The title of this post sounds like an exaggerated hyperbole from your run-of-the-mill tech magazine. It also sounds old, because such a title implies an arrival of a new technology or device. However, in the land of “me”, the iPhone is new. I recently (June 26th) got an iPhone 3GS. After the obscene amount of pessimism circling the iPhone 4, I was hesitant on picking it up and therefore got a 3GS instead. It may be a rushed decision on my part, but it happened.
I postponed writing this post since the day I got the phone. As much as I wanted to share my experience with my iPhone, I didn’t want it to be an impulse-post. We all get excited within the few days of buying a new phone or PC or whatever that’s important to you. This giddy-up feeling may cloud a lot of what you actually think. In addition, having spent nearly two months with the device, I can shed better light on my personal experience than of the first few days in which I probably did nothing but impulse-purchase new apps and having little time with each.
I’ve been brought to the hospital about 4 days ago. I have a chronic condition called Crohn’s Disease, and due to bad health management from my part, I lost exactly two thirds of my blood; from 15 down to 5. It was really bad, as I couldn’t walk nor do the very simple everyday chores like taking a shower. My doctor insisted on me staying at the hospital for at least three days, and it looks like I’ll be passing a week easily. They transferred two units of blood to my body, while treating all my Crohn’s symptoms. Right now I’m in good health, and recovering rather miraculously, so don’t worry about it.
Incidentally, It was the time when I l discovered the true potential of my iPhone. No matter how much you cherish solitude, it’s still a mildly boring experience; spending days in a hospital gets tiresome quickly because there is no motion. Every little detail moves so slowly you’d think you’re standing still. They serve dinner at 6PM, and now it’s 4AM and I’m still awake. Can you imagine that?
I’m using my iPhone constantly. Or rather, in every waking moment. Most of my time is poured into Twitter, where I spend my day reading other’s thoughts at my leisure, and share mine in the process. Most of the tweeps I follow are people I know in real life (or have a strong online bond with), so I’m always at home. This feeling of being constantly connected to your peers is mesmerizingly sexy. Yes, sexy. Most of the time, you’re not actually talking directly to them. And yet, you get that sense of belonging, as if you can relate to everything they spew and mumble. And when we meet, we rarely discuss those things we tweeted about. It’s like I’m letting them in the know constantly and passively, without a direct approval of the act by any of us. Yes, I love Twitter this much, and it’s one of the main reasons I am what I currently (digitally) am.
But it’s not like the whole iPhone experience revolves around one service or application. Twitter is but a drop in an ocean of other useful tools and applications to scribble around with. During my stay in the hospital I bought some of my favorite apps, which completed the circle of my digital happiness in my own temporary white dungeon.
“EpicWin” arrived perfectly when I needed an application that motivates to do my routine and usual chores, but with panache. It’s a part to-do list, part RPG, and I’m finding it ever so joyful to mess around with. Basically, for every task you accomplish, you get experience points (EXP), and these experience points build up your fictional avatar in various ways. And every time you get these points, you advance on the map a little bit, stumbling upon various loots and treasures and conquering their existence to your virtual backpack. As I said earlier, it may feel a bit game-y to some people, but for gamers (especially) it can do wonders, as it did to me.
On the same day, Halfbrick (an Australian game developer) released their new major hit to the AppStore: “Monster Dash”. Simply put, it’s a game where you’re always on the run, aimed with a blazing shotgun to shoot zombies and mummies and the likes. What makes it fun is, as with all the successful iPhone games I played, the flexible arcade-y gameplay that becomes addicting very fast. And these games, like “Canabalt” and “Flick Kick Football” (to name but a few) could be played between two minutes to a staggering hour. The arcade nature of the gameplay gives you the flexibility you need in your playing style, and provides an instant feel of gratification whether you played a game or ten. So, unlike the huge blockbusters (even on the DS and PSP), you don’t need to invest a huge chunk of your time to feel the game, to live the atmosphere, to delve deeper into the various mechanics. This makes every playing session as rewarding as ever, hence the “arcade” nickname I’m throwing around; it’s as if you’re throwing virtual coins into your iPhone, loading it with credits for your own personal satisfyingly selfish enjoyment. It did revolutionize the way I interact with the medium, despite the arguments and faint cries of the so-called hardcore gamers.
It doesn’t stop here, though. The abundance of applications in the AppStore gives you the ability to search for your exact needs all day everyday. As I was feeling a bit artistic today, I browsed some of the apps, aimlessly, until I stumbled upon “Vellum”, a creative drawing app that let’s you draw in three various inks. For a couple of bucks I was doodling on my iPhone with beautiful graphite grayness, meshed with ink-like splatter effects to dampen the mood of my amateur sketches. It was truly fantastic, the experience itself. Being able to draw on this small screen and then sharing my work with people on Twitter (or even setting it as a wallpaper), it was insightful and, weird enough, brimming with energy, despite the stillness nature of this visionary.
I then moved from the monotone nature of “Vellum” to the colorful world of “Color Stream”. This nifty free app gives you the ability to create color palettes in various ways: captured from the camera, or your existing photos, or -of course- your own manual creations. For designers (or artists in general), creating different color palettes is an essential tool in determining the shape of your work, be it a logo or a digital design or even an icon. I found it inspiring and nostalgic to fire it up and start creating color gardens, themes of my (mayhap) next art project. You can even extract your palette as a beautiful iPhone wallpaper, which surely comes in handy for a lot of people. Not only that, but you could email your creations to your friends easily via a simple touch, providing all the info they need for your palette (you can even toggle between RGB and CMYK).
And when I’m done goofing around, “MoneyWell” straightens up the atmosphere quite well. I use it to manage my several bank accounts and monthly payments. Unlike many money-management apps, it’s straightforward and pretty easy to get through. For an organized person like myself, I found it extremely appealing to manage all my spendings (and savings) and track them down easily via this well-designed app. And you can even sync your info with your desktop version of “MoneyWell” and co-manage your money making anytime, anywhere.
This is but a mere glance of how I’m spending my days in the hospital. I have around 50 games and a lot of other apps that could eat my time up and digest it into something much more meaningful and fun. Peggle, Tumbledrop, Kometen, are all games I play at least once a week. Canabalt gets the special treatment of firing it up every single day, and so is Helsing’s Fire. Running out of fun was never a plan in this stay, all thanks to this little piece of technological roller-coaster.
(This post was continued and published through my iPhone starting the 3rd paragraph, using WordPress’ official app. “Aquatic Ambience” aided my brain, musically, into pouring its convoluted thoughts down the path on this digital paper.)
