iLife after Palm...

[Bri Guy]

I bought an iPhone the night of release. Long-time Palm user here (10 years, numerous devices, tried the 680 and 750, went back to my 650). I felt compelled to share some thoughts about this whole experience. First, some groundwork:

I just bought a MacBook Pro about 2 weeks ago. I've used an Apple before, but this is my first real plunge (whole-hearted) into Mac and OSX and away from Windows. I absolutely am in LOVE with my Mac. I suppose it took the Intel processor to finally make me comfortable with the switch.

Now, the iPhone. I've been reading numerous posts, pros and cons, about the iPhone, how it's better or worse than a Treo, ad nauseum. I have spent untold hours (days, months, maybe even years ) customizing, "tweaking", and basically molding my Palm devices to meet my needs. It's been fun and infuriating at the same time (nothing like a hard-reset to get the blood pumping). What I have found with the iPhone is... simplicity. What I've always valued about Palm's interface is... simplicity. That being said, what I find most liberating about the iPhone is that it's simple, intuitive and effective right out of the box. No tweaking required (or allowed, at this point).

But what about all those precious 3rd party apps I'm no longer able to use on my Palm?!? Well, to tell you the truth... I think I slowly and inevitably became a SLAVE to those 3rd party apps over the past 10 years. I found that over the years, like a cluttered basement or attic, I found it hard to let go of ANY app I had acquired, whether I used it or not! Thus, my Treo became a bloated "hoarder" of software that I rarely, if ever, used. I've taken a good, hard look at my Treo apps and realize that with exception of my daily use of the PIM, I use just a couple apps on my Treo that I've found suitable replacements for online (yes, I use Safari on my iPhone to access similar programs available for free on websites).

I have no doubt that the iPhone will be improved, functionality will be added, and I'm looking forward to riding that wave. For now, I can honestly say that the iPhone is an amazing device right out of the box, no tweaking required, and it's extraordinarily refreshing to have cleaned out the attic, shoveled out the basement, and embrace the simplicity of a device that just plain works.

 

[MacUser]

I just bought a MacBook Pro about 2 weeks ago. I've used an Apple before, but this is my first real plunge (whole-hearted) into Mac and OSX and away from Windows. I absolutely am in LOVE with my Mac. I suppose it took the Intel processor to finally make me comfortable with the switch.

Now, the iPhone. I've been reading numerous posts, pros and cons, about the iPhone, how it's better or worse than a Treo, ad nauseum. I have spent untold hours (days, months, maybe even years ) customizing, "tweaking", and basically molding my Palm devices to meet my needs. It's been fun and infuriating at the same time (nothing like a hard-reset to get the blood pumping). What I have found with the iPhone is... simplicity. What I've always valued about Palm's interface is... simplicity. That being said, what I find most liberating about the iPhone is that it's simple, intuitive and effective right out of the box. No tweaking required (or allowed, at this point).

But what about all those precious 3rd party apps I'm no longer able to use on my Palm?!? Well, to tell you the truth... I think I slowly and inevitably became a SLAVE to those 3rd party apps over the past 10 years. I found that over the years, like a cluttered basement or attic, I found it hard to let go of ANY app I had acquired, whether I used it or not! Thus, my Treo became a bloated "hoarder" of software that I rarely, if ever, used. I've taken a good, hard look at my Treo apps and realize that with exception of my daily use of the PIM, I use just a couple apps on my Treo that I've found suitable replacements for online (yes, I use Safari on my iPhone to access similar programs available for free on websites).

I have no doubt that the iPhone will be improved, functionality will be added, and I'm looking forward to riding that wave. For now, I can honestly say that the iPhone is an amazing device right out of the box, no tweaking required, and it's extraordinarily refreshing to have cleaned out the attic, shoveled out the basement, and embrace the simplicity of a device that just plain works.

Great post. I'm glad you like your MBP. It's a great machine.

I agree on the bloated feeling. I'm excited to think about the updates down the road.

PS I just loaded Batman Returns & Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on my iPhone. What a beautiful screen! The phone is an instant ice breaker

 

[Bri Guy]

Great post. I'm glad you like your MBP. It's a great machine.

I agree on the bloated feeling. I'm excited to think about the updates down the road.

PS I just loaded Batman Returns & Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on my iPhone. What a beautiful screen! The phone is an instant ice breaker

Thanks for your response! Ok, I haven't used the video feature of my iPhone yet. How did you get Batman Begins and CT,HD on your iPhone? Any compression required? Did you download it from iTunes? I'm excited to give it a try!

 

[AnteL0pe]

Since you're on a Mac try the application called Handbrake, http://handbrake.m0k.org/ This will allow you to rip movies off DVDs and you can then drop them into iTunes. Once it's in there just sync it to the iPhone and enjoy.

 

[MacUser]

Since you're on a Mac try the application called Handbrake, http://handbrake.m0k.org/ This will allow you to rip movies off DVDs and you can then drop them into iTunes. Once it's in there just sync it to the iPhone and enjoy.

Yup...you can use the default Apple TV setting, then go into Video settings and change the height to 320. It'll result in a movie about 800MB in size. Gorgeous on the iPhone

 

[Bri Guy]

Thanks, Antelope and MacUser! I'll get right on it. I'm still a babe in the woods (Mac-wise), but I'm loving every intuitive-quality-simple minute of it!

 

[AnteL0pe]

If you want any further help with Mac software just post in a relevant category or drop me a note, i'll be glad to help.

 

[MacUser]

Yeah, Mac people are a considerate bunch.

 

[Bri Guy]

I'm thankful for the offers to help! I'm sure there will be things that pop up now and then and I may have an inquiry or two. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the world of Apple. I will still watch with interest to see what Palm will do in the coming months. I don't think I'll forever abandon them (I've invested far too much time and $$$ in software ), but I'm soooooooo relieved to have cleaned out the attic and basement --- it's nice to start fresh!

 

[AnteL0pe]

I hear ya, my 650 is still in my Seidio cradle running TomTom in my car. If Palm hadn't constantly disappointed me i probably would have passed on the iPhone and waited for a 3G, Palm based, GSM phone.

 

[nyc_rock]

It will be interesting to see what everyones feeling are in the next two weeks. It takes a while to really get to know a device. Menu's that seem intuitive now can be come a pain later. The liberation of the clean interface can become a downer as you realize how limmited the device is. I cant get the iphone since att still doesnt service where I live (50 miles north of NYC), but I will stay tuned out of interest of all things digital.

 

[Bri Guy]

Last night I manually transferred several of my Memos from my 650 into Notes on my iPhone. At first I was intimidated by some of the negative comments I've seen posted about difficulty in using the iPhone's virtual keyboard. Although requiring a small learning curve, I was very impressed with the iPhone's "smart" text entry. As an experiment, I decided to stop watching what was appearing in my Notes (lots and lots of typos!) and focus on just typing the best that I could. To my delight, the iPhone did an excellent job figuring out what I wanted to type and corrected most, if not all, of my mistakes. I can honestly say that I'm about as fast typing on the iPhone as I've ever been on my Treo. I just think it's important to give it a chance.

 

[pdadoc]

I'm seriously considering move from verizon 700P to iPhone. I'm a long time "power" user, and will definitely miss some treo apps, but not the headaches. One specific app I'll miss is Kinoma (or powertunes), which allows for streaming of many radio stations. I assume the iPhone won't even allow streaming of radiostations from their websites, as most of these require either real audio or windows media player... is that correct?

 

[RadMonkeyX]

Great stuff Bri. I am currenlty looking at converting to a Mac also and an Iphone. I currently have the 750. Iphone seems to do everything i need. Thanks for your thoughts so far, good stuff

 

[cmaier]

I feel the same way. I enjoy writing my own palm software, so I hold out hope for a real SDK eventually, but pretty much the only third party software I use regularly is chatter, solitaire, and keysuite. When I'm bored, I use Express to read the news. And I use a time tracker to keep track of hours spent on work projects for various clients. I'll rewrite that as a web app (it won't require any real bandwidth, so speed should be fine) and then the only thing I'll really miss is solitaire

And I suspect some games will be coming soon enough... (solitaire seems such a natural for that iphone interface).

 

[renn#IM]

Glad to read perspective of a Palm user

Good to read the review of a Palm user. Thank you. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[bcaslis#IM]

I agree with what you have said. I went through the 270 / 600 / 650 / 700w / 700p / 750 / 680 and finally had enough of problems & bugs. I got a Motorola Q to wait until the iPhone mainly for it's better bluetooth.

I got it on Friday night and love it. It's the best handheld device (at least for my needs) I've ever had. It's not perfect and it doesn't do everything but that's one of it's strengths. It doesn't try to do everything, just the important things and do them well. That used to be the strength of Palm devices but they somehow lost that along the way. At least with the iPhone I'll bet money that we get timely updates from Apple, unlike the sorry history of Palm updates for the past couple of years.

I bought an iPhone the night of release. Long-time Palm user here (10 years, numerous devices, tried the 680 and 750, went back to my 650). I felt compelled to share some thoughts about this whole experience. First, some groundwork:

I just bought a MacBook Pro about 2 weeks ago. I've used an Apple before, but this is my first real plunge (whole-hearted) into Mac and OSX and away from Windows. I absolutely am in LOVE with my Mac. I suppose it took the Intel processor to finally make me comfortable with the switch.

Now, the iPhone. I've been reading numerous posts, pros and cons, about the iPhone, how it's better or worse than a Treo, ad nauseum. I have spent untold hours (days, months, maybe even years ) customizing, "tweaking", and basically molding my Palm devices to meet my needs. It's been fun and infuriating at the same time (nothing like a hard-reset to get the blood pumping). What I have found with the iPhone is... simplicity. What I've always valued about Palm's interface is... simplicity. That being said, what I find most liberating about the iPhone is that it's simple, intuitive and effective right out of the box. No tweaking required (or allowed, at this point).

But what about all those precious 3rd party apps I'm no longer able to use on my Palm?!? Well, to tell you the truth... I think I slowly and inevitably became a SLAVE to those 3rd party apps over the past 10 years. I found that over the years, like a cluttered basement or attic, I found it hard to let go of ANY app I had acquired, whether I used it or not! Thus, my Treo became a bloated "hoarder" of software that I rarely, if ever, used. I've taken a good, hard look at my Treo apps and realize that with exception of my daily use of the PIM, I use just a couple apps on my Treo that I've found suitable replacements for online (yes, I use Safari on my iPhone to access similar programs available for free on websites).

I have no doubt that the iPhone will be improved, functionality will be added, and I'm looking forward to riding that wave. For now, I can honestly say that the iPhone is an amazing device right out of the box, no tweaking required, and it's extraordinarily refreshing to have cleaned out the attic, shoveled out the basement, and embrace the simplicity of a device that just plain works.

 

[MacUser]

I feel the same way. I enjoy writing my own palm software, so I hold out hope for a real SDK eventually, but pretty much the only third party software I use regularly is chatter, solitaire, and keysuite. When I'm bored, I use Express to read the news. And I use a time tracker to keep track of hours spent on work projects for various clients. I'll rewrite that as a web app (it won't require any real bandwidth, so speed should be fine) and then the only thing I'll really miss is solitaire

And I suspect some games will be coming soon enough... (solitaire seems such a natural for that iphone interface).

Call me crazy, but I feel that Apple will release some apps via iTunes store. Especially important is a secure password app. Think of the revenues

 

[AnteL0pe]

Especially important is a secure password app. Think of the revenues

Agreed, this is an app that i wont be able to do without for long...

 

[jay_man2]

I'm seriously considering move from verizon 700P to iPhone. I'm a long time "power" user, and will definitely miss some treo apps, but not the headaches. One specific app I'll miss is Kinoma (or powertunes), which allows for streaming of many radio stations. I assume the iPhone won't even allow streaming of radiostations from their websites, as most of these require either real audio or windows media player... is that correct?

On my 700p on Sprint I could use my online XM Radio account through mobile.musicdock.com. I tried that on the iPhone, and while it appears like it might work, the "media player" never starts up.

Oh well, the iPhone is better as a phone than the 700p, and while there are some things I miss, like icons for the monthly calendar view in DayBook V, and cut/paste functionality, I much prefer the interface on the iPhone, and syncing to iCal etc. on my Mac.