iPhone - the device that finally pushed me over the edge.
Until yesterday I had resisted every PDA the high tech industry could dream up. I was not even remotely tempted by any of those clunky gray boxes, all of them looking like calculators with too many keys. The thought of scraping around on one with a plastic stylus seemed even sillier. Besides, I would have lost the little thing in less than a day. And handwriting recognition? From people whose software does well to achieve eight consecutive hours of uptime without crashing? I don't think so.
The first computer I ever used professionally was a Mac. It was friendly, reliable and the user interface it boasted back then was better than 90% of the UI designs we see today. So with that kind of heritage behind it, I was sure it would be intuitive and everything would just work. A phone with text messages, email, camera, internet browser, notepad, calculator, my calendar, music, videos and even the local weather wrapped up in a sleek, slim, chrome and black case that would have been at home in the Arthur Clarkes's 2001: A Space Odyssey. I knew I couldn't lose. It was time.
On Friday after work I rushed to the local AT&T store, a crowded little place but the sales people seemed friendly, even eager to please. I selected the 8Gigabyte model, passed the required credit check, then 20 minutes and $650 later was the proud owner of a new iPhone.
At this point I reached the first hurdle. The iPhone was not actually working yet. At the store they explained to me that "I have to go home to activate it." It sounded like an entertaining notion but I explained that I would prefer not to leave until everything was working, thank you.
"No, we can't do that here, you have to take it home to do it." That got me wondering, "Does it have to be in any certain room in my home? Only in the dining room? The living room?" It turns out any room will do, but in order to activate the iPhone you will need to use a computer. I could see a number of devices in the store that appeared to be computers. How about using one of those? "No, we can't do that." Can't? Really, you can't? And this is the iPhone store? I began to wonder if I would be able to do it.
It turns out they could, but they won't. It is against the rules. So, a little crestfallen but still hopeful I left the store with my shiny new, inactive iPhone. An idea struck me, I pass right by a Kinko's on the way home. I will activate it there.
Another hurdle. It is not simply a computer that's needed to activate an iPhone but actually a computer running iTunes. Did you know those computers they have for people to use at Kinko's don't have iTunes installed on them? Nor will they let you download and install anything of the sort. This was becoming a bit of a challenge.
In a situations like these you have to be resourceful. I called a friend who lived nearby who was glad to let me come over and use her computer to activate my new iPhone. Once there I searched for "activate iPhone" and found the link to the page that would explain it all, the golden gateway to the activated iPhone. Well, sort of... it turned out to be a 71 plus megabyte quicktime video of ad copy explaining just how easy it was to do. Too bad I am not the sort of person likely to wait around long enough to download a multimedia extravaganza illustrating what I hope will turn out to be less than 10 easy steps.
More searching, more, just a bit more, ah, there it was, a simple list of iPhone activation instructions. Download iTunes, dock the phone, follow the prompts. That I can do. Or can I? More later.
What you need to activate an inPhone:
- An Internet connection
- An existing iTunes Store account or a new iTunes Store account (major credit card may be required)
- A valid Social Security number and a U.S. billing address (Your social security number is required for both AT&T credit checking as well as to allow AT&T to move your wireless number from your previous carrier to your new account).
- iTunes 7.3 or later, available at www.itunes.com. Apple recommends using the latest version.
- A Mac or a PC with a USB 2.0 port and one of the following operating systems:
- Mac OS X version 10.4.10 or later
- Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later
- Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, or Ultimate edition
2 comments:
I've been an iPhone user from the beginning and LOVE IT!!!! but I have one suggestion. I would love the ability to organize my apps from iTunes. I have 8 windows of Apps and if I want to move an app now its like a puzzle game where apps I don't want to move will shift to another window accidentally. I hate it. Or if you could view your apps similar to how they are sold at iTunes which is to view by category... I'd like to have all my music apps together, my utilities together... etc.
Access your iTune on any computer with internet hook up.
As the words say. Apple has all the resources to make that happen.
No need to explain.
Obvious.
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