I’ve been shopping for a new phone for the past year or so. I appreciate music and all but I’m far from a collector and connoisseur. In fact, instead of an annual bonus, 2 years ago my bosses gave out iPod Nanos which I immediately regifted. In any case, a phone where music playing was an additional feature wasn’t going to swing my decision. So when the Motorola ROKR was introduced I saw it more as a curiosity and when I realized how crippled it was with regard to its primary marketing feature, iTunes, I only foresaw failure.

An early contender for my purchase was the SE w800i which was soon unseated by its successor the w810i. A camera phone sounded more appealing. A capable point-and-shoot camera that I could have with me at all times would be great. I have no qualms of using technology that was good enough 2 to 3 years ago if it meant not having to carry multiple devices. The k750i, on which both phones are based, had already proven itself the king of 2MP camera phones.

Then the SE Cybershot k800i was introduced in Europe and so began the agonizing wait for the k790a to be brought here State-side. The k790a was 3.2MP camera phone with Cybershot optics, electronics, and processing. I’d be able to create acceptable (if not great) 8x10s rather than be limited to just 4x6s. As expected, like its predecessor, the k790a became king of the 3MP camera phones. Unfortunately the expected carrier, Cingular, never picked it up instead opting to stick with the Walkman line of SE phones, despite the incredible success the k800i had in other parts of the world. k790a is only offered via a few regional carriers (none of which are near me) or via resellers as an unlocked phone (expensive).

The k790a’s major rival was the Nokia N73 which was a full-featured smartphone rather than just a camera phone. I had considered the N73 but like all other smartphones, they fall short of a true mobile computing device because UIs are slow and clumsy albeit still usable. Plus applications are often crippled. The major drawback to the N73 was the lack of wifi. Given Cingular’s prices on data plans, I wasn’t really looking forward to pay such a premium when I’d rather go to a local coffee shop and logon for free.

So come this past New Year’s I was at the point where I was about to go buy a w810i. The price at Cingular dropped to $50–75 with a 2-year contract. I’d be able to get a phone with 80% of the k790a’s capabilities at 1/4 the cost. I held out on the purchase just to see what Apple was going to introduce at Macworld 2007. What debuted was not what I expected. It exceeded my expectations. It was a revolutionary step, not the typical evolutionary step more commonly seen in this industry.

This was not just an iPod with a phone slapped on to it (i.e. the opposite of the ROKR). Each feature was well-thought out from hardware to software and like most Apple products, very well integrated. As jaw-dropping as some of the individual feature demos were, it was the final “real-world” usage demo that floored me. Here was a smartphone with features that not only I can use but would want to use. Plus Apple being Apple prevented Cingular from being Cingular and that was to cripple the phone and bend it to Cingular’s will and brand. The lack of orange was very apparent to me and am very much happy to see it that way.

I haven’t seen anything this cool in a mobile computing device since the Palm was introduced. Things I hope to see come to fruition with regards to the iPhone is a terminal shell app. The ability to dock the device and use full-size peripherals not unlike a laptop. GPS capability whether its through cell tower triangulation or an actual GPS addon. An eBook reader app. VoIP. Purchase and then sync apps and widgets via iTunes. (Apple should rename the program iSync, Dock Central, or something since it’s evolving past just the iPod.) A full functioning browser (though I did not see Javascript or Flash during the demo) means web applications will work right out the door (i.e. all those lovely AJAXy Google apps) which sorta gets around the closed doors Apple currently has around the platform.

This is not to say the phone doesn’t have its shortcomings. No one has yet to see the camera in action. The platform is currently closed and may require the purchase of a dev license not unlike those for consoles. Dev kits are rumored to be two years away, anyway. So the chance we may see homebrew software on this platform is very unlikely if these rumors hold true. Video iChat was noticeably missing as were internet IM clients. I expect video conferencing will most likely be introduced with the 3G version of the phone in 2008.

Still, I am admittedly very likely to be an early adopter of this phone. I had thought my Apple switch would have begun with a Mac Mini or MacBook Pro. Regardless of this phone’s lineage, it’s going to leave its mark on the world much like the StarTAC and the RAZR V3 (which, if I may remind those price balkers with short memories, debuted at $500 w/contract).

I got dragged into playing World of Warcraft the December after it launched. As the group of us did not have any other alternative we could all agree to play for gaming night, WoW filled the void. During that period, the most fun we had was milking the auction house. Suffice it to say, we got bored after about 6 months. Unfortunately, we exhausted the replacement games too. And so we got pulled into WoW once more. Part of the problem with our first stint, we attributed to picking pansy Alliances characters. We also researched our classes a heck of a lot more and twinked them like crazy using our Alliance funds. G-zan FTW!

We also made the game more challenging. We concentrated on instancing only, leveling to the point where we’d be high enough to go into an instance and finish it in one run (where possible) but be low enough in level that we didn’t overpower the mobs and bosses. Our best was when we 3-manned Sunken Temple with one death during the fight with Eranikus. Playing this way made the game much more enjoyable the second time around, but shows that it was only fun because we found a way to make it fun, bringing me back to my original point.

Since we could level however we wanted in between instance runs, I opted to do PVP because the Warsong Gulch rewards were easily attainable. Plus I missed playing FPSes and this was the closest I’d get. Eventually we exhausted all the instances we could 3-man and that was pretty much the end, which left me to decide whether to continue with PVP or not. I did get what I originally sought after which was an epic mount. As much as I liked the fact that we completed instances in such a way that we got a sense of accomplishment, I ultimately decided it really wasn’t enough. So I figured I had the skill and time to push for High Warlord. I also realized it was also an investment because once a High Warlord always a High Warlord, and the PVP gear automatically upgrades as the levels expand which means every 10 levels of expansion I can simply buy one of the top three items in the game depending on the content at any given time. Being HW means never having to care about a drop again. Update: Blizzard changed the honor system such that honor is now treated as currency instead of a measure of rank which is a welcomed change but it just means only my title is worth anything. So no easy upgrades for me. At least my weapons lasted me til 70.

So seven months after I started PVP (Remember what I said about it being lucrative for the publisher?), Polio attained rank 14. Of course props go out to Maskimxul, Nelgrath, Black Raiders, Starshadow, The Asylum, and everyone else who offered support. It’s good to be the king. It’s also good that I could walk away feeling I accomplished something. Granted it’s much more a measure of time played versus skill but that’s a whole other topic.