My iPhone

I finally got the iPhone that I've been coveting.  I've had it for almost two months and absolutely love it!  This is the first time that I've actually gotten a piece of technology while it was still new.  All my previous toys were bought after the next model was released and therefore discounted.  I guess it's the immigrant thriftiness that my parents instilled in me.  Why buy something full-priced when you can wait until it goes on sale?  Well, everyone deserves a treat once in a while.

Aside from keeping my calendar organized,  my emails accessible, and a decent camera always in my pocket, it's also made my knitting more productive!  I took a picture of a small lace chart and had it with me when I forgot to stick the pattern in my knitting bag.  I even emailed a pdf copy of a pattern to myself so I didn't have to waste paper and print it out.  Granted, the hat pattern was very short and I didn't have to refer to it too often.

There's a few knitting apps out there, but nothing really appealed to me.  I wish there was a Ravelry app.  That would be very convenient.  I do have access to Ravelry on my phone, but I have to open Safari (the web-browsing app) first and then go to Ravelry online.

So here are a few apps that I've been enjoying:

IMDB- the internet movie data-base because Hubby likes to watch movies from the middle and I hate not knowing what the heck we're watching.

Zite-Alyson showed me this one.  It's a  magazine that pulls articles from the internet from a personalized set of interests.

Facebook-it's facebook on your phone.  No explanations necessary.

Key Ring-this is the app for you if you have a wallet bulging from all the different store loyalty cards.  You can scan them all into your phone and toss those pesky cards out.

Google and Wikipedia- these are handy. Only so you don't have to open Safari first to look something up.

I haven't even mention the original reason for me wanting to get an iphone:  listening to my audiobooks!  I never have to juggle phone and ipod when I'm out and about.  I'm still listening to my ipod when I'm in the house, otherwise I run down my iphone batteries too fast.

Right now, I'm almost done listening to Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters.  Barabara Rosenblat does a great job narrating.

iPod Love Affair

iPod Mini

I have a confession...  I'm addicted to my iPod.  I listen to it all the time.  In the car, I have one earbud in my ear (the right one, so I can still hear the outside traffic with my left ear).   While I'm cooking, that earbud's still in my ear.  Vacuuming... yep, both buds are in.  Mowing the lawn, weeding, washing dishes.  All done while listening to audiobooks or podcasts on my iPod.  When Husband is watching his many hours football, baseball, basketball (you get the idea) on TV, I enjoy sitting with him while I knit and listen to my iPod.  "Did you see that incredible play?!"  Yes dear, very nice (knit, knit, knit).

My love affair with my iPod all began in 2005, when my husband bought me my blue Mini.  I loved it!  So compact and cute, I could fit so many books and songs in the humongous 4 gigabytes of storage.  That same year, the Nano came out.  Daughter number one received a 2GB Nano for her fall birthday.  Dear husband received a 4GB Nano from his boss for Christmas.  Since Husband never listens to music, he gave his Nano to daughter number one, and daughter number two got her sister's 2GB Nano.  Still with me?

Dear Husband, being the generous, trusting dad, allowed both daughters to bring their iPods to school, against my better judgement.  "They're both in middle school," he said, "and they're both sooo responsible!"  E, the second daughter came home a few months later, upset.  Her iPod was stolen. 

You know what I did?  I consoled my daughter and gave her my shiny, blue Mini.  In the meantime, I found an abandoned HP iPod at my brother's house.  He said that the old iPod wasn't working properly and had bought himself a better one.  So now I had Brother's iPod.  That worked for about two months until it died.

Dear Husband took pity upon me and bought me my first iPod video.  Wow!  30GB!  I'll never run out of room.  "Hold on," says Husband, "you don't have enough memory in your computer."  Oh...

That's okay.  I learned to use an exterior drive to store all my files.

iPod Video

I actually used that iPod for five years.  That's a long time in iPod years.  Last year, the earphone jack started to fail.  First, I couldn't hear through the left earbud, then the right one went.  It still played when it was docked on my iPod speaker, the donut.  I just couldn't play it through earphones.  Crap! Mowing the lawn is lot more tedious without my iPod!

My "donut"

Dear Husband to the rescue again.  He said that he was going to buy me a new Nano.  It only has 16GB, but it has a radio, a video camera, a pedometer...  Can you brush your teeth with it?   "You can use your big iPod when you're listening to music on the donut," says Husband, "and the Nano for when you're doing chores, running errands."  I was warming up to the idea and even narrowing down on a color choice.  Maybe purple?

The next thing I know, Husband hands me my shiny new... iPod Classic.  "I got such a good deal!" He said, "For just a few dollars more you get ten times the storage capacity!  More bang for your buck."  What am I going to do with 160GB?  What about the radio and the pedometer and the cool video camera?...

Thank you Sweetie, that was really thoughtful of you.  Gotta love the guy.  Always on the lookout for the best deal.

I would love an iPhone, but can't justify the $30/month data fees.  That's $360 a year!  Can't I get an iPhone without the data fees?  "No," answered the phone guy, "why would you want an iPhone without a data package?"  So I don 't have to carry my phone and iPod?  Nevermind, you wouldn't get it.

So what does my iPod have to do with knitting, sewing, quilting, or gardening?  Everything!  I can do all those activities and "read" at the same time.