MichaelandChrissy.com

I use Twitter a lot.  So, when Chrissy and I got iPhones, one of the first applications that I downloaded was a Twitter client.  There are quite a few out there, even though most of them only give the “crippleware” versions for free.  I started out with the free version of Twittelator, but it wasn’t satisfying me.  I then tried some other free client applications, like Twitterific and Twinkle.

Twinkle is not a dedicated Twitter client, but its claim to fame was that it shows local tweets only.  It’s an intriguing idea, especially if you’re interested in meeting local people for Tweet-ups (social gatherings with Twitter friends), but it wanted you to first sign up for Tapulous, their free service.  The messages that I received were actually Tapulous messages instead of Twitter tweets though.  I didn’t want to sign up for another service, so I deleted the app.

Twittelator starts with a list of groups, such as friends, replies, and favorites.  Unfortunately, these links disappear when browsing the postings.  I also had a hard time viewing user profiles and doing other common Twitter functions.  Most damning was the inclusion of paid advertising between every fifty messages.  You can get around this, and get many more features (some really cool), by purchasing the “Pro” version of Twittelator, but I wanted to try the free stuff first.

Twitterific is another Twitter client with a free version and a paid version.  Like Twittelator, the free version limits you to a “dark” theme with white text on a black background.  Harder to read, but you can get “light” themes with the pay version.  The basic functionality was better with Twitterific though, and includes context-sensitive help windows.  Like Twinkle, Twitterific allows you to view local tweets (without the separate service).  At least there are no ads.

Lastly, I tried TwitterFon.  This app works the most like Twhirl, my desktop Twitter client of choice.  With a little work, I was able to follow links in the tweets and look up user profiles.  You can even follow people right from the interface.  Thankfully, there is no “paid” version of TwitterFon, so what you see is what you get (even the black text on white background theme that others make you pay for).  I used TwitterFon extensively while on vacation in Orlando.

So which one did I like best?  I’ll probably stick with TwitterFon for a while.  Of the free Twitter clients, this one is the best.  It has some drawbacks, like only downloading the last 200 tweets at startup, but I’ve learned to live with those.  After a while, I might try a pay version or maybe even Tweetie (paid app with no free version), but you just can’t beat FREE.

Chrissy and I really love our new iPhones, but we’re now fearful of their fragility.  Don’t drop it!  Don’t scratch the glass!  We’ve read many iPhone horror stories online, so we wanted to buy protective cases.  Chrissy did a little research, and found some really nice leather cases from Sena.  They’re hand-made from Italian Napa leather with a velvet lining.  Swanky!

We put in an order for a pair of Sena MagnetFlipper cases, hoping that they would arrive before we leave for Disney World next week.  We didn’t want to go traveling while in constant danger of smashing our new phones!  As luck would have it, they showed up this weekend.  The only problem was that mine didn’t come in the right color.  I got “tea” instead of “tan”.

At first I was a little miffed, since I was set on “tan”.  There are a lot of colors to choose from!  I was tempted to send it back immediately.  But “tea” started to grow on me.  It’s like a dark mahagony stain, except in leather.  I dig the dark wood stains (all of the furniture in my house is done in dark stained oak), so I decided to keep the case even though it was the “wrong” color.

Once I settled on keeping it, I was really happy with the case.  It fits snugly around the iPhone, but allows access to all of the buttons.  The screen is protected by a sturdy leather flap that is held in place with magnets.  There are holes for the speakers, camera lens and headphone jack.  There is even an opening for the data port, so I can sync my iPhone without taking off the case.

Back in November, I was trying to choose an MP3 player for Chrissy’s birthday, so I suggested an iPod Touch to her.  She didn’t know what it was, so I told her that an iPod Touch was basically an iPhone without the phone bits.  She didn’t want anything with that much functionality, she just wanted something to play music on during scrapbooking events.  But the seed had been planted: iPhones are cool.

Our Verizon contract was up recently, so we needed to get some new phones.  We were looking at the Blackberry Storm, since it was very similar to the iPhone, and we could stay with Verizon if we went with that.  However, it didn’t have WiFi capability or the ability to download new applications.  We tried out both of them at the local Best Buy, but Chrissy was won over by the iPhone.

The clincher was when we found out that we could get 15% off of services through AT&T Premiere because I work for the University of Chicago.  Certain companies and universities have deals with AT&T, so you can get the discount if you’re affiliated with one.  We ordered two new 8GB iPhone 3G devices and ported our numbers over to AT&T right on their web site.

The iPhone is really handy.  We have already synced up our Outlook contact lists, and I’m currently trying to connect a family calendar.  I can check my email from it too.  I’ve downloaded applications for eBay, AIM, Twitter and WordPress already.  Those are all free, but I’ve got my eye on a couple of pay apps.  The iPhone has lots of functionality, so we’ll be playing with them for a while to see how much they can do for us.