Everything Else

So Apple announced the iPhone available in June '07 and I definitely want one because it would eliminate my carrying around both a PDA and a cellphone and be Mac compatible.

But that got me thinking about what I use my PDA for:

1. Addresses and Telephone Numbers - Well the iPhone should handle that and it should sync with Address Book which I use.

2. Appointments/Schedule - again I use iCal and it should handle that.

3. To Do list - part of iCal, I would think they would incorporate this.

4. Note pad - like a sticky note you jot on with a stylus. I use this all the time. I used it today to jot down the dimensions on some furniture in a store so I could measure the space for it once I got home. I also jot down telephone numbers and all sorts of notes. Since the iPhone does not have a stylus I suspect it does not have a note pad application. I suppose I can live without it but it will be missed.

5. Memo pad - this is for typed notes. I keep lists of authors and book titles on it for reference at used book stores, plus other semi permanent notes. Looks like they have something for this.

6. Calculator - I see there is a widget for this. Good.

7. Internet - iPhone will do this better than my Palm TX.

8. Ebook reader - This might be a problem - perhaps a major one. I get a lot of ebooks at Manybooks. They have a format for iPods using the Notes feature. If that works on the iPhone in iPod mode I might be satisfied. I want to be able to carry around ebooks for reading while in waiting rooms, etc. Being able to read free public domain ebooks on the iPhone is very important to me, much much more important than reading books that are for sale by the publishers. For sale books would be nice too but I definitely want to be able to choose my sources for free content. I currently do most of my reading on my PDA and I do not want to carry both around.

In addition there are some features I really want:

Yahoo - I definitely must have Yahoo local search, web search, email and maps. I've tried all the Google stuff and I prefer Yahoo for local search and maps, plus I already use Yahoo email daily and I don't intend to change. I would also like to be able to add other search engines like Ask, but I can be satisfied with Yahoo and Google.

Now the other hurdle is to see how much per month the service plan is for the iPhone. If I can be fairly well satisfied on the above and the price is not too high I might buy one in early Autumn after people have had a chance to really test the iPhone in the wild and review it.

The exciting part for me is having web and email access with me practically everywhere I go. That is what the iPhone can give me if the price is not too high for service.