NEW iPhone - Beneficial for College Students?
- Filed under: Uncategorized
- Date: Jun 11,2008
The new 3G iPhone has been announced to launch July 11. It is a very tempting product with great improvements over the first generation iPhone. Is now the time to invest in an iPhone? Perhaps it is the right time, but I would like to examine whether or not the iPhone can increase productivity for a college student. Because increasing productivity is the purpose of smart phones. Correct?
Who Cares about the iPhone – Mobile ME is more Important
At the WWDC Keynote address Apple announced not only a new iPhone, but they also announced a new program, which I am very excited about, called Mobile ME.
Mobile ME is an email service that will be competing with programs such as Microsoft Outlook. You will have access to email, contacts, calendar, a photo gallery, and online storage with iDisk. There are two aspects of Mobile ME that appear very appealing.
- 1. It is not a program installed on your computer, but a great internet browser program. Therefore, you can access your email on any computer, and use a format similar to Microsoft Outlook or the Mac Mail program.
- 2. Push Technology! I won’t explain what “push” means, but I will tell you what it allows. “Push” allows you to sync many computers and phones together, over the “air” without needing to dock the phone. If you have ever heard of Microsoft Exchange for businesses Mobile ME is the equivalent for the individual.
Note – Watch the video at Apple to better understand Mobile ME
I will be testing the free trail first. If Mobile ME wins me over, I will pay the $100 and year, get rid of Gmail, and either get rid of Microsoft Outlook or sync it with Mobile ME.
Increase Productivity?
I believe that Mobile ME will increase productivity because it allows for easy access to your email on any computer, and is worth the yearly payment of $100. But what about the iPhone? One negative of Mobile ME is that it will only sync with Apple products and Microsoft Outlook. If you have a different model of Smartphone, you’re out of luck using Mobile ME.
The new 3G iPhone is priced at $199, which is a swell deal. But there is a catch. A purchase of an iPhone requires signing a 2 year contract with AT&T, unlike the first generation iPhone which could be purchased, unlocked, and used with other providers. The phone service + data plan will be $70 a month. With a two year contract that puts the total price of an iPhone at $1,879 for two years of use.
Will the increased productivity from using the iPhone be worth $1,879? For a business person the benefits may be worth the price, but for a college student you would have to work more to afford it. Working more would take time away from your studies and exhaust you, decreasing productivity.
Luckily for us, the iTouch has the same software as the iPhone. The only features it lacks are a camera, GPS, G3 internet, Bluetooth, a phone, and speakers (headphones are required for sound). What it does have is Wi-Fi, and on a college campus Wi-Fi is available about everywhere. Therefore, when you are in a hotspot you will be able to access:
- Stocks
- Sports
- Weather
- eBay
- Notes
- Calendar
- Facebook… again
- Instant Messaging
- Wikipedia
- Maps
- And any website you can think of and any of the applications available in the App Store.
I figure the combination of Mobile ME($100), iTouch(currently $299), cell phone ($50), 2 years of cell phone service ($20 a month while on a family plan) will be a total of $930, half the cost of the iPhone scenario, which did not include Mobile ME.
Pre Game Opinion
I believe that the combination of Mobile ME and the iTouch will increase my productivity; however this is my expectations. Once Mobile ME is available for the free one month trail I will be borrowing an iTouch to test everything, before spending the money on technology that is not beneficial.
If you currently use an iTouch or iPhone for productivity purposes, not just music and videos, leave a comment with your opinion.
I will give an update as soon as I begin my experiment.
In the meantime, check out Lifehacker.com’s thorough review of the new iPhone.
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3 Responses for "NEW iPhone - Beneficial for College Students?"
Excellent insight! I was thinking the same thing myself for college next year. If you’re considering getting an iTouch, I would recommend purchasing a *new* one through Craigslist or Ebay for a significantly discounted price (1/3 off). I bought mine a few days ago and it is definitely worth the money I paid for it—practically a computer in my pocket. Also, with the *legal* further development of third-party apps in the upcoming iPhone 2.0 software, you should be able to VoIP (Skype or Gtalk) as well using a Bluetooth headset.
Well, at York University in Toronto, Canada, the wifi has a couple dead zones on my iPod Touch (mainly in random spots in the older buildings) and besides that, there’s a rather annoying login required before every use, with odd login restrictions - one device at a time, with a new sign in required when you leave one building and enter another.
All the above, plus the added convenience of having essentially a “global hotspot” convinced me to get the iPhone 3G. Suddenly, I’m never missing a phone call, because my music player now pauses when I get a call. And it has a convenient camera, the GPS is amazing when outdoors or near a window, the microphone is useful for recording tidbits (perhaps even lectures at some point), and the speakers come in handy also. It even has a bluetooth chip that should (in theory) eventually support wireless stereo audio (A2DP) but currently requires a Sony dock-based connector for that.
I’ve just signed up for the iPhone Developer Program, and so hope to write and release my own applications to help solve my problems and turn this device into something more like a PC for me, but instant and always available. I downloaded the (rather expensive) OmniFocus iPhone application, and while I currently find it somewhat tedious to type in all that info, if I get the Mac desktop version - or when the school year starts in Sept. - I will likely reap the benefits of it then.
Really, about the only thing you can’t do on the iPhone is stuff you would need/want a full-sized keyboard for (though theoretically, if Apple let you, you could attach a bluetooth keyboard to it) and stuff where you would want a larger screen (electronic textbooks, scientific applications, multitasking). But then, that’s why the iPhone doesn’t replace your laptop, but merely supplement it, as the Microsoft “Origami” UMPC was supposed to.
I figure the iPhone + an 8.5″ x 11″ Kindle, iRex or slate Tablet PC would be ideal for students. They could carry along a bluetooth keyboard/mouse and a stand, and have all their textbooks, etc. along for the ride. Add 3G or some other form of wireless cell data integrated, and I wouldn’t ever want to let it go. Especially if optimized for tablet, touch or ebooks, with annotations and web browsing.
Also, re: VOIP - according to the Apple developer agreement, VOIP applications will not be distributed. What you can do, if you have an iPhone, is use a website like rf.com with Gizmo Project and your own local calling minutes, which will let you call long-distance at roughly VOIP rates. (Google Gizmo5 for more info, and apps for Blackberry, WM6, etc. The iPhone isn’t the first phone to allow third-party apps, it’s just the first to publish so many … with a push-service apparently around the corner.)
@Louis St-Amour
Glad the iPhone is working for you, but the idea of my post is affordability. I know I couldn’t personally afford your setup.
But I will agree with you on OmniFocus. It is a GREAT tool!
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