Why the iPhone update changed my mind

After impulse buying a 600$ (plus tax) piece of Apple foolishness, I have the ritualistic remorse that always follows such impulse purchasing. While it is nice to whip the iPhone out, and have friends and family ogle it, and ask you all sorts of questions– deep down,it’s hard to shake feeling a bit silly for having dropped 600$ (plus tax) on a phone.That all changed for me today. (Technically, it changed about 4 days ago with the iPhone 1.01 update– but it wasn’t until I read this post on iLounge that I realized it).Apple will tell you that the new iPhone update was basically a security fix update…but it turns out it also fixed a bunch of other stuff:

• Always BCC added to email settings so you can carbon copy yourself
• Battery diplay updates to provide more accurate display of charge
• Passcode lock can have a longer timeout– prevents you having to enter your passcode EVERY time the phone goes into standby mode– instead allows you to picke a time frame to allow the phone to wait before it requires a passcode
• Audio out now works on many popular stereo docks and adaptors

So, back to the regret part…I really only listen to music in my car. Until this update my iPhone just couldn’t take the place of my iPod– it had iPod features, but no audio out to my car’s iPod setup.No matter how many ogled over the iPhone, or how many times I used Google maps–no amount of ‘cool!’ helped me shake the feeling that I’d potentially made a $600 (plus tax) mistake. The pitch had been ‘one device to do everything‘, and here I was still carrying around my 5th Gen iPod Video, AND an iPhone.

Along comes this supposed security update, and BAM, audio out through the dock connector– meaning, I can use it in the car!

I can’t explain how happy I was when this thing worked like I knew it could. It was like getting an iPod all over again (which by the way, can’t be explained, if you have one, you get it– shuffles don’t count…).

In the last 2 days, I’ve had time to really judge this thing as an iPod, and take a look at some of the new features of this ‘best iPod ever.

My favorite example of the iPhone’s improved iPod? Shuffle.

Now before you laugh at me, and call me names, try out this situation: you’re listening to your iPod, on shuffle, and a GREAT song from an even GREATER album comes on. All of a sudden, you need to hear that album. With iPods of yesteryear, you have to Menu Menu Menu your way out, then select Artist, or Album and scroll to the Artist or Album in question.

Now, I would never do this while driving…but, I bet some have and do. It’s a potentially dangerous pesky interface, and a total buzz kill.But with the iPhone? Screw that son, you just shuffle away, and when one of those DEEP TRACKS comes on, you can just hit the track listing for the album, and BAM, you have the entire listing of that album to choose from.

I can’t tell you how great this is. Is it worth 600$? Well, having something work the way you hoped it would, and having a pet peeve eliminated goes a small way toward making me a bit less impetuous– but $600 less? I think that’ll take another few ’security’ updates…