Cool things I've done with my iPhone. How 'bout you?

[spazzman90]

Okay, I've had the phone for a couple of weeks, and honestly purchased it on a whim. Yeah, I thought the internet on the go would be cool but there's that as well as quite a bit more. Also, I think the iPhone takes way more of a bashing than it deserves. I do take offense a little, because most of these naysayers don't have one or are Apple haters. I want to do my part to help even the scale a bit. Also, this is the first Apple product I've bought for myself. Here's a partial list of cool things I've done.

My sister was due to fly in to town in a week. My mom wanted to book her a hotel, but who had the best rates? Went to Google maps and while looking at our area, typed in lodging. Then we were able to call each of the 'dots' and ask for their best price. This whole process took about five minutes or less.

I deposited money in my bank. Then I took a walk in the park across the street. After a while I decided to have a seat on a bench and take a few minutes and pay my bills online. (We don't need no stinkin' checkbooks).

My dad and I visited a new shopping center across town. After checking it out, he mentioned that there was a Classic Car shop nearby that he had been meaning to check out, but didn't know where it was. Easy enough. Google maps again. Put in the city we were in. Then put in Classic Cars (no ****!). Up it comes. Dialed it right there, too, but they were closed. Still used directions and drove by and looked through the windows. Pulled the website up from Google maps and we were able to get prices on all the cars we were looking at, because they had their inventory online.

I set up a new accout for work, and now take pictures when I am done. Instant slide show for the Bosses who already have pretty bad eyesight. They are impressed. (Got a $300 bonus!)

I can now email and send photos when I need to order parts, not just phone calls. This has already helped both in getting the parts, and getting shipped the wrong parts. I don't have to eat shipping because now I and they have a hard copy of what I want instead of 'we sent you what you wanted'.

Finally thanks to the fine folks at this badass site
http://www.tegianzone.com/rick_emerson.html
I can stream Rick's entire show commercial free any where in the state. I can pause it during stops, and it will buffer the whole show in about 15 mins so you will be good to go if you hit a tunnel or a deeply forested area. If you've never listened to Rick Emerson, he is a local Portland talk show host that talks about pretty much everything Pop culture, past and present. If you have a long drive or bus ride, you should give his show a whirl. This is almost worth the price of admission right here.

I got on Craigslist and spotted a super rare Gremlin wall game at a garage sale. Paid all of $14 for this item that is worth a few hundred. Also got directions on Google maps. All in the space of about a half an hour.

Now that it is so easy and quick to look up locations and phone numbers, I use Google maps constantly to verify store hours or inventory of what I am looking for.

Having easy access to a notepad is a godsend.

I'm constantly using Google maps to find back roads and shorter roads betweeen towns and such.

Of course, I will plan my route or postpone a trip now according to the traffic reported on Google maps, which is damn accrurate as far as I can tell.


I bought this phone on a whim. My old ATT contract had just expired, and I thought being able to browse here and there would be cool. I never anticipated just how useful and time saving this device would be. I think Apple marketing needs to get on the stick and start some new marketing. This is a great product. Thanks,

-Jeff


What are some of the cool things and cool situations you've been in where the iPhone has done something amazing?

[Thatguy]

Wow, I found a Starbucks near where I was driving around yesterday, and I thought that was cool. I think you win though :laugh2:

[spazzman90]

Oops, sorry.

Didn't mean for this to come off like a contest. Just an exchange of ideas for new ways to use the iPhone. Hopefully we can all get a little smarter if we share are experiences and learn new ways to use this amazing device! Also, Apple's weak marketing needs to let people know how this device will benefit them a little better. Until then, I will try and help them out. After all, it still is $600!

-Jeff

[NeoMatrix1217]

I was at Lakewood Church in Houston seeing Hillsong United after the concert after I had found the church using google maps I typed in resturants and found a PF Changs right behind the church. I would never found it if I did not have my IPhone....
God is good all the time.

[LauraBee]

I was at Lakewood Church in Houston seeing Hillsong United after the concert after I had found the church using google maps I typed in resturants and found a PF Changs right behind the church. I would never found it if I did not have my IPhone....
God is good all the time.

Happens all the time:

Someone says "Wow, I like your tattoos." and I say "Yeah, I'm a tattoo artist, this whole right arm is by me." Then they either tell me what they've always wanted or show me a crummy home tattoo and ask if I can fix it. I pull out my phone and show them as many tattoos as they want to see (either new ones or before and after jobs I've finished or fixed.) Then I go to my website and show them the galleries there. Then I go to the calendar feature and make them an appointment.

iPhone is working quite well for me.

[DRabbit]

Happens all the time:

Someone says "Wow, I like your tattoos." and I say "Yeah, I'm a tattoo artist, this whole right arm is by me." Then they either tell me what they've always wanted or show me a crummy home tattoo and ask if I can fix it. I pull out my phone and show them as many tattoos as they want to see (either new ones or before and after jobs I've finished or fixed.) Then I go to my website and show them the galleries there. Then I go to the calendar feature and make them an appointment.

iPhone is working quite well for me.

Hey Laura, here's one of the first photos I took with my iPhone... the night I got a new tattoo (notice the guy with the pathetic vintage cellphone - LOL)...

http://www.dangrabbit.com/photography/albums/Shares/tattoo.jpg

Now, I want to see someone with an Apple tattoo...

[LauraBee]

Hey Laura, here's one of the first photos I took with my iPhone... the night I got a new tattoo (notice the guy with the pathetic vintage cellphone - LOL)...

http://www.dangrabbit.com/photography/albums/Shares/tattoo.jpg

Now, I want to see someone with an Apple tattoo...

Funny you should say that, I have one in the works. I'm almost totally sleeved so it will just fit in, not like just a bare arm with an apple tattoo...

I'll post it after I do it (or my other artist does it for me)

Totally cool pic though. What did you get that night?

[DRabbit]

Funny you should say that, I have one in the works. I'm almost totally sleeved so it will just fit in, not like just a bare arm with an apple tattoo...

I'll post it after I do it (or my other artist does it for me)

Totally cool pic though. What did you get that night?

I'd love to see your "sleeve" when the apple logo is done! I have an idea for one myself for my next one, but I have to try to work the idea out.

This time around I got a Native American Style Eagle (icon-style, not realistic style) ... black outline, filled red and two black stars underneith (representing me and my husband)... then two small yellow stars (black outline), one for each of my kids. I'm at the "oh my god it itches" stage of healing, so just about done :)

I have seven others... all relatively small and scattered around (foot, calf, thigh, hand, forearm, shoulder, ring finger and now the new ones are on my back - eagle and black stars in the middle just below my neck, and the yellow stars on the back of each shoulder.

I love body art -- I'd love to see your website :)

[qryptiq]

i went to buy an electronic piece of equipment at the store and the guy quoted me a price of $120 bucks. Right in front of him i google'd it and found the same unit for $65 bucks.

He lowered his price to $65 bucks and no tax!

hah!!! take that............:2cool:

[lilnef]

i went to buy an electronic piece of equipment at the store and the guy quoted me a price of $120 bucks. Right in front of him i google'd it and found the same unit for $65 bucks.

He lowered his price to $65 bucks and no tax!

hah!!! take that............:2cool:
way to stick it to the man

[vansouza]

I'd love to see your "sleeve" when the apple logo is done! I have an idea for one myself for my next one, but I have to try to work the idea out.

This time around I got a Native American Style Eagle (icon-style, not realistic style) ... black outline, filled red and two black stars underneith (representing me and my husband)... then two small yellow stars (black outline), one for each of my kids. I'm at the "oh my god it itches" stage of healing, so just about done :)

I have seven others... all relatively small and scattered around (foot, calf, thigh, hand, forearm, shoulder, ring finger and now the new ones are on my back - eagle and black stars in the middle just below my neck, and the yellow stars on the back of each shoulder.

I love body art -- I'd love to see your website :)
So show us already... take a picture.

[SkyyBoy]

I have settled several arguments by going to IMDB or wikipedia on my iPhone :2cool:

[tfg]

Well, since I got the phone on June 29th, I've been working like a madman and really haven't got to use it all that much. Plus with being at work all day and having a computer, I really don't need to use the browser all that much. But the real beauty of the thing is going to be traveling. I'm going to be away all weekend and I'm sure that this is going to be the chance for me to stretch it's legs.

I'm sure at some point I'll use the browser. I haven't even connected the thing to wifi yet. The hotel should have it and I can't wait to connect. But I'm going to rip a couple movies for the ride and I'll have all my songs right at my fingertips. Plus I can go online in the car. This is going to be great.

The best thing that the iphone has been used for, in my opinion? Settling arguments about who starred in what movie by being able to go to imdb.com in an instant. This happened the other night. So instead of arguing and racking our brains all night, I just popped on the iphone and called up the site. Great stuff.

[usroman]

how do use traffic on google maps?

[Errk!]

I'm sure I'm not the only person who does this and it's not terribly unique, but I think it's so cool that I can take a picture, email it to my Flickr account, then post it to a blog, no matter where I am.

I've also found that the phone integration with Google Maps is absolutely priceless. I've had to look up places and call them while away from my computer several times since getting this phone, and it's so convenient and easy to use. I love having a phone book, phone, and map all in one package that also plays my favorite music.

[Tinman]

Yep that Google Maps integration thing is cool indeed.

People that I've shown it to have been extremely impressed--especially with sat view.

But I'm sad to report that I am almost guilty of lying by omission since a few times it was clear they thought it was a live sat image and I kinda didn't say anything. :gasp:


--
MIke

[kycophpd]

I am a police officer and use maps to find locations of different places I need to go. I also (previously posted in another thread) use a system called Courtnet to check for warrants on people I come in contact with. I used to have to call the dispatcher to ask for this information but now I can do it on my phone. It also gives me any prior history so I can decide what direction I want to go when dealing with someone.

The maps also works great for people who stop and ask for directions (although the traffic function in louisville ky looks like it has been the same for a month now).

I keep all my court cases and work time in the calendar. I use notes to reming myself what I need to provide to different attorneys.

I do bike patrol on my police department also so weather helps me decide whether or not to ride, although I would like to see a rain percentage added to it without having to go to the seperate page.

And just yesterday, I worked a burglary case and made the mistake of leaving my camera at my house (run a photo business on the side). So I took pictures of the burglary scene. 2 MP's will be enough to show detail on the burglary. After this, I am going to start syncing photos for court cases on my phone to show attorneys during pretrial to save the cost of printing them out. I can then go print them before trial if they will be needed.

[cdodkin]

Went into harbor freight to buy a diagnostic reader for my car.

Forgot to bring in the coupon from the paper that I needed for the special offer.

Cashier was not going to honor the special deal price :(

Went online and found the coupon on their website while standing at the checkout.

Showed the iPhone screen to the manager, and she accepted that I had a valid coupon and gave me the discount.

Sweet! :2cool::2cool::2cool:

[nevadadealers]

I was at Fry's yesterday with my wife shopping for a new vacuum. While we were there we were able to actually plug in the vacuums and test them out. As my wife started to narrow down to the ones she thought worked well I started looking the vacuums up on amazon to see if they were available online for less money. It seemed like Fry's prices were pretty competitive. But while I was checking prices I also noticed the reviews. It turned out that the vacuum that my wife liked the best was rated 2 out of 5 stars. I read some of the reviews and decided not to buy that vacuum. We found another vacuum that she liked and it had 4.5 out of 5 stars. Unfortunately Fry's was out of stock on that model. I checked a few other local stores websites to see if someone else carried the vacuum but none did. Then I decided to check the vacuum manufacturers website to find out where I might find it. I quickly found out what local stores carried the model I wanted and was able to go buy one.

[tfg]

Well, I was just on break at work and I think for the first time, actually had the full iphone experience.

I sat down in a lounge area with the ipod on and then checked 2 websites that are blocked on my work compuer and my bank account. This was all on EDGE (which I still contend isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. It's like double the speed of dial up.) Then checked my emial, sent out 2 texts and took a call.

Everyone that bashes the phone should have to do what I just did before they can do so. My breaks at work just became great because of the phone. I'm going to start ripping movies or tv shows and watching them when I have down time. If they put flash on the safari browser, this thing is going to be unbelieveable. Then it really will be the internet in your pocket.

[Stevenm368]

This doesn't quite compare to previous tales but I was in an IHOP recently with my family showing off my iPhone. We had just recently taken a trip to Paris and in Paris I took a photo of a building, I kid you not called "Hotel California". I was asked while looking at the picture where the original "Hotel California" was, went to Wikipedia and looked it up. Then while I was online I asked if anyone wanted to listen to the song, I went to iPod and played the classic that we all know so well. Not very exciting, but I thought kind of cool.

[Devori]

Was driving around sat night with my lady.. got a call from a friend inviting us out to a club.. never been there soooo... googled the name, got directions off google maps.. and away we were!!:laugh2:

[joe]

Great thread! I loved reading all the stories. I don't have one specifically but my family loves having me along on trips these days to be the ultimate source for all information. I recently found the state's traffic website a great bookmark as it has realtime traffic cameras. I have to say that Maps is the killer app on the iPhone. :smile:

[stevetim]

Actually havent' done it yet. But, fantasy football on Yahoo!'s system is going to be my most used function come September. I checked out out league's page, and you can pretty much run your team from anywhere, unlike the way my old Treo tried to display the pages.

But for current use...eBaying for some Browns vs. Dolphins tickets.

Booking Cozumel trip on Expedia.

[Errk!]

But for current use...eBaying for some Browns vs. Dolphins tickets.

That's the first I've heard of an iPhone being used as a torture device.

Kidding....!

[mullman]

I do some video work and Apple has made it SO easy to get your already created content to your iPhone.

I open my 1080i HD files exported from Final Cut in QuickTime, and Export:iPhone. It takes some time depending on the HW.
Move this into iTunes and sync. Now you can have your video portfolio with you and not have to lug around a laptop. I think that is pretty neat.

The iPhone, IMHO is just an OK phone. Perfectly adequate.
Visual voicemail is just a dream come true!

Google maps is pure genius, and honestly is perfectly usable in my area on EDGE (seem to avg 180 kbps). I really think this is the killer iPhone app at the moment.

I really like the SMS client, three of us at the office have iPhones and SMS all day, in addition to my wife who SMS's me. Gosh I love her.

In case you did not know this, you can open up iChat on your Mac and send an AIM to +1[insert 10 digit cell # here] which will send an SMS to the person's cell phone.

[Peregrine]

I'm not a troll. I swear. I like Apple. I love the iPhone. Not an iPod fan, but I love Macs and the iPhone.

I read every post here in this thread.

But I gotta' say....
I can do all of that with my Motorola Q. :2cool:

Check out www.thestreamcenter.com (http://www.thestreamcenter.com) from you iPhone. I use it on the Q all the time. Nice consolidated list of nearly every online radio station with direct links to the feeds.

[Citsur86]

Driving home from the Jersey shore last sunday, used google maps and saw the way we were gonna go had tons of traffic on the Atlantic City Expressway. We went the back way, got home fast. My parents went the expressway and didnt show up for 2 hours after us! haha

[mullman]

Peregrine-

Really the Q has a 3.5" widescreen display I would show clients quick edits?

[godspropy]

I'm not a troll. I swear. I like Apple. I love the iPhone. Not an iPod fan, but I love Macs and the iPhone.

I read every post here in this thread.

But I gotta' say....
I can do all of that with my Motorola Q. :2cool:

I could do all of this plus a lot more with my XV6700 as well. But, I could only do it after rebooting the phone since it froze up after any substantial use or three days, which ever came first (literally). To make it worse the reboot got longer each time and was up to 3 minutes. There are browsers that can be installed with more features (Java) but they ran so slow. And, I've never seen a media application on any mobile device that compares to iPod on iPhone.

I think the iPhone has the best, most innovative and most intuitive interface that I have used and I look forward to it getting better.

It's not for everyone, sure. But, for me the benefits are worth what it lacks. Or, should I say the benefits are worth waiting for what it lacks (updates, 3rd party, etc.).

[jacjac2]

-When we could not get internet access on puter for the last meeting I was involved in, I was able to get the information off of ATT Edge connection. It Wowed them.

-Directions from the Director to his meeting was not clear, so along the way, I stopped (pulled over that is) and verified, he forgot a step.

-I took have checked bank information and transferred when I could.

- notes for grocery list

Everything in my pocket for information.

[ebcoh]

We were playing chess and my friend said,

"You can only make a pawn into a queen when it reaches the other side"

and i said,

"no, it can be anything besides a pawn or king"

and we were both dismayed. Until a whipped out wikipedia on the spot and settled it.





Also, I have this curse that whenever i turn to the TV guide channel it is ALWAYS just past the channel I care about. Whip out the iphone on the spot and go to a tv listings bookmark.





Theres also some job specific stuff, such as taking pictures of my work schedule (zoom allows this, where with my old phone I couldnt make out the writing) and taking pictures of shelves to see what I need to stock when i'm in the back of the store instead of remembering or writing it down.

[jacjac2]

We were playing chess and my friend said,

"You can only make a pawn into a queen when it reaches the other side"

and i said,

"no, it can be anything besides a pawn or king"

and we were both dismayed. Until a whipped out wikipedia on the spot and settled it.





Also, I have this curse that whenever i turn to the TV guide channel it is ALWAYS just past the channel I care about. Whip out the iphone on the spot and go to a tv listings bookmark.





Theres also some job specific stuff, such as taking pictures of my work schedule (zoom allows this, where with my old phone I couldnt make out the writing) and taking pictures of shelves to see what I need to stock when i'm in the back of the store instead of remembering or writing it down.

Are you zooming on the iPhone camera, explain please.

[mullman]

Last night my home was struck by lightening.

Loudest noise, shook the entire house.
Immediately there was a loud pressure leak heard the an upstairs wall which was either a gas leak or refrigerant (both go up to my attic for upstairs heat/air). In addition killed our wireless HP printer, DSL modem, & Airport Extreme. So we lost all Internet.

In short order with the iPhone I was able to contact the gas company to inspect for a leak and then evac my family to the mini van, keep in mind this is 11pm in heavy rain.

Turns out gas is fine.
The iPhone is my complete info source for calling up my insurance co, and calling heat/ac repair ect since all computers are offline.

Thank goodness for decent EDGE & the iPhone!

Posted from iPhone obviously...

[ebcoh]

Are you zooming on the iPhone camera, explain please.

I meant the ability to zoom in on pictures you've already taken. Not zooming on the actual phone part (which would be nice btw)

[stuart9682]

last night i put my 3 week old infant to sleep (he had a tummy ache) with some soothing iPod music, while browsing the web (playing bejeweled) and drinking a beer ;)

couldve never done it without the iPhone

[chefj]

I was at Lakewood Church in Houston seeing Hillsong United after the concert after I had found the church using google maps I typed in resturants and found a PF Changs right behind the church. I would never found it if I did not have my IPhone....
God is good all the time.

All the the time God is good!!!

[stuart9682]

All the the time God is good!!!

yea it kinda seemed a little over the top to me, too... but uh, praise God or whatever.. you know: Jesus died so we could find that PF Changs....

[Peregrine]

Peregrine-

Really the Q has a 3.5" widescreen display I would show clients quick edits?

Welllll, of course not. It does 95% of what the iPhone does... just not NEARLY as "sexily". duh. ;) And no Vis-Voicemail.

My point was really that a lot of folks are seeing GOOGLE MAPS on a handheld for the first time on the iPhone and thinking it is somethig brand new just for the iPhone. Well most of us know it is not.

Playing more with my co-workers iPhone (I am the IT Manager and am debating opening Imap up for her on Exchange).
Google Maps iPhone > Google Maps Q.
I love how you can *flip* to step-by-step... tap on a step *zoom* it jumps back to the map and shows you the turn or whatever.

Total sweetness. If the iPhone had 2 things I would own it. A 20 GIG Hard drive and a way to use it completely without iTunes.
Sorry... hate iTunes with a passion.

[bberg23]

I just picked up an iPhone last week and I must say it has changed my life.

Amazing little device!

Anyhow, I do storm chasing out in Arizona during the monsoon season and I used the iPhone this past weekend to get the radar images over Edge while I was out driving around. This was invaluable for locating where the biggest storm cells were so that we could try to drive under them. I have never had this capability before and the iPhone really does make the full internet available almost anywhere.

Props to Apple for such an easy to use device with an awesome user interface.

[Josh]

i'm a medic and at work we haven't had our GPS installed in our ambulances yet. we have map books from our county's fire system that date back to 2004. many of our newer residential areas aren't in the map book so having google maps whenever i need it is awesome. it takes about the same time to search in google maps as it does to look something up in the books. the books however don't give me the quickest route!

also it's nice to google a rare medication that i hear about from a patient when i have down time.

[joe]

If the iPhone had 2 things I would own it. A 20 GIG Hard drive and a way to use it completely without iTunes.
Sorry... hate iTunes with a passion.

I still haven't seen a good argument for more space on the iPhone until disk mode or Home-on-iPhone is possible. Yeah, it would be cool to have an entire iTunes library on an iPhone but that doesn't make it a deal breaker. Did you post in the iTunes section your reasons for hating iTunes with a passion? Sounds strange to me and it would be interesting to follow up on that topic over there.

At any rate, glad you found Maps to be cool. I am especially impressed with how well it was done and integrated with Contacts and dialing. It's really changed how I think about directions, maps, and phonebooks.

[Peregrine]

RE: Storage. I remember people being ticked off that Rio only offered a 20 Gig Karma. I only used about 12, so I certainly didn't mind. I thought everyone was crazy. The iPhone is supposed to replace your MP3 player, your phone, your internet device. Hell it even plays movies.
How many people bought 30 Gig iPods? 80 Gig?
How many movies can you fit on an 8 Gig iPhone? 8?
Going on a long trip? May as well take your 80 Gig video iPod and your iPhone. Kind of defeating the purpose.
I wouldn't even have movies on an iPhone, personally. I just want, nay demand, my entire 12 Gig music collection with me when I travel. That's it. I have that now with my current Mp3 player. The iPhone would be a step backward in that department.
Don't even care about 'disk mode' or home-phone. Deal breaker to me.

Re: iTunes. Too restrictive for just one reason.
However, as I said, I am NOT a troll. I like and appreciate the iPhone, even if I am not buying one. I am not going to start a thread just to bash and argue about iTunes. Now if they ever Rockbox that baby, I'd think about one. :2cool:
http://www.rockbox.org