#274 Mark and Alex - iPhone 4
Mark: Speaking of which, I know you also wanted to talk about the iPhone. Alex: Yeah, iPhone 4. Mark: That's right. Alex: So, as you all know, many of you may know, the iPhone 4 came out in...I believe it was released in the end of June. It was announced early June, but it was released in the end of June and we got it in Canada in the second batch, I think, not the first one. But Mark has an iPhone 4, so he's been enjoying that. Mark: I do. I do.
In fact, I got my iPhone 4 on the day it came out. Alex: Did you really. Mark: I did. I did.
Alex: Aha. Mark: Not that I'm one of these super… Alex: …Apple fan boys. Mark: …Apple fan boys that camps out over night to get their Apple stuff. I needed a new phone. I had an old Blackberry that my contract was over on and I knew the new iPhone was coming out. I could have gotten an iPhone 3 in June and I said well that new one is coming out in July, I'll just wait. Alex: Right. Mark: So then in July I thought, oh well, in July sometime I'll hear the announcement, I'll go down there and get one. But then my wife said well you're not going to get one. I said what do you mean? I'll just go down and get one. No, no, because they're limited, right? At least they were initially. Alex: Well they still are, actually. Mark: Are they still? You still can't…? Alex: Yeah. I have friends who I talked to last week who said that they've gone to the Apple Store…or, actually, in Canada, in Vancouver at least, they're for sale at several different distributors, different mobile companies. Mark: Right. Alex: But there are still a lot of shortages. Mark: Is that right? Alex: Yeah. There's still people who can't their hands on one. Mark: I was lucky. I don't even appreciate how lucky I was. Alex: Yeah. Mark: But my wife said no, no, you've got to go down there and talk to them now and see if there's anything, you know, you can reserve one or something. So that was like two days before it came out. Alex: Oh, really. Mark: So I went down there and they said yeah, okay. Fine, leave us a deposit. We're getting 15 in and yours is the 13th deposit received. Alex: Oh, really. Wow. Mark: I said okay. Then I showed up the day they came out and got my phone. Alex: There it was. Mark: There were people that camped out in the mall lined up at these different providers. I'm like oh. Wow, I guess I did well. They said yeah. No, if you didn't reserve it then you're out of luck. As you say, you're still waiting. Alex: I'm actually really surprised that there's still…of course, I would like to get my hands on one sooner or later. Mark: Right. Alex: I currently have the first generation iPod Touch, which came out in 2007. I bought it 32 days before the next generation was released. Mark: Nice. Alex: And the store I bought it from had a 28-day return policy. Mark: Nice. Alex: So I was four days past the return policy. But it's okay, you know, whatever. There weren't major significant updates. Mark: Right. Alex: There were a couple of things that were added on, but I'm still using my device happily. You know, it's served me well. Mark: Yeah. Alex: I think one of the things I like the most about it is the fact that you can have so many different applications that serve so many different purposes. Mark: Yeah. Alex: You know I've really enjoyed it as a companion during my commute to school and also now to work. Mark: Right. Alex: But, at the same time I can use it at home for a multitude of different applications. There's so much functionality that's just built in to the whole system that I can one second be listening to a song and then decide, hey, I want to study my Chinese flashcards and go on to do that and the next minute be thinking of, oh, I wonder, you know, what is the GDP of India. Mark: Right. Alex: You know? Mark: Which happens. Alex: Yeah and then go in and find that out. You know it's actually a really neat resource for someone like me who's kind of an information buff, I guess. Mark: Yeah. No, it is amazing what it can do and that's the biggest thing, you know, that separates it from some of the other phones, I think, like the Blackberries and the Androids and so forth, which presumably have similar technology, similar cameras and processors and, I don't know what, the touch screens and that. But the number of apps that are available on the iPhone and I know we have our own iPhone app at LingQ. Alex: Two. Mark: And we have no Android app. Alex: Yeah. Mark: I don't know what other... Alex: There's Windows Mobile. Mark: ...formats there are. Mark: But we do apologize to all the people who would like us to make an Android app. I'm sure we will some day, because Android is growing very quickly, but there's no question that iPhone or iPod, I mean that's the biggest market and it's been there the longest and by far the biggest number of apps and good apps, quality-tested apps. I don't think you can compare it with Android yet, but don't send us any hate mail. We will get to an Android app some day. Alex: Yeah, absolutely. One other thing I'm curious of though is have you used FaceTime or the front-facing camera at all on the iPhone 4? Mark: The front-facing camera I've used to take the odd picture of myself and goof around with my kids. FaceTime is a ridiculous thing. You can only use it with someone else who has an iPhone 4 and it only works if you're both on a Wi-Fi connection. Alex: Yup. Mark: Well, what's the point? Alex: It's very limited, unfortunately. Mark: Very limited. It doesn't work… If it worked on a regular cellular connection, maybe I could see it, because eventually more people will have iPhone 4s. Alex: Right. Mark: But, I mean I had the phone for two or three months before I even tried to use it. Hey, you've got an iPhone 4, great. We've got to try this thing. Alex: Yeah. Mark: It wouldn't work. You must be on Wi-Fi. Well now we had to go find Wi-Fi. Alex: Right. Mark: So the next time I was in a place with Wi-Fi and somebody with an iPhone 4 it was, again, you know a month later. Alex: Yeah. Mark: It's kind of pointless, but it's neat because it indicates where the technology is heading. Presumably, everything will get better and the device has a front-facing camera, so. Alex: Right. One thing that's interesting that I want to bring up with that is when I first went to Korea, which was the winter of 2007, so this is almost three years ago now, every phone, like every new phone had a front-facing camera and they could all do video chat. Now, the difference is that Korea is very small. Mark: Right. Alex: So in Korea you have to pay to use video chatting on your phone. Mark: Right. Alex: But there's not really anything…like there's no long distance in Korea. Mark: Right. Alex: In a place like Canada, where people are spread out so far, it's a lot more expensive to build the cell phone towers and the infrastructure to support that. Mark: Right. Alex: But it's interesting to see the reactions of people here when they see a front-facing camera and the ability to video chat on their phone. Mark: Right. Alex: It's like wow, you know, new wave of technology. Mark: Oh, yeah. Alex: But it's not. Mark: It's not. Alex: Which is pretty interesting. Mark: No, I remember seeing the same when I was in Japan. That was quite a while ago now, seven-eight years ago, but the stuff that they're doing is so much more advanced than stuff that seems so new here. Ah, I guess that's just the nature of it. Alex: But one thing, on a side note, is that I tend to follow Mac Rumors, which is actually a Website, MacRumors.com. There's a lot of, you know, kind of rumors and hearsay and different stuff about things that are supposed to come out or might be released and stuff and that kind of gets me excited. Mark: Yeah. Alex: But I did hear that Apple is planning on allowing FaceTime to be used over 3G, which means that you'll be able to do it on your regular cell phone network. Mark: Right. Alex: And I think as people continue to get iPhone 4s and the new iPod Touch as well and all these different devices that it really will be a much more feasible function. Mark: For sure. Oh yeah, it will come. Alex: Yeah. Mark: It's coming. I mean it will come, yeah. It's just everything has got to start somewhere. Alex: It's just a matter of time. Mark: Yeah, that's right. Not everyone can be on the cutting edge like myself. Alex: Yeah, exactly. Mark: You know day one with their iPhone 4. Only me and, you know… Alex: You and two others, right? Mark: I was going to say ten million of my closest friends around the world get special phones straight from Steve Jobs. He sent them to us. Anyway, we should probably end it there. It's about a good length of time for people to get the dishes finished and go for a run. Alex: There you go. Mark: So we'll catch up with you again next time. Alex: Cool. Thanks for listening everyone. Take care.
