Today on the AWT News Update podcast:
- Strategy Analytics believes Apple will sell 15.4 million Watches in 2015, grabbing 54.8% of the market
- Want to see what the different Watch and band combinations look like? Head over to mixyourwatch.com and have some fun
- Apple’s Beats-based streaming music service may not be unveiled until WWDC in June
- Google updates the Google Docs, Sheets and Slides apps for iPhone and iPad
- Imgur drops a new iOS app in the App Store, just for finding viral images on your iPhone
Listen to the AWT News Update every weekday for a quick overview of stories we may not have published on the blog. Be sure to join the AWT Team at 10 AM PT/1 PM ET on March 9th for our liveblog of the Apple Event.
Star Trek, the original series, was in syndication when I was young. My father loved the show, and he’d invite me to watch it with him. We’d sit side by side on the couch and watch Kirk and Spock fly through space and have incredible adventures. My dad would explain who the aliens were and what the ships were called. He described McCoy’s Tricorder, Kirk’s flip-open communicator and the transporter. I fell in love with them and imagined what life would be like if I had those things.
I’d ride by bike around the neighborhood, pedaling as hard as my skinny little legs would go, the whole time imagining I was the Enterprise at warp speed, or a Klingon Bird-of-Prey de-cloaking and ready to cause trouble. But mostly, I imagined I had all of those awesome toys. A communicator. A tricorder. A tablet. A phaser. And of course, a transporter. “Beam me out of math class, Scotty! It’s boring as hell!” What amazing, impossible gadgets.
Most of all, I just loved watching Star Trek with my dad, just the two of us. I have a deep affection for Star Trek and cool gadgets, and those warm feelings are a big part of that.
Today, the iPhone is my sci-fi fantasies realized, and the reality is better than I ever imagined as a child.
The iPhone is the best and most useful computer I’ve ever owned. To demonstrate this, I spent a week noting each time I used it. Whenever I took my iPhone out of my pocket, I recorded when, why and what app I used. The results are, to quote a certain Vulcan, fascinating.
My iPhone is entertainer and work coach. It’s a photo album and a personal trainer, a movie theater and an outlet for my creativity. My beautiful 5c connects me with far-flung loved ones in very real, meaningful ways. It helps me earn a living, navigate unfamiliar roads and walk the dog at night by lighting the way. My iPhone lulls me to sleep, wakes me up and reminds me to take my meds. I can’t overstate how much I love and, more importantly, use this device.
Below you’ll find the record my iPhone use over the course of one week. After that is an analysis of patterns I’ve noticed, and a consideration of how I use my iPhone every day. Let’s get started with Monday, March 2nd.
Note: I recorded all of these observations and wrote this entire article with Byword on my iPhone.
Monday, March 2
- Reminder to drive my daughter to ballet, complete with a suggestion for my departure time, based on my location and current traffic conditions. Google
- Enter information, review outstanding tasks/to-dos in Todoist (several times) Todoist
- Watch my brother-in-law, far away in Pennsylvania, shovel his driveway. Again. Path
- Enter meal data into My Fitness Pal. My Fitness Pal
- Review web stats Squarespace Metrics
- Fun with Alto’s Adventure. Alto’s Adventure
- Tweeting. Twitterrific
- Set reminders with Due. Due
- Björk, my favorite music for writing. Music
- Reviewing highlights from my family’s day on Path. Feeling connected to people I rarely see. Path
- Dice rolling while playing D&D with friends Dice & Dragons
- Go to sleep with Sleepy Fan. Sleepy Fan
Tuesday, March 3rd
- Browse Twitter, get caught up on news and my friends’ activities. Feel close to dear friends I rarely (if ever) see in person. Laugh at a few jokes. Twitterrific
- Go to work. Slack
- Tweeting. Twitterrific
- Set reminders with Due. Due
- Enter information, review outstanding tasks/to-dos in Todoist (several times). Todoist
- Enter meal data into My Fitness Pal. My Fitness Pal
- Check weather as another storm approaches. Yahoo Weather
- Check my calendar, see what’s on tap for the day. Fantastical
- Get a message from my wife. My daughter left her iPhone at school. I better bring it to her, as we’ll have to cordinate ballet pick up/drop off later. Messages
- Review web stats Squarespace Metrics
- Set reminders with Due. Due
- Listen to podcasts while running errands in the car. Podcasts
- Post to Apple World Today’s Instagram account. Instagram
- Check mail (several times). Dispatch
- Go to sleep with Sleepy Fan. Sleepy Fan
Wednesday, March 4
- Browse Twitter, get caught up on news and my friends’ activities. Twitterrific
- Go to work. Slack
- Check weather as another storm approaches. Enough with the storms already, seriously. Yahoo Weather
- Enter meal data into My Fitness Pal. My Fitness Pal
- Enter information, review outstanding tasks/to-dos in Todoist (several times). Todoist
- Ask Siri to help me with the household chores. Siri
- Check mail (several times). Dispatch
- See what the family is up to on Path, share a “snow day” photo. Path
- Tweeting. Twitterrific
- Set reminders with Due. Due
- Start a movie on the Apple TV. Remote
- Working on a new deck for Magic: The Gathering. Decked
- Listen to podcasts while running errands in the car. Podcasts
- Go to sleep with Sleepy Fan. Sleepy Fan
Thursday, March 5
- Browse Twitter, get caught up on news and my friends’ activities. Twitterrific
- Go to work. Slack
- Check mail (several times). Dispatch
- Text with my wife and daughter. Messages
- Enter meal data into My Fitness Pal. My Fitness Pal
- Tracked my son’s birthday gifts from Amazon. Deliveries
- I need the video I shot of when my William rode his bike without training wheels for the first time. Found it. Picturelife
- Post to Instagram. Instagram
- Browse Goodreads, see what friends are reading. Goodreads
- Plot a course to the Boston Convention Center Google Maps
- Play Dead Man’s Draw. Dead Man’s Draw
- Tweeting. Twitterrific
- Text my buddy Jeff. Messages
- Set reminders with Due. Due
- Go to sleep with Sleepy Fan. Sleepy Fan
Friday, March 6
- Go to work. Slack
- Enter meal data into My Fitness Pal. My Fitness Pal
- Browse the day’s activities. Fantastical
- Check mail (several times). Dispatch
- Download and install the official PAX East guide (Mobile Safari)
- Text my buddy Jeff. Messages
- Browse Todosit. Todoist
- Tweeting. Twitterrific
- Pop into Freshbooks real quick to find an invoice number. Freshbooks
- Taking photos at a Cub Scout event. Camera +
- Set reminders with Due. Due
- Go to sleep with Sleepy Fan. Sleepy Fan
All of this with a computer that fits in my hand and is barely noticeable in my pocket. It is my constant companion and my most productive and versitile tool. You might use different apps, but I bet the experince is just as remarkable.
How I use my iPhone
This information, informal as it is, emphasizes my iPhone’s versitility. I use it to entertain myself and monitor my health. I shoot photos and earn a living. It even places a phone call every now and then. It’s an essential work tool and a great little remote control when I want to watch Star Wars Rebels in iTunes.
When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone on January 9, 2007, he used a clever play on words to describe it as a phone, an iPod and a revolutionary communication device. “Are you getting it?” he said. “These are not three seprarate devices.” Eight years later, my iPhone is that and so much more:
- It’s a communicator (Path, Facebook, Dispatch, Slack)
- It’s a Tricorder (Health, My Fitness Pal, Fitbit, MapMyWalk)
- It’s a transporter (FaceTime, Wayfare)
- It’s a phaser (Star Trek Trexels)
When I bought the original iPhone on launch day, June 29, 2007, I used it to call my wife as I drove home from the mall. “It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever owned,” I said. Today it’s the most useful thing I’ve ever owned. Cool fades, usefulness lasts.
Fortunately for Apple, the iPhone — my science fiction fantasy come to life — is still pretty damn cool.
