Tag: iPhone

Making the use case for keeping Evernote

Editor’s note: I haven’t written this article as a paid endorsement of Evernote. But I’m a longtime user who continues to find value in an app that has been dismissed by tech media as irrelevant in recent years. I’ve written this to highlight why I remain a subscriber, despite annual price increases and the negative sentiment from tech media.

For probably the last 15 years, virtually every article or blog post I’ve written was created on the notes app Evernote.  Including this one.

If you’re not familiar with Evernote, it’s a software note-taking application that is so much more. Founded in 2002 by Russian-American computer Scientist Stepan Pachikov, Evernote has evolved over time into a sort of all-encompassing platform that offers everything from writing tools to information storage to meeting notes to scanning, to audio transcriptions, to AI assistance to daily agenda and calendar, and much more.

In fact, Evernote has updated and added so many capabilities in recent months that I can’t keep up or use all the features.

At one time Evernote’s tag line was ‘Remember Everything,’ which I’m sure also is the concept behind its corporate logo, a green elephant. Today, if you click on the Evernote website, you are greeted by a big headline that says “Your second brain” and an underline that reads “Remember everything and tackle any project with your notes, tasks, and schedule all in one place.”

Read more about Evernote’s founding in this 2018 Fast Company article written by longtime technology writer Harry McCracken.

Since that article was published, Evernote has been purchased by the Italy-based Bending Spoons, a company that has a history of buying technology companies that are considered past their prime.

So, how has Evernote fared in the almost four years since the Bending Spoons acquisition?

Evernote claimed 200 million registered users and $100 million in annual revenue when Bending Spoons closed its acquisition in January 2023. But the new owner quickly began a major restructuring, laying off 82 percent of its employees, limiting free subscription options and increasing paid subscription costs while constantly expanding the software capabilities.

So, while specifics aren’t available, it is assumed the paid and total subscribers declined as subscription costs increased.

This recent article by Ars Technia explores the ride Bending Spoons has taken my favorite notes-taking application on and how it is testing limits of customer loyalty by jacking up subscription prices. I checked, and my annual subscription fee currently is $169, or $14 per month. I think it’s going up to $20 a month.

But enough about the financial and subscriber ups-and-downs of Evernote. How is it actually serving a user like me?

Besides being my main writing platform, Evernote is where I stash important info like receipts, warranties, links to articles I want to remember, tax documents and more. In fact, I have the Evernote Webclipper extension added to Safari to expedite saving pages I want to keep for reference or further reading.

So, it’s a catch-all software for me. I looked at my Evernote stats and see that I’ve accumulated 5,533 notes across 134 notebooks. That’s a lot of daily use.

I like it because it’s easily accessible across all the devices I use — Macbook, iPhone and iPad. Information entered on one device quickly updates across all devices because it’s cloud based.

I also have the free Apple Notes app and use it on occasion. However, I find Apple Notes more difficult to organize and find info quickly. And I don’t really know anything about Notion, a third option that is frequently mentioned as a viable note-taking app.

Bottom line, I’m staying as a paid Evernote subscriber.  In fact, I recently cancelled my Microsoft 365 subscription, which has cost me $129 annually for a family plan.

My AI chatbot friend told me after I laid out how I use Evernote, “you’re not trying to manage a large corporate team or coordinate complicated projects. You’re essentially using Evernote as a combination of personal library, writing desk and digital filing cabinet.

“That’s a pretty good use case.”

Case closed.

A one-minute stand with the new iPhone Duo

Holding the unfolded iPhone Duo at the Penn Square Apple Store.

The sight of the new iPhone Duo on display this past weekend at the Penn Square Apple Store brought out the Navin Johnson in me. I wanted to shout ‘The new iPhone Duo is here! The new iPhone Duo is here!”

But the store was swarming with customers and I didn’t want to out myself as the ultimate Apple Fanboy that I am. So I calmly walked over to a display table and picked up an iPhone Duo for the very first time.

No one could tell by my stern expression that I was bubbling with excitement.

Because it’s a folding phone, the Duo fit right into the palm of my trembling hand, showcasing apps on a bright home screen. Its size when folded is 3.31 inches wide and 4.64 deep, with display size of 5.4 inches.

The magic happened when I unfolded the Duo into its full 7.6-inch display size. There was a slight blur, and when fully opened the right side of the inside screen looked exactly like the front screen. There was an entirely different set of apps on the left side.

I was curious about what kind of crease there would be down the middle because of the fold, but didn’t really notice it.

Of course, I realize that Apple is not first to the folding phone.  Android users have had that pleasure for a number of years.  But I’m not an Android user, and the iPhone Duo is Apple’s biggest design innovation since the original iPhone launched in 2007.

This is not an actual product review like that of The New Things  from Joanna Stern or Jason Snell with Six Colors, but I did get to play with the device for a couple of minutes. 

Here’s what I noted. When I clicked on an Apple News story, it displayed text and photo across the entire width of the unfolded phone. The text was super easy to read.

I also clicked on a sample photo in the Photos app, and it displayed incredibly bright and sharp.

Finally, I clicked on the Weather app — hey, I’m a weather nerd, too — and viewed the weather forecast in a full screen display. OK, maybe it wasn’t any different than what I could see on my own regular iPhone, but it seemed to present important weather stats I needed to know at a single glance without having to scroll.

With that, I folded the phone back to its perfect-for-the-palm-of-your-hand size and put it back on its display holder.

Yes, I’m lusting after a tiny piece of technology that I likely will never actually carry in my pocket. Why? Well, the price.

Oh, the price.

The basic iPhone Duo is priced at $1,999, definitely out of my retired newspaper guy budget. So, I reluctantly walked away.

 

A look at the crowd browsing the Apple Store at Penn Square Mall this past weekend.

I did see several of my fellow shoppers actually making iPhone Duo purchases. In fact, the store was so crowded with curious browsers on this first weekend the phone was on display that Apple had two OKC police officers acting as security.

Not-so-bold prediction: The iPhone Duo will be a massive hit for Apple, despite its massive price tag. It will be a bigger seller than even Navin Johnson’s Optigrab eyeglasses holder was.

If you know, you know.

BONUS CONTENT: I learned about a cool ‘Easter Egg’ Apple planted on its Apple Music website. Click on the Apple Music ‘page not found’ page and you will see a replica of the first generation iPod (copy and paste this url: https://music.apple.com/us/jfdsalkfavsd). Though emulation software, the original iPod actually scrolls and plays music from more than 1,000 songs from the late-1990s early 2000s era in which it was release. Such a cool feature. More on the original iPod from Six Colors.

DOUBLE BONUS CONTENT:  The Apple Store had a class on the new iOS 27 under way while I was visiting, so I sat in for about 10 minutes and learned some photo editing techniques of which I was previously unaware. #winning

 

Long gone: The camaraderie of lines in anticipation of Apple product launches

I stumbled across a post recently by John Gruber on his Daring Fireball  blog that shared some perspective on Apple Inc. from David Pogue, a well known tech reporter who has written about Apple for roughly 42 of its 50 years.

Daring Fireball linked to a post that outlined some of Pogue’s highlights across his years covering Apple for the New York Times and other publications. It’s a worthy read because Pogue shares several anecdotes of his interactions with Apple, and specifically, Steve Jobs.

Pogue has written what may be the definitive history of Apple in a book, “Apple: The First 50 Years,” which was published to coincide with the company’s 50th anniversary on April 1.

What I really liked though, is a link to a video Pogue made for the NY Times in 2007, singing a parody of “My Way” with people standing in line to buy the first iPhone at the New York City Apple Store. It’s hilarious, but also shows the hundreds of people lined up to enter Apple’s famous 5th Ave. glass cube to buy the first iPhone. Watch it below.

The sight of all those people in the queue stirred memories for me of long lines outside of OKC’s Penn Square Apple Store and other retailers back in the day when new Apple products were launched.

I emailed Gruber a note of thanks for the link and how much I miss the camaraderie and festive atmosphere of those lines during Apple launches.

He replied: “It really was a special couple of years. I totally get why it couldn’t last forever, but it was really something for those early iPhone years.”

My first experience with a big new product launch was showing up at Penn Square Mall before dawn for the launch of the iPhone 3. I was surprised to find a long line of people waiting outside for the mall doors to open so they could rush in to grab a spot inside before the Apple store opened.

The line at Penn Square Mall during an Apple iPhone launch in roughly 2010l (Photo by Jim Stafford)

What struck me about the lines of people waiting for hours to buy an iPhone — and later, the iPad — was how festive and full of anticipation the people were. Apple employees periodically came out to hand out bottles of water, pastries and high fives to those waiting in line.

As for me, I chose to wait a few days after the product launch when I could walk into the store unfettered by a long line.

Those festive lines of yesteryear are long gone. When new products are released today they can be ordered online in advance and delivered to your home on launch day.

No lines, but no thrill of anticipation or sharing the moment with your new found friends. I miss it.

MORE APPLE GOODNESS

In case you missed it, Apple’s 50th anniversary as a company came and went on April 1. That’s the day in 1976 that Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne filed incorporation papers for what was then called Apple Computer.

There are stories and profiles all over the tech media about the anniversary. If you are interested in the perspective of folks who have covered Apple for four decades or more, I recommend visiting Jason Snell’s sixcolors.com.  Jason and a host of other writers share their perspectives on covering Apple through the years.

Snell also wrote an excellent review of Pogue’s new book, “Apple: The First 50 Years,” for the Wall Street Journal, although it requires a subscription to either the paper or to Apple News+ to read it.

Gruber’s Daring Fireball also offers perspective on the anniversary, including a link to his own podcast with Pogue about the book as well as an anecdote from the conversation.

Apple itself celebrated turning 50 by hosting music events across the globe, including one at its Cupertino, Calif., HQ that featured Paul McCartney. Check out Apple’s photo gallery.

Paul McCartney during Apple 50th anniversary celebration on its Cupertino, Calif., campus

 

Could robotics lead Apple to make iPhones in the USA?

A robotic arm working on the floor of a Shawnee manufacturer in roughly 2017.

One day in the summer of 2017, I toured the GF Central Plastics plant in Shawnee on an assignment with the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST).

The visit was an eye-opener for me.

Central Plastics makes plastic and metal fittings, as well as specialty parts primarily for the natural gas industry. At that time it operated out of a 500,000 square foot facility and employed roughly 500 people.

What caught my attention was the incredible use of robotics in the company’s manufacturing process. There were about 30 of these large yellow robotic arms that picked up a piece of metal or plastic and placed it exactly where it needed to go in the machine that would mold it into whatever it was intended to be.

Here’s what I wrote at the time:

“The robotic arms employed in the process never stop, repeating their assignment 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Their human co-workers are busy ensuring the machines have needed parts to work with, as well as inspecting and packaging finished pieces.
‘The primary goal of the robotics and automation is not to eliminate people, but allow us to continue to grow and continue to improve the quality of our products,’ Bryan Lucas, GF Central Plastics vice president for Operations, told me.

You can read the story here on the OCAST website. 

Mark Smith, GF Central Plastics Managing Director and President, put it another way:

“One of the abilities the robot has, is I’ve got 24/7 operation from them.” he told me. “They don’t take vacations, and they don’t need to sleep like I do.”

While I’m not certain that Lucas or Smith are still in their positions with the company, I’m pretty sure that at this very moment there are scores of robotic arms picking up parts and slamming them into the production machine exactly where they need to be placed. And then removing them when they are finished and stacking them in the right bin.

So, what does that have to do with anything today, eight years later?

I’ve been thinking about how robotics and artificial intelligence might be used in the production of ubiquitous smartphones — iPhones and Android phones. Phones are full of tiny parts that have to be fit into a small space in exactly the same way millions of times over and over.

Are robotics used to produce the phones? According to what I was told by my know-it-all friend, ChatGPT, much of phone assembly in 2025 is done by robotics.

Here’s what my AI pal told me:

“Yes — robotics manufacturing is already widely applied to devices as small and precise as smartphones. In fact, smartphone production is one of the most advanced examples of robotics and automation in action.”

Unless Chatbot was hallucinating, there’s a ton of robotics that go into each phone. It cited Foxconn, maker of the iPhone, as a major user of robotics in the manufacturing process.

“In some facilities, entire production lines are almost fully automated,” it said.

So, that makes me wonder if the thousands and thousands of low-paid workers are still needed to produce smart phones. Are those folks still needed to assemble the cases with tiny screws, perhaps? Can’t that process be automated?

This is all leading me to the purpose of this blog post. If there is almost 100 percent automation in the assembly of iPhones, why can’t Apple Inc. at least build a pilot project in the U.S. to see how production would go here.

I understand there is required testing of each unit and then the packaging and shipping, so there are humans involved in the process.

If the robotic arms were assembling millions of phones in the U.S., would the scale of that production keep the costs somewhere close to what it is in China or India? And they would save on shipping costs, too, so price of phones might stay close to what they are today.

We all know that Trump is pressuring Apple and other high-tech manufacturers to bring their manufacturing into the U.S. If nothing else, a pilot plant located in the states would appease the President, who could slap (more) tariffs on China- or India-made phones at any moment.

I just read an awesome book, “Apple in China,” about how the company is trapped by the large scale of manufacturing investment it has made in China. It has recently moved some of that production to India and elsewhere.

I’m not a visionary, but I’m thinking that we could someday soon unbox our new iPhone and see the words “Designed in California, Assembled in the USA.”

Are you listening, Tim Cook?

I’m great at spending someone else’s money.  But it could happen.

BONUS CONTENT: Watch some robotic arms in action in the video below.

DOUBLE BONUS CONTENT: Here is some info that ChatGPT provided me about robotic arms in smartphone manufacturing.

Robotics manufacturing is already widely applied to devices as small and precise as smartphones. In fact, smartphone production is one of the most advanced examples of robotics and automation in action.

Here’s how robotics is applied in smartphone manufacturing:

Microscale Precision Assembly: Specialized robotic arms with extremely fine motion control place tiny components such as microchips, sensors, and capacitors onto circuit boards. These parts are far too small for human hands to place consistently.
Surface-Mount Technology (SMT): Automated machines solder thousands of micro-components onto printed circuit boards at high speed and with extreme precision.
Optics & Camera Module Assembly: Robotic systems align and insert delicate camera lenses and sensors with tolerances measured in microns.
Battery & Screen Placement: Large but fragile components like batteries and OLED screens are installed by robotic arms that apply uniform pressure without damaging them.
Quality Control & Testing: Robotics and machine vision systems test buttons, touchscreens, speakers, and other parts to ensure durability and functionality.
– Micro-assembly with Collaborative Robots (Cobots): Some processes still require human oversight (like cable placement or adhesive application), but cobots assist workers by handling the repetitive and delicate positioning work.

So while people often imagine robots assembling cars or appliances, the highest level of robotic precision is actually in electronics manufacturing — smartphones, tablets, and semiconductors.

Companies Using Robotics in Smartphone Assembly

Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industry)

  • World’s largest electronics manufacturer (makes iPhones for Apple).
  • Uses thousands of robots, called Foxbots, for tasks like soldering, polishing, dispensing adhesives, and precision assembly.
  • In some facilities, entire production lines are almost fully automated.

Pegatron

  • Another major iPhone assembler.
  • Uses robotic arms for component placement and automated optical inspection (AOI) to check for microscopic defects.

Samsung Electronics

  • Runs highly automated factories in South Korea and Vietnam.
  • Uses robotics for screen production (OLED and AMOLED panels) because they require sub-millimeter precision.

Xiaomi, Oppo, and Huawei suppliers

  • Many Chinese factories use robotic arms for final assembly and packaging.
  • Robotic vision systems test touchscreens and fingerprint sensors before shipping.

🤖

Types of Robotics Technology Used

  • SMT (Surface Mount Technology) Pick-and-Place Robots
  • Place up to 100,000 components per hour on a circuit board.
  • Robotic Dispensing Systems — Apply adhesives in perfect micro-lines to secure parts like glass panels.
  • Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) — Uses robotic vision and AI to detect microscopic defects.
  • Laser Robots — Used for cutting phone frames, engraving, and even removing defective solder joints.
  • 📱 Why Robotics Is Essential for Smartphones
    Smartphones have billions of transistors and hundreds of components packed into a device only millimeters thick.
  • Human assembly alone can’t achieve the precision or consistency needed.
  • Robotics improves yield, speed, and quality control while reducing labor costs.

👉 So yes, robotics not only can be applied to smartphones — it’s already at the core of how every major smartphone is made today.

One more thing: there are no more surprises in Apple product events

Steve Jobs makes a ‘one more thing’ announcement at a live Apple product event.

This past Tuesday, Apple Inc. introduced its latest line of iPhones in a special pre-recorded event that showcased iPhone 17 and an extra thin iPhone Air.

Along with showcasing the latest Apple Watches and Airpods, the event lasted just over an hour. It included introductions from Apple CEO Tim Cook plus key Apple staff, as well as customer testimonials, music and ads to showcase it all. You can watch it here. 

Unfortunately for me, I knew in advance almost every product that was introduced, down to the new iPhone Air.

Thanks for spoiling it, Mark Gurman.

Gurman is a tech writer for Bloomberg News who covers everything Apple like Helen Thomas covered the White House once upon a time. The author of the Power On newsletter, Gurman had already detailed almost everything Apple debuted, down to the specs of the iPhone Air and cameras in the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

I didn’t want to know any of that before I watched the Apple event. I long for the days of the “One More Thing” that the late Steve Jobs would surprise the audience at Apple product events. I was just as surprised and awed as everyone else when he pulled the first iPod out of the pocket of his Levi’s in 2001.

Watch Jobs make some “one more thing” introductions in the video below.

I’m not sure how Gurman gets his info, but I assume it must come with Apple’s cooperation or willfully ignoring his insider scoops. Reporters and podcasters that I follow seem happy with the situation because Gurman’s reporting gives them something to discuss on an ongoing basis from week-to-week.

I realize that all of this doesn’t matter to about 99.9% of the public, but as a long-time Apple Fanboy, it’s a big deal. There was time that Jobs was so obsessed over keeping future products secret that he took steps like issuing memos with slight alterations sent to different employees to catch leakers.

Just as it should be.

Oh, and one more thing. I long for the pre-COVID years when Apple’s product events were all performed live in front of an audience and streamed to the rest of us. It was way more fun when new Macs or iPads or software were introduced by Jobs or Phil Schiller or Craig Federighi, and demoed right on the stage.

That was live theater, and I loved it.

But here we are in 2025, and we all can predict  virtually every new product in advance as a pre-recorded Tim Cook introduces it as Apple’s “best ever.”

No suspense. No surprise. No one more thing.

Get off my lawn.

UPDATE:

Here is what Jason Snell, former editor of Macworld magazine who has covered Apple for decades, had to say about new product developments that are leaked to the public.

Show me the radar! A digital tale from 2004

Screenshot

Whenever weather threatens OKC or western Oklahoma, our local TV stations abandon network programming and go with wall-to-wall weather coverage.

My family tunes in every time, and not just for potential life-saving information. We’re fascinated by the combination of theatrical performance, legitimate weather warnings and relentless self promotion.

“We’re declaring a News9 tornado warning for you folks in Custer County!” weatherman David Payne practically screams as he directs Val and Amy into the path of the storm.

No waiting on those slackers at the National Weather Service.

It’s like passing a car wreck on the Interstate, you can’t NOT look at it. Everyone has their favorite/least favorite TV meteorologist. Our go-to weather Drama Queens happen to be from Channel 9.

Anyway, it seems like programming has been interrupted every other night this Spring, but I would never suggest that it’s related to climate change, would I?

As we’ve watched the powerful color-coded radar scans and learned that we’re seeing details THAT NO OTHER STATION IN OUR MARKET CAN PROVIDE, the whole scenario got me thinking back to something I wrote about two decades ago.

Today, we’re in a digital world in which we can track incoming storms on color radar not only only our television screens, but on our phones, computers and tablets. That was all just emerging in 2004 when I was a Business News reporter at The Oklahoman who embraced the digital life.

Not all of my colleagues were ready to move on from their analog past, so I wrote the following column as an ode to the great digital divide:

It is autumn 2004, and a pair of coworkers are sitting in opposite cubicles facing each other. One has his back to the window. His name is “Digital.” His co-worker goes by the moniker “Analog.”

Digital: Hey, there’s a weather alert crawling across the bottom of my computer screen!

Analog: (looking out the window over Digital’s shoulder) It looks sunny to me. There’s a little cloud to the south.

Digital: Yeah, but the color-coded radar I’m looking at on my screen shows a major thunderstorm headed this way. It’s just north of Chickasha.

Analog: I trust my eyes. I’ll worry about the weather when I look out this window and see a big black cloud.

Digital: You are so 1990s. (picks up the phone to call his wife) Hello, honey, you better monitor the weather, it’s looking rough outside. Where are the kids? Outside playing? Well, bring them in. The radar on my computer screen is showing a big storm just north of Chickasha, and it’s headed this way.

Analog: I still only see blue sky out the window.

Digital: (still speaking into phone) I don’t care if it’s sunny out, I’m telling you my radar is showing a big storm brewing just south of here. I’ll call you with further updates. Bring the kids inside! Call my cell phone when you have them rounded up (hangs phone up).

Analog: I think you are scaring your family for no reason. You should trust your eyes. Look out the window! It’s sunny.

Digital: I don’t need a window! I’m wired into the weather service right here. I can zoom in on the screen and see within a half mile where the storm is, which way it’s moving and what the temperature is. See, it’s 62 degrees outside.

Analog: I can just walk outside and get a feel for the temperature.

Digital: Then I assume you aren’t concerned about your family’s welfare. They won’t be ready for this one when it blows through town.

Analog: We have a “safe room” in our garage.

Digital: (wireless telephone rings) Hello. You’ve got the kids? Good. Now, what’s your plan for when the storm hits?

Analog: My eyes are telling me it’s still sunny outside.

Digital: (still speaking into phone) Will you have time to drive to the community shelter? Yes, I know it’s still sunny outside, but the radar shows the storm has moved closer to the metro area. Herd the kids to the hall closet if you need to. OK, love you. Bye.

Analog: Hey, I’ve got to run out on an assignment. I’ll be back this afternoon.

Digital: Well, let me have your cell phone number so I can contact you in case there’s a weather emergency or something.

Analog: I don’t have a cell phone. Never had a need for one.

Digital: (head bangs against desk; heavy sigh) I give up.

Analog: (starts to walk out of the office) Later.

Digital: (jumps up and runs after Analog) Here, take my umbrella just in case.

That’s how we rolled in 2004. It was a different era. Pre-iPhone. Pre-News9 tornado warning.

Any resemblance to actual people is mere coincidence.

Why iPhone is Swiss Army Knife of Communications

Steve Jobs introduces the iPhone in 2007

Earlier this week, my wife asked me to run down to the nearby Dollar General store to pick up a loaf of bread. I jumped into the car and headed that way.

As I neared the store, which is roughly a half mile from our house, I realized I did not have my wallet. Darn!

Then I realized I had my iPhone, and Dollar General accepts Apple Pay.

No wallet. No problem.

I ran into the store, grabbed a couple loaves of bread and headed to the checkout where I payed with the magic of no-touch Apple Pay and my iPhone.

I’ve become a huge Apple Pay fan. I will choose Target over, say, Walmart, because not only does Target offer a nicer shopping environment it also accepts Apple Pay.

Anyway, this got me to thinking about all the handy tools the iPhone (and others Smart Phones, I assume) offer that remind me of the versatility of a Swiss Army Knife.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found myself carrying something to the trash bin on the side of our house late at night in pitch black without light to aid navigation. But now, I touch the flashlight on the iPhone and I’m guided to and from the bin without tripping over anything.

There are so many other examples. Counting steps when I’m walking. Sending emergency funds on the spot to a child in need in a faraway place. Downloading and reading free books from the library. Sending a Subway gift card to a child in need in a faraway place. Ordering an Uber and watching the progress of the arriving car on a map. Receiving and reading lab results ordered by my doctor. Pointing the phone to the sky and seeing information about the type of aircraft and destination of a flight overhead. Pointing the screen at yourself and taking a selfie.

Oh, and making a phone call. I could go on and on.

When Steve Jobs introduced the iPod from a San Francisco stage in 2007, he said “today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.”

It did.

Watch Jobs’ introduction of the device.

With the emergence of iPhone and the many apps dreamed up by developers, the concept of the Smart Phone has washed over so many areas of our lives. It changed telecommunications and it changed how we live. I think for the better.

That’s why the iPhone IS the Swiss Army Knife of communication.

My 2007 test drive with the original iPhone

Steve Jobs holds an original iPhone at the Apple launch event in 2007.

Editor’s note:  In honor of Apple’s special product event today, I’m reprinting a column I wrote as technology reporter at The Oklahoman in 2007 after using the original iPhone for a week at the invitation of AT&T.  I’ve been an iPhone user now for almost a dozen years. However, in the months after the iPhone debuted in 2007, I had only a lowly flip-phone and some serious iPhone envy. 

I was seated prominently in a popular lunch spot along Western Avenue on Monday afternoon talking on the new iPhone that AT&T provided me for a one-week tryout.

I was there to show it off.

Parked at a table in the center of the busy restaurant, I whipped out the shiny new high-tech toy and proceeded to flaunt it for 45 minutes.

Important e-mails were read and sent, using the iPhone’s virtual keyboard that magically appears when any typing is needed. Web sites were accessed, appearing just as they do on a desktop or laptop computer. Tunes were cataloged on the device’s iPod. Photos were taken with the camera phone.

Nobody seemed to notice or even look my way.

Obviously, the crowd was suffering from a serious case of iPhone envy.  Their jealousy caused them to look the other way, even as I held it up to input an important appointment on the calendar.

So, I stepped it up a notch and took a very important phone call. I let the telephone ring several times before answering it. Loudly.

People continued their conversations at neighboring tables. I’m sure they were seething because they had no iPhone like the one that was providing me with such child-like wonder.

Meanwhile, I was seething at their ignorance. Or was it apathy?

Of course, they had no way of knowing that the very important phone call I took came from a coworker whom I had asked to call me at that time so I could make a show of taking a very important phone call.

I was engaged in animated conversation on the iPhone for several minutes when I looked around and noticed that the entire section of the restaurant was empty save for me.

I gave up, inserted the phone back into my shirt pocket and quietly walked to the car. Lunch was a bust.

When I walked back into the newsroom, my mood brightened. At least I had a captive audience who couldn’t run when I whipped the iPhone out. I could show off its many great features, from the easy YouTube access right on the main screen to the Google Maps button that let me see a great close-up satellite view of my house.

So, I walked into an editor’s office and pulled it out of my pocket. He was armed only with a Blackberry, which was suddenly relegated to old school technology status. The editor wanted to see the iPhone’s Web browser in action.

We had no WiFi network for the device to automatically find and use, so I called up a page using AT&T’s wireless network. We waited. And waited. Finally, we both had to go back to work.

“I’ll bring it back in when it’s feeling better,” I said, walking out.

On the way back to my desk I passed a co-worker I’ll call “Paul” and sprung the iPhone on him.

Just as I was about to list some bragging points of the device, he reached in his pocket and pulled out … an iPhone.

Paul had had it for a week and never told anyone until that moment. I almost quit on the spot.

Instead, I put the phone away and slinked back to my cubicle. An editor shouted some instructions from her desk.

“Write something about your experiences with the iPhone.”

Oh, great. Well, at least my wife liked the device until I told her about the $600 price tag. She made me put it in a drawer for safekeeping until I could give it back to AT&T.

iPhone, I hardly knew you.