The iPhone Experience

Colin asked in a post how many people in class have iPhones so I'll weigh in with an emphatic yes. Why so emphatic? Because it's literally changed my life and my ability to consume information. Prior to the iPhone, smart phone (more or less the Blackberry) users were left to surf the net with a pseudo-browser that butchered whatever website you would be reading, reducing whatever carefully designed thoughts that existed within into a mess of text blurbs and bad pictures. One would have to scroll down through page link by link until you'd get to what you wanted. The connection was typically slow and some websites would be rendered useless by the butchered format.

However the iPhone launched with the same (more or less) version of Safari that Mac users had grown accustomed to. It allowed for websites to be viewed in their intended format (minus Flash) and gave the iPhone user a similar experience to browsing on a full-sized computer. Still, the iPhone was more or less an advanced phone. However, with the launch of the iPhone 3G and the App store, it became increasingly obvious that the iPhone no longer was a jazzed up phone, but a small, fully featured computer in your palm. One could play games, pay bills, etc. while keeping all the features of the phone and browser. It allowed an iPhone user to literally do whatever they wanted to do on their desktop while remaining wherever they happened to be.

Thus, if you want to read the news, pull out the iPhone. If you need a map, pull out the iPhone. Email? Texting? Internet? Banking? Gaming? Check, check, check, check, check. The way you consume information totally changes. Need to check a score? Screw going to a computer or TV, pull out the iPhone. Need to check stocks? iPhone. Need to read a book? Write a blog entry? You get the idea.

Now, do I think that the iPhone renders old-school journalism obsolete? Absolutely not. Does it mean that old-school journalists need to stop dragging their feet and get moving? Absolutely. Just because I have an iPhone does not make me immediately want to turn to TMZ or, quite frankly, trust anything they say. Far from it. But it does make me want my information faster. Do I still want it from a reliable, intelligent source? Without a doubt. Initially, this may make journalists have to worker harder and faster but every job is speeding up in the new century. It doesn't mean that it has to be done with shoddy workmanship. Other industries have learned to streamline and efficiently their processes and products. Those that haven't (American automakers, I'm looking at you), are failing. People can sit around lamenting the past all they want. It won't change where we're going and it doesn't mean that where we are going is a bad, destructive place. It can be a great, glorious place but only if people want to embrace it and use it effectively.