Re: blackberries etc (the electronic sort)

**J* D* <j*@xcountry.tv>**

Kate, I bought an iPhone about two weeks after they became available  
in Canada. I call it my portable brain. I receive email, can read  
websites, have my date calendar, a mileage log, a camera, a music  
player (it comes preloaded with assorted Apple applications, including  
Mail, Safari and iTunes) and a few extra gadgets and games and  
readers. I scan the New York Times website when I'm out and about,  
text my son, poke my nose into Facebook occasionally, and oh yes, get  
to places that are new to me by following the GPS that's also built  
in. Oh, and it's a phone, too!

This allows me to leave my laptop home when I'm travelling, although  
if I'm gone for several days I take that with me too. I have Mail set  
up to access not only my main accounts but the web-based ones (yahoo,  
gmail) too, quickly and easily. And I don't have to wait until I get  
home to consult my computer's calender, if making an appointment or a  
booking. I sync the iPhone to my Mac laptop every couple of days  
(depending on travel, etc) and everything is current everywhere.

Now, in Canada, Rogers is the sole provider with iPhones, and coverage  
and speed varies depending on where you live. There are various data/ 
texting/talking packages available, and I'm satisfied with the one I  
have. Coverage is a bit spotty here in Nova Scotia; from home, I have  
to point the phone in a certain direction and hope it's not too windy  
or foggy in order to get cellular/texting, just because of where the  
tower is. But the phone happily hooks on to my Wifi router while I'm  
home or if I'm out somewhere with a free wifi hotspot, and otherwise,  
it uses the Rogers carrier to bring me information. I kept up with  
everything in my mail and on a few blogs while in the hospital for  
five days by my iPhone. You do have to watch your plan when out of  
country; I got dinged for texting to the US, and when I was in Kansas  
City last summer, the roaming charges were higher than I'd expected.  
But it was my first time out of country and using such technology, so  
it was my fault for not checking this out.

All in all, I think my iPhone is well worth what I pay for it (and  
it's a total business expense.) Because it's Apple made, there was  
next to NO learning curve, as I'm a longtime Mac user; everything  
looks the same, and I spent maybe an hour or two on Apple's iPhone  
pages, getting the hang of things. And have never looked back. I  
looked at a Blackberry last spring but didn't think it would fit my  
Mac that well, consulted my son (if you want to know about anything  
technical/computer related, ask a teen or twenty-something) and  
learned from him that we were getting iPhones in Canada in a couple  
more months. I'm so glad I waited.

cheers, jodi

Jodi DeLong, MA
“Atlantic Canada’s Garden Writer”
My Gardening blog: bloomingwriter.blogspot.com

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