iPhone, how do I love thee?

Let me count the ways.

I am a late adopter by nature, hardly ever being on the cutting edge of anything, especially techy stuff, but I knew that when I did dump my 'dumb' phone for a smart one, it would be an iPhone.  I am such a Mac head that there was no way you could get anything else into my hands.

So, I waited.  I am on Verizon, so that hurdle had to be overcome.  Then that happened and still I waited til the dust settled a bit.  Or, more than a bit.  But finally, I knew that I was missing out on features that are important in my situation such as mobile email and access to social networking.

Plus, I figured I would have fun with it too.  Well, I hit the big bulls eye on all accounts.  Not only has it been excellent to be better 'connected' to the ways we communicate these days, for good or bad, there are features on that iPhone4 that are just so cool.  The great camera, the Facetime, all the 99 cent apps (no, I have not purchased Angry Birds, so stop asking), etc.  I used an inclinometer app the other day to check HT and ST angles on a bike.  Crazy.  How much does a digital, stand alone tool like that cost?  More than 99 cents, I bet.  And the list goes on.

So, of course, I had to search for the perfect case to protect it and I am testing some of that which I will talk about on The Cyclist Site.

In the meantime, the iPhone rocks.  I was talking to another user the other day and he said that every time he gets an app that adds productivity to the phone, it is like "getting another 10% of value to the iPhone purchase".  Indeed.

Now, if I can avoid dropping it into the toilet like I did my dumb phone, I will be just fine.

Week in review: Shadows, Snakes, and Taco Friday

 

 

SS Blackbuck

In repose.

Bike folks are cool.

The other day JeffJ and I had the chance to hang out with these folks in their spacious and cleverly hidden fortress of solitude.

The occasion was a sneak peek of the 2012 line of nicely machined and highly polished gear for bike freaks like us.  That is all secret stuff that I cannot talk about until later this year or they will cut out my heart with a highly polished tire lever.

But beyond all the schwag and marketing gab was a bit of an inside look at a bunch of guys and gals trying very hard to make very good things that we will want to buy, use, and enjoy.  And along the way to doing that, they are making a living, raising families, paying bills, and, as much as humanly possible, riding their bikes.

There are some very cool people in the bike biz.   Bikes are very cool, and bike people, it seems to follow, are, more often that not, very cool people.

And that is one of the best things about bikes...the bike people...the people that dream them, design them, make them, sell them, ride them and live them.  It would not be the same without ya.