Over the years I have typically replaced my mobile at the end of each contract, typically 24mths. The first was a Motorola carphone which used the analogue system. Next was an Ericson "T628" or something very - small at the time, then the first of several Nokia's a 3210 which was probably the most reliable of any, especially considering the harsh treatment of living on my belt while I mowed hundreds of lawns in the end the dust finally made the ringer to soft to hear BUT the phone still worked fine. Later I the very cool Ericcson R380, there are still some features of that phone that I miss - it had the most comprehensive call history of any phone. This was the only new phone that I bought outright. However after about 18mths it would randomly descide whether it wanted to take calls or not. Despite this I was not keen to part with "her" Erica! - Aliki had for a time called her the "other woman" because I went on about how great it was. :-) She lived in my desk draw for some time until my mate Daniel need a part for his R380, we bought them together but his outlasted mine by years, perhaps he is a little more gentle or forgiving?

Back to the Nokia, and synchronisation became paramount, having spent far to long re-entering my contacts I determined never to have that happen again.The 6670 is still alive but the battery doesn't last long, it was replace by my first Win Mobile, an Imate JasJam (HTC Hermes 100) which I upgraded from WM5 to WM6. As it neared the 2 year mark, it began "white screening" and is currently being repaired a second time for the same fault...

WM6 is classic MS - lots of menus and options, a bit slow and clunky. Very soon after it arrived I replaced the "Today" screen with "Pocket Breeze" from SBSH and the contact manager with their "Contact Breeze". The standard options became very old real quick. I added eSword Bible software and purchase a copy of the NLT. This combination proved to be very versatile I was even able to use the Remote Desktop to manage the office server and that of one of my clients. The NextG network gave coverage far and wide, and I utilised the internet sharing capability on our first WA trip.

Onward with  JasJam off for the second visit to the repair agent, and the highly likely possibility of the same failure in the future it was time to consider my options for a replacement. As I my contact with Telstra still had some time to run I first looked at Telstra phones as I could upgrade and still meet conctract obligations. After hashing around possibilities with sales staff I decided that I would jump in neck deep and get one of the new HTC Touch HDs. With WM6.1 and an 800x480 screen these are a very serious type phone, I reasoned that it would make Remote Access a breeze, but a $65 per month in handset payment for a cap plan all this ability came at a steep price. The sales girl soon informed me that they stock was a couple of days away. Grr I needed a phone today! Next option the Palm Treo, it also had WM6.1 and a QWERTY keyboard but regular 320 x 320 screen, however it did have Palm warranty which until that moment I had not paid any attention to, 2 years with full replacement if faulty (HTC was only 12 mths) - yes that would work well, and the handset payment was only $38 per month. Alas it too had just run out and stock was due in the next day.

Well that was enough to propel me through the door in search of other options. Next stop was my old network Optus. I had already determined while at Telstra that breaking my contract would cost about $430 so that any other option needed to take that into account. First up I considered the Samsung Omnia which had been given a reasonable writeup the main gripe being the occasional need for a stylus which didn't have a home but came on a cord tether! Yuk.. but hey I new from the JasJam that the fingernail usually did the trick for those fiddly moments. Amazingly the handset payments were only $6 per month on a 12mth contract and $3 over 24 months!! Even including the $430 contract payout this was still less expensive than the Telstra phones. At that moment I noticed that the salesman was using an iPhone 3G and asked him how he found it. Very soon I was swayed to try something new and about one hour later walked out with my very first Apple computer and iPhone 3G - $

As is my usual approach to new gadgets I was interested in how I easy I would find the phone to use, without resorting to reading a manual! Well such is Apple's confidence that they do not even include a manual in the box!! I believe that this is the very first piece of hardware that I have ever purchased with out a manual (hard or soft). Well for the most part it is just that simple, stab a big finger at a little picture on the screen and just follow your instinct, once I figured out how to get back to the HOME screen - yes it is easy when you think about it just push the only button on the front of the phone.

It is not all quite so simple however and it took a Google search to figure out why the GPS was not working (you need to disable 3G network access, and enable LOCATION Services, before re-enabling 3G network then miraculously everything works just fine. Goodness knows why Apple is so short sited to not have a full blown navigation app available. Google Maps is pretty good, but as soon as you drop out of tower range you are cactus!

I think one of the killer features would have to be the "App Store", every phone should have one - hey for that matter every computer should have one. Yes I know that Ubuntu's package manager is pretty good, but this is way cool. Log into tour iTunes account, select the app you want free or paid select "Install" and as soon as downloading has completed there is a new icon on the screen and you are good to go! Updates are flagged with a little red flag and on click and your various apps are updated. This is truly remarkable.

I love the simplicity of clicking on a contact and choosing which number to call on, one more click and the call is underway.

While it is not perfect - no tethered modem, no MMS, no TbyT Navigation, it is major step forward in mobile telephony.