What's so great about iPhones in particular?

As opposed to Droids or Blackberries or whatnot, you mean? Appealing hardware design (combined with the ability to get a very durable case), mostly.

I have three friends who've switched from iPhones to Android phones and they're all happy with the change. (One got a Droid, one has a Droid Eris, and one has a MyTouch 3G.)

Having a smartphone (Droid in my case) has definitely changed my life- some good and some bad. I wouldn't give it up though.
I was getting too stressed out checking work email every time it came in and the alert went off, so I had to turn the alert off to maintain my sanity after a few months.
But it makes things like roadtrips so much better. And it is great to be able to look stuff up while you are on the go in general, if plans change or you are in an argument or something.

The data plans are a lot more expensive than the normal phone plans, so if you don't have one already, think about how much it is worth to you to have this convenience.

I didn't feel a burning need for one before I got one (just mild desire coupled with hating all the other phones on offer) but now I could never go back.

As opposed to Droids or Blackberries or whatnot, you mean?

I guess I was thinking more along the lines of any phone at all. If you want a phone that does tons and tons of stuff, you might as well get the one you want.

Android phones would seem like more of the geek choice, but I think my feeling is that while I'm a big geek with a lot of other things, I'm not a big geek with cellphones.

The plan'll be another thirty bucks a month or so, which I figure I can live with.

I don't really want a phone that does tons and tons of stuff.

But being able to carry fewer things (rather than a separate phone and mp3 player, rather than bringing a laptop when I travel, etc.) is kinda appealing, and constant Internet connectivity seems like something that I'd dig if I tried it.

Roadtrips and some fun gams can be played on any old smartphone - for me it's the ease of web and I do check email on occasion. I've only had an iPhone but I do love that, it's like glued to my hand, and all the redonkoulous apps YEAY!

If you're stuck with ..eh, AT&T? Yeah then I can see option for something else - i got the iPhone when the 3G network (which is pretty good where I live and exists in countries I visit for like NO ROAMING fees) started selling them. I would not get stuck in the wrong provider contract with an iphone because I use the data-surfing *all the time*


Did that talk you into, or out of it?

BoringPostcards: Happy because of the hardware, or because they switched off AT&T?

The quality of AT&T in your area is probably the most important thing. Or your ability to tolerate some dropped calls.

Aside from issues of developer freedom, I'm pretty skeptical that there a phone out that's better than or equal to the iPhone.

I loooooooove my iPhone. Now, I'm a Mac geek from way back, although not a ridiculous fangirl, but my non-Mac partner then got one and now we're the worst. You'll find new uses for it all the time.

My ADD adores it for Wiki-ing everything I want to know and playing solitaire in my, um, downtime (or whatever counts as downtime). I've managed to wean myself from being quite so wedded to it in some social situations, but I do love it.

Case: SwitchEasy, which has a soft inner case with a hard sort of exoskeleton frame. Pops off in seconds. The only thing I don't like about it is that the hole for the headphone jack doesn't accommodate the auxiliary cable plug from my car stereo, but (like I said) it's easy to pop on and off so it doesn't matter a whole lot. And I've considered just getting a new one and dremel-ing it out.

Nah, I'm not stuck w/any particular provider. I'm on Verizon now, but that's a carryover from before the Alltel merger, so I'm way out of contract.

From what I understand, both AT&T and Verizon have reasonably good coverage in my area (though I also read that the Droid has better sound quality for phone calls, which is appealing to me).

And I'm not too hyped about installing iTunes on any of my computers, but I figure I can live with it.

box, my gent was pretty much in the same boat re: iTunes, but he's fine with it. He has a desktop PC (where he downloads) and a laptop PC (where he syncs), and most of his downloads are things you can't get on iTunes, like archives of a particular radio show that airs out of our market. Still, it works fine for him.

I just ordered my HTC Droid Incredible. I have Verizon, which appears to be the best local network (compared to friends on AT&T and Sprint) and had been using a half-smart half-dumb phone. While I could access the internet through a browser (thus get to places like Facebook and my email) and text and take pictures, I was finding some things I wanted to do (nothing critical, honestly, just goofing around on the bus stuff) weren't working with the half-dumb part of my phone. Many reviews explain how it compensates for what many see as the iPhone's deficiencies.

When several friends got iPhones, I found them hard to use when I borrowed them, so I expect a bit of a learning curve with the Droid Incredible. But I finally got to the point (like I did with cell phones, laptops, & all other stuff like that), eventually, where I wanted my own shiny toy.

BoringPostcards: Happy because of the hardware, or because they switched off AT&T?

They mostly talk about the phones and apps, not networks, so I guess it's the former.

box, whatever you do, if you can hold off a couple months before you really decide, there's a new iPhone model / generation slated to come out end of June.

I won't try to talk you into/out of anything. I know a couple husband/wife pairs who have an iPhone and an Android phone in the family due to personal preference / contract restrictions / company dictates (one of them works for Google, yanno). They honestly don't report much angst over either flavour of handset, and both couples seem pretty happy with their smartphone-of-choice.

so there is that.

Good advice, lfr--and if I've managed to wait this long, I bet I can hold off longer (I've had my current phone since '06 or so). I bet the 3G/3GS prices will drop through the floor when the new one's announced, too.

I love my iPhone. I had a smartphone previously, but hated it so much I debated going back to a Just Plain Phone.

But now, I could never go back. I use it constantly, although admittedly rarely for anything mission critical. It's more like it makes the little things - commuting on the train, looking up info while out with friends, etc. - just easier and better. It helps that:

1. I was already on AT&T and while I have complaints about coverage in Chicago, it's not that bad. I also already had a data plan so the monthly cost wasn't a change.
2. I hate talking on the phone. Anything that gives me the option to communicate some other way - text, email, etc. - is a good thing. Also means I don't worry about dropped calls because I'm rarely using it to actually talk.
3. I have not found battery life to be nearly as bad as people tend to complain about. (Especially compared to my Samsung Blackjack, my previous smartphone, which shipped with 2 batteries so you could always have one charging. That's how bad it was.) I haven't charged my phone since yesterday morning, so I'm coming up on 36 hours of run time now and I've got 1/3 to less than half the battery left if the indicator is accurate. That's with some app downloads/installs, some mild internet/twitter/facebook surfing, and WiFi on.

Apps I love: tweetie, facebook, tripit, opentable, xpenser, taxi magic, and when I was house shopping, redfin.

I love my iPhone to death. I don't know anything about the Android phone but, if it's half as good as the iPhone, I'd be happy with that too.

Regarding battery life, I've found that it lasts for a couple of days unless I use e-mail a lot, which drains it a bit, or GPS, which sucks the life out of the battery at an incredible rate.

Many reviews explain how it compensates for what many see as the iPhone's deficiencies.

The iPhone is the most polished, complete smart phone out there, period. Reviews about why phone X is better are plentiful because it's fun to try and take down the one on top of the mountain. Most of the so called deficiencies, which are a personal topic so kind of silly in the first place, will be taken care of with the new update.

If you LOVE google, or hate ATT, or have bad ATT service in your area, or hate apple, then don't go with the iphone. If it's no to all of those, you can't beat the iPhone.

Don't put all your stock into reviews from writers that many times have an axe to grind or simply don't know what they're talking about. Check out customer satisfaction surveys that almost always have the iPhone way in front.

And as not being for geeks, well, mathowie has an iphone. I would think he's pretty geeky.

And yes, wait until the new iphone is out.

As tempting as an iPhone or an iPod Touch are, the thought of cracking a freaking phone just to get it to work with our (Ubuntu) media center is preposterous. I'm already pissed off at Netflix, I don't want to add another company to my list. :(

So if your media files aren't stored on a Mac or Windows machine, that's a good reason not to get an iPhone.

Is there any truth to the rumor that AT&T will be reducing its prices this summer?

I've got two iphones, an old broken one that someone gave me [doesn't make calls] that I jailbroke and use as a wifi device and the MeFi unjailbroken iphone. I'm surprised by both how much I enjoy the always-on ability of the iphone [super useful when travelling] and how much better the jailbroken one is for someone like me who totally hates the "oick one of these three colors" aspect to the locked down iphones. No idea how much of a tinkerer you are, but thats a possibility. You get the nice look/feel of the iphone and then you can run a ton of different apps on it. I use the jailbroken one with a portable keyboard [one of those Palm unfoldable deals] and it's sweet. That said, if it was my expenseive device [as opposed to a hand me down] I don't know what I'd do. I'm touchy about breaking things through my own stupidity and I don't know if you can safely jailbreak the latest OS version.

Know nothing about the droids, like the idea of open source OSes. Phones seem good. I guess at some level you need to think about your peer group too and whether you're likely to be happy with anything once you've made the choice or whether there's some party line that it's worth knowing about.

I'm a big ol' tinkerer, but I've got plenty of stuff to tinker with (Rockboxed and Linuxed iPods, tri-boot netbook, bunch of bikes, crappy old truck, yada yada). My cellphone is my only phone, and it might be one of those things that I want to just work. I'm not eager to support a closed platform, but if I was going to put my cellphone money where my mouth is, I'd have a Credo Blackberry, and I'm not crazy about either Blackberries or the Sprint network.

I figure that any smartphone will be enough of an improvement that I'll be pretty happy with it, but I also figure that there is no perfect device (which kinda takes the bloom off the rose of dropping a bunch of money and signing a new cellphone contract).

And muddgirl, that's an excellent point. I've got an Ubuntu server, but my netbook can boot to XP, and I figure I can install iTunes on it and use it to move .mp3s to an iPhone.

Holy crap. Does the iPhone play .flac?

I love my iPhone more than you should love an inaminate object. This is my first smartphone so I don't know about any of the other ones. Having the internet and my emails wherever I go is wonderful and the endless cool apps are fun too. The GPS is great for hiking - you can take a picture and it places it on the map where you took it! And the tag reader is fun too - you just scan a little barcode on a magazine page and it will pop up a YouTube video or other webpage (it's like clicking on a link). They really are endless.

It's dead easy to use. I do wish it had better battery life but I suppose that's the trade-off of being able to do so many things. I just told someone yesterday that if I lost or broke it, I'd gladly pay the full retail of $800 for another.

The new iphone was leaked recently (Gizmodo controversy, etc), so all the current models will be obsolete in a couple months- everyone's saying June or July. If your heart is set on iphone I'd wait and either get the new one, or take advantage of the 3GS price drop when the new one is available.

I wouldn't get an iphone again at this point. I love mine, but I'm so grossed out by the way Apple is handling the leak I'll be getting a google phone next. My roommate has a motoblur and it's very nice. Plus, multitasking.

If you already have AT&T, you know what to expect there. If you don't, well... caveat emptor. They're the best carrier in the Buffalo area, so I have no problems, but I know they royally SUCK in the larger cities. The network just can't handle how many people switched to them for the iphone.

Get one. We'll talk about them like we do Palm Pilots, or fannypacks, in about 10 years. Don't you want to be a part of that conversation?

You know that old joke of people using that giant brick cellphone you see in 1980's-era movies? That'll be the iPhone in a Judd Apatow Jr. movie you'll be watching in 2027.

I'm totally in love with my Droid but if I was buying now, I'd probably go for the Incredible since I find that I seldom use the physical keyboard. I'd never buy the iPhone because you need iTunes to load it and I just can't stand that application. That said, I have lots of friends that love theirs (even though they complain about ATT a lot).

As I read more reviews and stuff, I'm leaning more and more toward a Droid. I like Moto build quality, there's a Droid Otterbox, and I like to play .flacs and download TV torrents and run SNES emulators and suchlike, and I suspect that this kind of stuff will never be the iPhone's strong suit (and, as a DS owner, I feel strongly that a physical keyboard is better for gaming, especially in emulation). Plus, Little Rock has an excellent VZW network because of the Alltel thing, and most of my friends live either in unfashionable cities or rural areas, and these are both places where Verizon seems to have a better network. Oh, and the audiophile sites seem to think the Droid has better sound quality than the iPhone, both for voice calls and for playing music. If the free software folks, the audiophiles and the emulator fans all prefer it, it might just be the one for me.

I'm no iTunes lover myself (not much of an Apple lover, either, although my Nano 2g is the second-best mp3 player I've ever owned (iRiver IHP-140 is the GOAT)), and I've got a sneaking suspicion that the Droid's higher-resolution screen will make a world of difference for both watching videos and spending time at the kinds of text-heavy sites I like to hang out at.

How do you like Metafilter and Mecha on the Droid, octo? And why would you go for an Incredible over a Droid?