my iPhone 4S experience

Please note, this is NOT a review.  Just my thoughts.  Take it for what it's worth.

I did something I thought I would never do a week ago.  I preordered an iPhone 4S.  I never preorder or am the first person to acquire a new piece of technology.  I have two reasons for this:
1. There will be a waiting line from hell to stand in.
2. There are always bugs and glitches in anything new.

I hate to have something that is new and doesn't work the way it is hyped to work.  So I wait.  Patiently.  Until I hear positive reports in the user trenches.  That usually takes a while.  I got my first iPhone, a 3GS, about a year after it came out.  And loved the way it performed.

I also fell in love with all stuff "i".  I had purchased an iPod the size of a postage stamp several years ago, and enjoyed it, but the love affair with "i" products really started with that iPhone.  It was a remarkable little piece of equipment.  It did everything I wanted it to do, and never gave me any problems.  Excellent design, excellent performance.  No problems.

So when I heard of the release of the new iPhone 4S (I don't know why everyone was surprised.  There was a 3G and 3GS after all.), I thought about it and decided two things.
1. I wanted the new camera that was on it.
2. I wanted to experience the madness of standing in line.

I chickened out on standing in line cold, and opted for the preorder, which assured me instant service at an appointed time.

It didn't happen.  It took over 30 minutes to get served by a sales associate.  But that wasn't her fault.  For 2 reasons:
1. I was over thirty minutes late for my appointment.
2. And that was because I had forgotten that rush hour traffic in Birmingham starts at 3PM.

So as I patiently waited, my eyes drifted around and I thought to myself about Steve Jobs.  About the legacy he had created in technology.  About the standard he set for excellence in service and products.  About how he was probably watching from the great beyond and having a good laugh about the Apple madness going on once again for the launch of a new product.

Of course, being me, nothing goes quite the same as it does for other people.  I learned two more valuable lessons today while I was getting my new iPhone:
1. Don't set your appointment for the time when half the United States has gotten off work and is also in line buying new iPhones.  The AT&T system shut down three times before they finally got my order in.
2. Don't upgrade your phone using your spouse's upgrade.

Now let me explain #2 a bit more.  Stevie Wonder hated the last phone I got for him.  Actually, Wretch was with me on that buy, so she takes half the blame.  Come to think of it, the only couch he ever hated was the couch Wretch and I picked out.  (That was two couches ago.)  So maybe I should blame her for half of the problem.

Because Stevie hated his phone, I took him to Best Buy and told him "PICK YOUR OWN PHONE OUT I AM NOT HAVING A WORD TO SAY ABOUT IT."  And he did.  And used my upgrade.  Then found out they had shut his phone off.  And he had to make another trip back to the store to get it fixed.  Which meant another SIM card for his phone.  And an ear blistering lecture to me about how he would never do that again.

Until tonight.  It happened again.  Only the young lady who waited on me was a smart cookie, and replaced his SIM card while he was there.  I had to chase around the store looking for him and the kids, because I had sent them away from me, because they were driving me nuts and breathing down my neck.  And of course I couldn't call Steve on his cell phone.  BECAUSE HE LEFT IT IN THE CAR.  Like he always does.  Because he says he never needs it.  (Then why in hell did he want a new one? *sigh*)

After I chased, and captured, and presented the kill back at the counter, with his phone in hand, everything finally got finished.

Then I asked her to put my screen film on, because I knew I would botch it.  And so she did.

Then finally we were on our way.  To get something to eat.  And head home.

We were all settled in and I was gazing at the iPhone when I noticed it.  A small black speck.  Infinitesimal.  Underneath that new film I had paid $26 for and another $8 to get put on by a professional.

Am I freaking out?  A small part of me.  The obsessive compulsive part of me hates that speck.  But I think of the alternative.  A trip back to the store to get it replaced.  It wouldn't cost me anything except the gasoline to get there, and a drive.  Through traffic.  And standing in line among the iPhone 4S wannabes, for an untold amount of time, waiting for service.

I'm thinking Steve Jobs is laughing his head off over this.  And I'm thinking that speck isn't so big after all.



~cath xo
Twitter @jonesbabie