If you'd asked me at the beginning of 2011 if I'd ever see Pulp live in concert and meet Jarvis Cocker and get a book signed by him and a photo with him, I'd say you were crazy! And yet all of the above happened in just 4 short months, but they were the best months of my life!
Monday, January 9, 2012
Thoughts on 2011
Wow, what a year 2011 was for me! I got to meet my music idol, Mr Jarvis Cocker, and see my favourite band in the entire world, Pulp, perform live after waiting nearly 10 years!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Why the US Mobile Phone Companies Need an Overhaul
I am fed up with the US mobile phone companies. Let me tell you why:
I do not understand how the US government and the FCC have allowed the cell phone companies to walk all over them when it comes to unlocking phones, roaming charges while traveling abroad, and the outdated CDMA technology which Verizon and Sprint still seem unwilling to retire.
Welcome to the 21st century, guys! Europe is outpacing you with their fabulous array of unlocked (or unlockable) smartphones, all available for less than what AT&T customers pay per month for their iPhones! You can walk into any phone store (nearly all of which carry the iPhone, btw) and get a new phone with a pay-as-you-go sim plan, and away you go! For example, when my boyfriend bought his HTC Desire, an Android smartphone not available in the 'states, he walked in to the Car Phone Warehouse (a mobile phone shop), signed up for a new 2-year plan on Orange, for which he would be paying £40 a month. The phone was free.
A different example: When I bought my AT&T iPhone in December 2009, I had to pay $199.99 for the phone, plus an activation fee, and I continue to be hit with $150+ phone bills from AT&T per month. In addition, the cell phone reception in my house has dropped to nonexistent levels in the past few months. I get dropped calls continuously, as well as having full signal strength one minute, to down to 1 bar at best the next...and it's beginning to drive me mad!
And don't even get me started about the whole unlocking issue: I do not know of any legitimate phone shop in Charlotte that will unlock my iphone, or any phone for that matter. Yet they are smattered all over Europe, particularly in the larger cities such as London, Vienna, Munich, Prague, Dublin. They even have a few places in my boyfriend's mall in the small town of Stourbridge, England. I could buy an iphone from o2 and get it officially unlocked by them if I so desire...however it would come at the expense of losing my unlimited (which it turns out it really isn't) data usage. Oh well...Apple over here in the US nor AT&T would unlock my iphone.
I also just cannot figure out where these exorbitant roaming charges come from. I bought an iPhone in order to consolidate and have one phone for all countries, something I couldn't do when I was stuck on Verizon. However, had I known AT&T was going to charge me $19.99 per mb of data used while I was visiting my boyfriend in England, I would have said thanks but no thanks! Europeans have done away with ridiculously high roaming charges, I think it's time we should too!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Random Musings (Taken from someone else's post)
Here are some random musings I thought were neat and could relate to. Note I took this from someone else's post on here.
Random thoughts from people our age...
-I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
-More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can
think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell
my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves
me.
-Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you
realize you're wrong.
-I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
-More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can
think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell
my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves
me.
-Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you
realize you're wrong.
I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to
have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and
sticks when they've invented the lighter?
-Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're
going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to
be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the
direction from which you came, you have to first do something like
check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to
yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're
crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and
sticks when they've invented the lighter?
-Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're
going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to
be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the
direction from which you came, you have to first do something like
check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to
yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're
crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was
younger.
-Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know"
feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose
not to be friends with?
-Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't
work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically
fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all
know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards
or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.
-There is a great need for sarcasm font.
younger.
-Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know"
feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose
not to be friends with?
-Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't
work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically
fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all
know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards
or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.
-There is a great need for sarcasm font.
I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was
younger.
-Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know"
feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose
not to be friends with?
-Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't
work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically
fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all
know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards
or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.
-There is a great need for sarcasm font.
younger.
-Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know"
feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose
not to be friends with?
-Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't
work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically
fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all
know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards
or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.
-There is a great need for sarcasm font.
- Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to
say".
- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and
hunger.
- Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron
test is absolutely petrifying.
- My brother's Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads.
Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired
about the name. He explained, "Cuz we beat you, and you hate us."
Classy, bro.
- Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart",
all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".
- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod
and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?
- I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up
to prevent a dick from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!
- Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in'
examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete
idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and
said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"
say".
- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and
hunger.
- Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron
test is absolutely petrifying.
- My brother's Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads.
Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired
about the name. He explained, "Cuz we beat you, and you hate us."
Classy, bro.
- Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart",
all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".
- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod
and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?
- I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up
to prevent a dick from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!
- Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in'
examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete
idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and
said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"
What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each
other?
- While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and
instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.
- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I
know how to get out of my neighborhood.
- Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the
person died.
- I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the
shower first and THEN turn on the water.
-Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty,
and you can wear them forever.
- I would like to officially coin the phrase 'catching the swine flu'
to be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with an
overweight woman. Example: "Dave caught the swine flu last night."
-I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
- Bad decisions make good stories
-Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their
profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got
the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if
I do!
other?
- While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and
instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.
- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I
know how to get out of my neighborhood.
- Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the
person died.
- I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the
shower first and THEN turn on the water.
-Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty,
and you can wear them forever.
- I would like to officially coin the phrase 'catching the swine flu'
to be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with an
overweight woman. Example: "Dave caught the swine flu last night."
-I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
- Bad decisions make good stories
-Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their
profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got
the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if
I do!
- Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every
year?
-If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring
would probably just be completely invisible.
-Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go
around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly
nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be
a problem....
-You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything
productive for the rest of the day.
-Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't
want to have to restart my collection.
-There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are
going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.
-I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me
if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I
swear I did not make any changes to.
- "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.
year?
-If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring
would probably just be completely invisible.
-Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go
around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly
nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be
a problem....
-You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything
productive for the rest of the day.
-Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't
want to have to restart my collection.
-There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are
going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.
-I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me
if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I
swear I did not make any changes to.
- "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.
-I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people
watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will
they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't
watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and
leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'
-I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello?
Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and
goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone
and run away?
- I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not
seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
-When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she
hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light
internet stalking.
-I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle,
then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will
they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't
watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and
leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'
-I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello?
Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and
goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone
and run away?
- I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not
seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
-When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she
hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light
internet stalking.
-I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle,
then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising
speed for pedophiles...
- As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers,
but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
-Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still
not know what time it is.
-It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.
-I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to
answer when they call.
-Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to
with it.
-Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car
keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the
Donkey - but I'd bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze
button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time
every time...
-My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would
happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?
-It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and
the link takes me to a video instead of text.
-I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they
drive behind obeys the speed limit.
-I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
speed for pedophiles...
- As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers,
but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
-Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still
not know what time it is.
-It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.
-I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to
answer when they call.
-Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to
with it.
-Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car
keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the
Donkey - but I'd bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze
button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time
every time...
-My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would
happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?
-It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and
the link takes me to a video instead of text.
-I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they
drive behind obeys the speed limit.
-I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or
Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.
-The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw
they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words,
someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think
about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people
eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by
myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard
before dinner.
Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.
-The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw
they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words,
someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think
about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people
eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by
myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard
before dinner.
Reflections on a New Year
So today I've decided to recover this journal, or rather, update it to some degree. So here goes...
Right now it's 8.45am in the town of Stourbridge, England, where I'm currently visiting my boyfriend who's at work right now. The fact that I'm even awake and energetic at this time of the morning is a small miracle in itself, but I've done some thinking, and I always love it when a new year rolls around, because it's like a fresh start, and you can decide a new direction you want your life to take.
Right now I'm stuck in a sort of limbo: I've got a college degree, a boyfriend in England, and no job. I know the economy is tough right now, so that's why I haven't really looked too hard for a job. Plus, with me living in the US, and my boyfriend living in England, it makes having any sort of normal, 9-5 job somewhat difficult, because I can either work and not travel, or travel and not work. Those seem to be my only options at this point.
I really wish I was more of a go-getter, in that I really felt like I had a purpose in my life, and that my life had some sort of meaning. I mean, I see people I went to college with going after the jobs they want, and I wonder, why can't I be 'that guy' (or girl, in my case)? I have a degree in journalism but nothing to show for it; I stupidly never saved my high school newspaper articles like I should have, and I wrote so few articles for my college newspaper and I don't have them archived or put in a portfolio, so I'm sure with very few to no writing samples to draw from, I'm sure no one will want to hire me to write for them.
Oh well. It's nearly 11am now and I'm going to walk into town. I can hear the scrap ironman out the window which is comforting somehow.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
2010 Travel Plans
Here is a brief outline of some of the places I want to go during 2010.
Enjoy!
May 2010
Scotland, Wales, & parts of Ireland
(possibly with Queens Uni group)
June 2010
Ibiza for 2 weeks
August/Sept
Wrightsville Beach (maybe)
October
Wrightsville Beach (maybe)
Enjoy!
May 2010
Scotland, Wales, & parts of Ireland
(possibly with Queens Uni group)
June 2010
Ibiza for 2 weeks
August/Sept
Wrightsville Beach (maybe)
October
Wrightsville Beach (maybe)
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Katie's DIY Car Speaker Install
To save some money and gain valuable experience, I've decided to install my new speakers I got for Christmas in my Jeep Cherokee myself. Also, although there are write-ups all over the web on how to install car speakers, I decided to do a write-up on step-by-step install instructions for other novices like me to have a go and not be afraid of screwing something up.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
First impressions of the iPhone 3GS
So I finally sold out and bought an iPhone. I've had it less than a week, and I really like it so far. However, there are certain things I'm not happy about which I will get to later in this post.
First of all, I want it to be known that I do not like touch screens. Other than my Garmin GPS, I don't have any other electronic device which requires a touch screen to work, and I'd like to keep it that way. I got the iPhone because I was sick of Verizon having a poor selection of phones to choose from and I wanted the ability to use my main cell phone anywhere in the world, not just within the United States. Verizon may be the biggest 3g network in the US, but once you're outside the country, it won't work for shit. Ask me how I know! And they've also discontinued their global phone rental program too, probably because that didn't work as well as they'd hoped. But my hatred of Verizon is for another post...
First Impressions
My first impressions so far is that other than porn apps, Apple is indeed right in that there's an app for just about anything you could possibly want (Doctor Who and a theme creator notwithstanding). Most are reasonably priced at 99c but some cost upwards to around $4.99. There are some, such as IM+, which cost $9.99 for the full version (ie, no ads) but I don't feel like paying that much just to be able to use MSN Messenger on my phone when I can use it all I want on my laptop for free.
The verdict right now is, I love the apps. I love the ability to surf the web wherever and whenever I want, without paying for it (hence the $30 monthly data plan). This is the first phone I've had that I am able to get access to email, internet, etc so I'm super-stoked about it. In fact, I am now more addicted to my iPhone than I am to my laptop, which is saying something! It's also the main reason I've been staying up so late (2, 3, 4, even 5am!) b/c I'm just messing around searching for apps in the apps store. Which is the main reason I'm still not over my cold yet, and it's been 2 weeks now!
Pros
The Apps
I love the Apps, love the Wi-fi, internet, maps, etc, email, stuff like that, love the ability to surf the net whenever, wherever, love the rotating feature that gives a bigger keyboard (although my C510 had that feature too and it's a few years old), love the auto-correct spell checker and capitalization, actually don't mind the touch keyboard as much as I thought I'd like.
Cons
Camera
I don't like the camera. The 3.2mp with flash one on my Sony Ericsson C510 is a whole lot better, and takes much better, more crisp and detailed pictures. The iPhone's camera is slow, cumbersome, and it's hard to get a good picture due to the size of the iPhone itself--in other words, your pics end up blurry b/c you can't hold the iPhone steady enough to get anything half-decent to turn out.
Phone Function
I also am not impressed with the actual phone itself. For instance, my boyfriend, who lives in England, called me on it twice and he said that my voice sounded tinny, it kept cutting out every other word I said, so he couldn't hear me clearly, and it also sounded muffled. This was when I was talking in a variety of places: in my bed, in my car, and in my local supermarket. How very odd! He said the reception on my Verizon MotoRizr was much better and clearer than the iPhone.
And that is a major gripe in my book.
I also am not happy with the placement of the earpiece when the other person is talking. I have to hold the iPhone in a very particular place against my ear or else I won't hear them or it will be very low. I tried to adjust the speaker volume, but this did not fix the issue. With my Verizon phone, I guess the earpiece is bigger or something b/c I don't have to move it around to find the right or best spot for it when talking on it.
Battery Life
I guess I shouldn't complain too much about the battery life, but I am upgrading from a phone whose battery needed charging every day, sometimes more than once a day even, as it was 2 years old. I was hoping to get a phone that needed charging maybe every 3-5 days or even once a week. My other phones have been that good. But not the iPhone. I have to charge it every night, and I'm not even using it as a phone!
I guess the data (web surfing, etc) drains the battery by quite a bit, but I have all the settings turned off that should save the battery, or at least make it last a bit longer, such as the push notifications, email check set to manual, screen brightness lowered to 50% from the first time it was ever set up at the Apple store.
Lately it's lasted about 1.5 to 2 days the last few days, but that's only b/c I haven't used it that much, at least not as much as when I first got it.
They need to come up with a clever name for it like they have for the Blackberry aka the Crackberry.
I will say that using the phone (talking on it) doesn't drain the battery as much as some people have reported. I've done a lot of reading up online (another reason for my recent late bedtimes) and people are complaining that talking on it uses more battery than the apps, but I talked for a good hour and my battery was still at 22% when I was done, which I thought was pretty good.
Conclusion
I haven't cancelled my Verizon service yet because I want to wait and see how I like the phone and how well it functions as a phone. I also want to compare the signal coverage between the 2 networks and see if there is much of a difference.
Another setback is the whole no-untethered-JB-and-unlock issue with the latest 5.11.07 and 3.1.2 firmware on the 3GS, which fixes a vulnerability in the software to exploit it and add 3rd party apps, etc.
I want to JB and unlock my iPhone b/c I want to be able to use it in England and Europe with a Vodafone sim and not have to worry about expensive roaming charges. However, from the extensive online research I've been doing, there is no way to unlock or JB it successfully without having to connect it to my laptop and run blackra1n everytime I turn it on or let the battery die. This is unacceptable to me, so for now, I will simply leave it alone and wait until GeoHot or the Dev team comes out with a fix or workaround for this latest Apple firmware issue.
Anyway, that's about it right now. I will update this if and when needed as I've owned the phone longer.
First of all, I want it to be known that I do not like touch screens. Other than my Garmin GPS, I don't have any other electronic device which requires a touch screen to work, and I'd like to keep it that way. I got the iPhone because I was sick of Verizon having a poor selection of phones to choose from and I wanted the ability to use my main cell phone anywhere in the world, not just within the United States. Verizon may be the biggest 3g network in the US, but once you're outside the country, it won't work for shit. Ask me how I know! And they've also discontinued their global phone rental program too, probably because that didn't work as well as they'd hoped. But my hatred of Verizon is for another post...
First Impressions
My first impressions so far is that other than porn apps, Apple is indeed right in that there's an app for just about anything you could possibly want (Doctor Who and a theme creator notwithstanding). Most are reasonably priced at 99c but some cost upwards to around $4.99. There are some, such as IM+, which cost $9.99 for the full version (ie, no ads) but I don't feel like paying that much just to be able to use MSN Messenger on my phone when I can use it all I want on my laptop for free.
The verdict right now is, I love the apps. I love the ability to surf the web wherever and whenever I want, without paying for it (hence the $30 monthly data plan). This is the first phone I've had that I am able to get access to email, internet, etc so I'm super-stoked about it. In fact, I am now more addicted to my iPhone than I am to my laptop, which is saying something! It's also the main reason I've been staying up so late (2, 3, 4, even 5am!) b/c I'm just messing around searching for apps in the apps store. Which is the main reason I'm still not over my cold yet, and it's been 2 weeks now!
Pros
The Apps
I love the Apps, love the Wi-fi, internet, maps, etc, email, stuff like that, love the ability to surf the net whenever, wherever, love the rotating feature that gives a bigger keyboard (although my C510 had that feature too and it's a few years old), love the auto-correct spell checker and capitalization, actually don't mind the touch keyboard as much as I thought I'd like.
Cons
Camera
I don't like the camera. The 3.2mp with flash one on my Sony Ericsson C510 is a whole lot better, and takes much better, more crisp and detailed pictures. The iPhone's camera is slow, cumbersome, and it's hard to get a good picture due to the size of the iPhone itself--in other words, your pics end up blurry b/c you can't hold the iPhone steady enough to get anything half-decent to turn out.
Phone Function
I also am not impressed with the actual phone itself. For instance, my boyfriend, who lives in England, called me on it twice and he said that my voice sounded tinny, it kept cutting out every other word I said, so he couldn't hear me clearly, and it also sounded muffled. This was when I was talking in a variety of places: in my bed, in my car, and in my local supermarket. How very odd! He said the reception on my Verizon MotoRizr was much better and clearer than the iPhone.
And that is a major gripe in my book.
I also am not happy with the placement of the earpiece when the other person is talking. I have to hold the iPhone in a very particular place against my ear or else I won't hear them or it will be very low. I tried to adjust the speaker volume, but this did not fix the issue. With my Verizon phone, I guess the earpiece is bigger or something b/c I don't have to move it around to find the right or best spot for it when talking on it.
Battery Life
I guess I shouldn't complain too much about the battery life, but I am upgrading from a phone whose battery needed charging every day, sometimes more than once a day even, as it was 2 years old. I was hoping to get a phone that needed charging maybe every 3-5 days or even once a week. My other phones have been that good. But not the iPhone. I have to charge it every night, and I'm not even using it as a phone!
I guess the data (web surfing, etc) drains the battery by quite a bit, but I have all the settings turned off that should save the battery, or at least make it last a bit longer, such as the push notifications, email check set to manual, screen brightness lowered to 50% from the first time it was ever set up at the Apple store.
Lately it's lasted about 1.5 to 2 days the last few days, but that's only b/c I haven't used it that much, at least not as much as when I first got it.
They need to come up with a clever name for it like they have for the Blackberry aka the Crackberry.
I will say that using the phone (talking on it) doesn't drain the battery as much as some people have reported. I've done a lot of reading up online (another reason for my recent late bedtimes) and people are complaining that talking on it uses more battery than the apps, but I talked for a good hour and my battery was still at 22% when I was done, which I thought was pretty good.
Conclusion
I haven't cancelled my Verizon service yet because I want to wait and see how I like the phone and how well it functions as a phone. I also want to compare the signal coverage between the 2 networks and see if there is much of a difference.
Another setback is the whole no-untethered-JB-and-unlock issue with the latest 5.11.07 and 3.1.2 firmware on the 3GS, which fixes a vulnerability in the software to exploit it and add 3rd party apps, etc.
I want to JB and unlock my iPhone b/c I want to be able to use it in England and Europe with a Vodafone sim and not have to worry about expensive roaming charges. However, from the extensive online research I've been doing, there is no way to unlock or JB it successfully without having to connect it to my laptop and run blackra1n everytime I turn it on or let the battery die. This is unacceptable to me, so for now, I will simply leave it alone and wait until GeoHot or the Dev team comes out with a fix or workaround for this latest Apple firmware issue.
Anyway, that's about it right now. I will update this if and when needed as I've owned the phone longer.
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