In the Parlance of Our Times

A couple of months ago, before the iPhone was released, I was telling Jason that rumors of a video iPod with wi-fi were making me rethink the need for an iPhone. After all, an iPod with video and wi-fi would do most of what I wanted the iPhone for, without the need for a monthly contract. No, Jason said, it's not the same; a cell phone with data service gives you the internet from anywhere and that makes all the difference.

Having just completed my first trip with the iPhone, I'd have to say that Jason was right. EDGE data service over the iPhone turned out to be way more valuable than wi-fi, and not just where wi-fi was unavailable. In three out of the three hotels we stayed at, wi-fi was available but barely useable. At the last place we stayed I did a speed test using EDGE and then again using the hotel wi-fi. EDGE won out over the hotel wi-fi by about 50%!

Since we were visiting big cities on the east coast, EDGE was much faster than it is here at home - usually 150 kbs or faster. So checking and sending email, using google maps, even web browsing all happened at speeds that didn't make me want to pull my hair out. I had decided to make this trip without a laptop, to see if the iPhone could provide all the functionality I needed. The experiment was a success; I never missed the laptop. The one thing I thought I'd miss about the laptop - access to the NYTimes crossword - was easily solved by buying the newspaper.

While using EDGE at the hotel kept me free from the frustrations of bad hotel wi-fi, the real value of the iPhone was in the ability to use the web and Google Maps wherever we happened to be. We were driving from Brooklyn to Manhattan in a cargo van and were forced (by a very nice policeman who didn't give us a ticket!) to make a sudden change in our route. Being totally unfamiliar with the area we would have had a hard time figuring out how to get to our destination without the help of Google Maps. Later in the day we used Safari to determine which, if any, of the IKEA stores in the NYC area had certain items in stock before deciding which one to drive out to. Another time we used the phone to pinpoint the exact location of a restaurant we'd visited last year, saving Louise and Michael the usual agony of following me up and down streets as I tell them "I know it's around here someplace; let's just go down one more block..."

After this trip, I think I need to revise my earlier description of the iPhone. It's not just a cool toy. It's my new cool travel essential.