Really. It allowed me to make phone calls and text and even took poor quality pictures. Alright. It was time for a new phone.

When I heard rumors that Verizon was finally going to offer an iPhone, I immediately called my dad (another Verizon customer and a huge gadget guy). He was on board right away. He pre-ordered his phone as soon as it was available and received it while I was still debating whether I'd get one or not. I had been weighing the pros and cons, trying to decide if I would lose my identity and become one of those smart phone zombies. You know who I mean. When I discovered that it would only cost me $30 per month more than I was paying, I was close to buying. The final straw was when my dad claimed Verizon would likely start charging a lot more than $30 for the data plan and that this great deal wasn't going to last. I caved.

When it arrived, I took it straight to the mall and had it covered with InvisiShield. I'd done this to my iPod years ago and it has protected it so well. I bought a bumper to go around the outside, protecting it for the inevitable drops. Then I turned it on.

Every day I find more ways to use the phone and am continually amazed by all it can do. Remember when having a computer at your house was a big deal? Remember dial-up internet? I'm only 27 and these huge advances have happened already in my lifetime. Where will we be in another 27 years?

So far, I've discovered the following apps:

Joann's Fabric Store to keep my coupons in my phone "wallet"

Facebook

Kindle

Grocery List

a few games...

and the most recent - Google.

The google app is incredible. It has a voice recognition so you can do a google search just by talking, but also find places and restaurants based on your location. "Find sushi" and a map of your location pulls up with markers on all the sushi restaurants near you. The most impressive aspect of the app is the picture recognition. You take a picture of something and it does a google search based on the picture. I took a pic of the barcode on my book and it pulled up "The Help." When I clicked on it, it showed a google search with descriptions, reviews and prices. Instantly.

Maybe everyone else knows how much you can do with a smart phone, but I had no idea. It's ridiculous and overwhelming and I kind of love it.