Yes, I'm that guy. The guy who stood in line to get the iPhone 3G the day it came out a year ago, and the guy who stood in line to get the new iPhone 3GS this morning.
Unlike last year, this line only had four people in it at 7 a.m., and I was in and out of the AT&T store on S. 76th St. by 7:15 a.m.
In fact, the store had more employees than customers when they swung open their doors, and this time around, they were prepared and eager to help -- which is a big compliment, since my transaction involved switching out my old phone with a co-worker, porting her number and swapping accounts.
Now that I'm synced up and ready to go, I'll share a few first thoughts about the new iPhone. It is faster; Web sites come up quickly. It's a bit heavier. The voice-activated dialing is cool (though on the first time, it tried to call Mexico, not my wife's cell phone).
The compass GPS function is neat, and the video worked flawlessly (including easy integration with YouTube, which will surely come in handy for upcoming OnMilwaukee.com blogs -- see below).
Otherwise, most of the goodness comes from the 3.0 software update, not from the phone, itself. It took care of things that the iPhone should've had from the beginning, like copy and paste and global search.
But yes, I'm impressed. The best phone in the world got better. How much better? That remains to be seen. For a mere $200 (the co-worker iPhone switcheroo avoided the $217 mid-contract upgrade charge), it would be hard to pass this up, especially if you use the iPhone for work like I do.
Apple did it again. But I'm guessing I find out the real power of the iPhone 3GS in the days and weeks to come. Share your upgrade stories, or why you stuck with what you have, using the Talkback feature below.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
