iPhone in Australia - the best $750 I have ever spent

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I went sailing last weekend with a mate of mine. In the process I managed to sit on my mobile phone rendering it lifeless.

It was a nice little Nokia 6280. I had it on a plan with Hutchinson 3 and it cost about $60 per month including calls. What to do?

I know, I’ll see if I can sell the broken phone on eBay for parts and accessories. After a day I had 5 bidders … very sweet.

Now to get a new phone. I had heard a lot about the Apple iPhone and was interested in seeing if I could get one. I had met a West Australian guy named Duncan Riley at a blogging conference and he raved about his. It was techno-lust at first sight.

Sure enough I found an Australian seller on eBay. I bought the phone on Saturday night for $750 and picked it up Monday lunchtime from the seller’s house in West End, Brisbane. I was over the moon. It came with a little quick start guide and an e-mailed PDF iPhone User Guide (4 Meg).

Yes, $750 is a lot for a phone, but this is far more than a phone. Think of it as phone + calendar + web browser + alarm clock + iPod + rss feed reader + portable library + games console + Youtube video library + navigator. For $750 I think it’s a real bargain.

So far I’ve only uncovered about 5% of this things potential. Last night I worked out how to get RSS feeds from ABC news and other sites like Digg and Slashdot.

Other stuff I like is the city weather updates, share price updates, Google Maps and navigation, one press access to Youtube, dictionary, encyclopedia and e-mail.

The user interface is very, very, good. I mean this is the orgasmic peak - the techno money shot - of industrial design. I’m learning how to type with my thumbs. It’s a very efficient way of entering text on the iPhone.

I’m not a great fan of cameras in phones, but this one works well and is a joy to use. Click, review, tag and e-mail. Simple stuff. The photos at the bottom of this post were taken using the iPhone. A guy came screaming down the hill, lost control, struck the red car, then bounced into our front fence at work.

The iPhone has an interesting combination of networks. Standard GSM/GPRS and WiFi (wireless Internet 802.11).

I have wireless Internet access at work and home, so it gets constant updates of e-mail and RSS feeds.

What I’m not going to do is connect it to iTunes or the GPRS network. I’m terrified this will ‘brick’ the phone. I may be wrong about this, but I’m not going to take the risk. Because I have a pre-paid SIM, I can’t get GPRS anyway.

I’ve also heard that you can sync Google calendar with the iPhone calendar. How good is that? I’ll have to find out how to do it. I’ve worked out how to read my Google calendar as an RSS feed via the browser, but it doesn’t update my phone’s calendar.

I’ve also found a bunch of free open wireless hotspots that allow me to update data while I’m sitting at traffic lights. There’s even a nice little application called APlogger you can install for free that logs all the hotspots for you.

I managed to port my mobile number from 3 to a Optus reseller called iSim without too much drama. The contract had expired on my 3 phone, so I was free to churn. It took 3 hours from when I submitted the online form.

I’ve gone from a $60 capped plan to a prepaid plan that I can top up at any time online. I suspect his will save me at least $30 per month.

I don’t think the iPhone will be available through normal telco retailers in Australia any time soon.

With the networks madly pushing 3G, why would they promote a phone that encourages people to go back from 3G to GSM? Maybe when there is a 3G version of the iPhone things will change.

I read somewhere that Apple decided against 3G because of battery life issues. The 3G modules are still quite expensive too.

So if you are considering getting an iPhone, don’t wait - buy one.

Do what I did. Buy a cracked new iPhone on ebay from an Australian seller, get yourself a cheapo pre-paid SIM and go for it.

For $750 you’ll have as much fun and get as much attention as if you just ought a new Ferrari. You know that great feeling when you have just bought a new suit, a new outfit, or had a great haircut? If you buy yourself an iPhone you’ll get that feeling every day. Trust me.

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