iPhone4 - First Thoughts.

The iPhone 4 First Impressions

Whether it is the opening of the box or the first time that you turn it on you are caught by the design of the iPhone 4.  First, it is not rounded so it does not fit into your hands as comfortably as its predecessor - which seemed to be molded.  But that is not to say that it is uncomfortable.  Second it seems as if it was made to have either a bumper or a cover, but by doing so you miss the overall aesthetics of the phone.  It is a thing of beauty.

But all assumptions end when you turn it on.  The rain drops making the backdrop of the home page are a thing of beauty - so real, so touchable.  You can almost feel the dew drops emanating from the screen.  It is then that you realize that you are holding something remarkable.   Perhaps it is not as astounding if this is your second, third or fourth iPhone.  It is my second and I still find it to be a remarkable machine.  I stared at the image of the icons for about two minutes before touching anything.  Were there more icons per page or not?  What is it that makes this thing look so incredible.  Why is my home page looking so clear?  Not that it was murky on my iPhone 3G.  Yes, it is that Retinal Display that Steve Jobs et al kept talking about.  I was begining to think it was a marketing ploy.  I saw a lot of apps putting out updates, not just for iOS 4.0, but for the Retinal Display.  I wondered what it was until this weekend.  And that is not to say that I have not played with the machine before in the store on its first day of release, I did.  But I did not notice the display.  Believe me, it is no gimmick.  This thing is for real.  I could go on and on about it - about how it makes my 3G pictures look incredible.  These became available after the first restore, which went flawlessly.  Suddenly even my worst pix, some of which were blurry, especially the close-ups looked a lot better.

Today, I tried the camera out and I have just one word to describe the Retinal Display -- WOW!  The differences are striking.  My close up shots are incredible.  I can actually read every line and every word of a document.  I can take a picture of a lesion and see it in close-up without difficulty.  5 megapixels makes a big difference (It's funny, but I have a 5 megapixel SLR and it's taken only 7 years to get it in a phone). 

To anyone who thinks that going from a 3G to an iPhone 4 is just a small step, I am here to tell you to think again.  Here are my favorite things about the phone thus far, after owning it for 2 days:

1.  The most important one of all:  MULTIPLE EXCHANGE CALENDARS.
2.  Folders.  About time!
3.  Outlook Invites.
4.  Retinal Display.
5.  Face Time.  When it actually works.  I can't get it to work from behind my work firewall.
6.  Speed.  This thing is...... dare I use the cliche:  SNAPPY!
7.  "Multitasking."  Short of being similar to Dashboard on OS X, this is a wonderful feature for doing things such as using the Calculator while using another App.

There are many more things that I will detail later, but for now, I'm busy looking for a snazzy Sena Case for this thing of beauty.   It is a wonderful machine.