Editor Susan Ochs writes in her editorial titled “iCan’t Quit You, iPhone” that “it’s not just a phone. It’s an assistant, a crutch, a lifeline, a cult. And I’m in for life.” So, if this sounds like your narrative, this iPhone Handbook is for you.
I liked the article on the iPhone 3.0 OS update, especially the 15 ways to enhance the iPhone’s functionality. Want to make iPhone ringtones in your garage? You’ve come to the right place. Personally, I needed the piece on “How to Take Better iPhone Photos.” I’m not exactly the demographic for “How to Rock iTunes DJ with Your iPhone” but at least I now know what my daughter is up to.
But the $5.95 asking price is really for the iPhone APPSTRAVAGANZA featuring the best and some of the worst and weirdest apps. I liked the five work apps, especially the free Pocket Google apps because now I can impress my boss by working on the go—that’s the article promise. Apps are great boredom busters, of course and if you need something to kill time, such as when in the line at the DMV, try Birdhouse which is a notepad for Twitter. Just jot down tweets as they occur to you and then send them out later.
You will forgive me for really liking Pocket God, or as the editorial staff points out, Pocket Sadist would be a better name. Sorry; it’s my background in theology. The apps presents an island of natives and “you can mess with them in various ways: flicking them into a volcano, provoking an attack of fire ants or dangling them near a looming shark until they get gobbled up.” Notice this is in quotes and I take no personal responsibility for these attacks.
Not nearly as stimulating but much more useful is Don’t Panic, the app version of the wikiHow.com. That will be useful if you want to administer CPR (or not), fix a tire, or open a beer. You can tell the apps get more important with the telling.
The Mac|Life editors report that 25% of the staff are Slouchy McHunchbacks so naturally they have all embraced the Sit Up Straight! App. Just put the phone in your shirt pocket, straighten up and tap the screen to calibrate. I’m told if you slouch the thing makes a dumb frog sound.
At one time or another everyone has been stuck in the room with a friend’s 12 year-old son—what wrong with my son?—and you can’t think of anything to say. Just whip out your phone with the Monkey Pee, Monkey Do game. You tilt the phone to move the peeing monkey closer to the toilet. You kill some time and teach both the monkey and the kid the proper bathroom habits. If the monkey misses, you have a problem on your hands.
I have on good authority that the Handbook editors think “meetings are for chumps.” No wonder they are so excited about the apps that help them, and us, weasel out of meetings.
I’m having too much fun so I has better stop. This is a good, lighthearted, thorough, tech-savvy read. So run and get a copy before they disappear.
The iPhone Handbook is available only at newsstands.
Charles McCullagh
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