Yesterday I finally took the plunge, deactivated my blackberry curve and bought an iphone. For months, I had nothing but trouble with my blackberry, it crashed constantly, I had to empty my mail and texts off of it weekly so that it could have enough memory to run, and on a regular basis the google sync service I had set up would stop updating my contacts and calendar and leave me with an empty address book and schedule. It boasted the ability to use an 8gig SD micro card for music and media storage but couldn’t store any e-mail, sms messages or applications on it; instead those had to all fit in the resident 32 mb of onboard memory. This phone just did not suit my needs anymore, especially as someone trying to get their own firm off of the ground. I had promised myself that If I could hold out for my license then I would buy an iPhone, but as week 10 of Score Report Watch is here and there is no license in sight, I decided that I had had enough. I know some people may think of this as a vanity purchase, but all of the advice I’ve read and received stressed that it is one of the most valuable tools for anyone starting up a firm. In just one day of playing with it I can see why.
So far I have to say I’m impressed. Its been ages since I had a phone that just worked, and worked well. Now I know its too early to pass judgement, but I had a huge sigh of relief after I logged into my mobile me account and all of my contacts, events, and bookmarks automagically downloaded to my phone. After syncing my 6 mail accounts and using the phone to browse through and keep track of my incoming mail, I can see how people think of this as a computer replacement. The blackberry was never this easy and pretty to browse my mail; things were always out of place and couldn’t load. The iphone loads my mail and all of the embedded images, so I no longer get a series of blank boxes around a single link when I get html mail. This is invaluable for a mobile device, it should duplicate my desktop, not my AOL mail client from 1995.
The app store also allows the phone to be extended far beyond anything that was available for my old blackberry. After just starting to sinking my teeth into it, I’ve decided that one of my 5 weekly posts will be about apps that I have found which are applicable to the architecture industry and those in my shoes who are just starting out as entrepreneurs. As I swore I would do on my facebook earlier this week, the first app I bought and downloaded, and now the first app to be reviewed, was I.D. Wood by Double Dog Studios. From the original review I thought this was just a visual guide to wood species, but it’s so much more. Not only does it have images of over 50 types of wood used in architectural finishes, but each entry has a write up about it listing it’s botanical name, other common names, practical uses, place of origin, sustainability and durability rankings, wood working properties and a description. In addition, there is also a compendium of reference material with information like nominal wood sizes and their actual measured sizes, nail sizes and their related thicknesses, differences in sawing methods, et al. I can see myself using this app on a regular basis when choosing finishes in the future.
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