iPhone (Finally!) - Same functions, just more fun...

Well, I finally did it - this weekend, I defied the lingering effects of the previous night's revelry, got up at 6:30am, and hit the Apple store for my very own iPhone 3G. (Along with my wife, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law!) I'm sure it will provide fodder for many future posts, but for now I'd like to take the overall gestalt, and I've found it to be this: most if not all of the iPhone's functionality can be found on other handsets. Internet, email, 3rd-party applications, location via GPS, music, video - all of these things can be done by quite a few phones out there. The difference is that the iPhone makes them easy - or heck, even fun! The most mundane actions, like setting an alarm clock, are simply delightful for their innovative and intuitive interfaces. Animations give the phone life, and it practically begs to be interacted with. And this is, in fact, a case of usability design: making functions so fun that they actually get used is indeed a service to the user. And so far, I'm certainly feeling well-served!