iPhone: The tale of the inconvertible, converted.

Here at Integricity, the amount of people chucking their mobiles for the iPhone is scary. All three bosses have already taken the plunge and the most ironic of all was perhaps me, a hardcore Microsoft critic/supporter has made the switch. Across Integricity, we have a 40% iPhone conversion. As I was typing this, another fellow colleague just got his iPhone 3Gs after more than a month’s wait!

Initially, a lot of people including me, called this phone an over glorified call-making device. However, once I really gave it a go, it was impossible to go back to the normal variety of phones out there. Perhaps the closest comparison I have would be the new HTC range of phones which looks sexy but runs on the cumbersome Windows Mobile. Even Microsoft acknowledged that this was not the product they initially envisioned it to be. How can it be that the iPhone platform has outdone its competitor in leaps and bounds?

Let me put some uneducated perceptions into perspective. I always viewed the iPhone as a girlish phone because it looks so dainty and feel as if it could easily crumble under the pressure of a man’s grip. Ok stupid I know, but that was how I perceived it. However once I passed that misconceived barrier and just gave it a go, I realized that beyond the generic looking design of the gadget, this device really is an extension of one’s persona. If you ever grab a friend’s iPhone and just browse through what the person has installed in it, you can have a glimpse into the person’s soul (Gym babes, anyone?). OK maybe not, but it is close.

Before switching to the iPhone, the mobile phone serves only two purposes for me. Making calls and SMS. That was it. Installing applications were a hassle (not to say Appstore is perfect by far), cumbersome and most times, the applications don’t even work. Nowadays my phone is used more than just to pick up calls or send short messages to friends. Now I can do a multitude of things. Most significantly is being more active in the social media. While I tweet occasionally on my PC, it was not until I got the iPhone that Twitter became more engaging as I could use it anywhere, anytime! There are also a slew of applications that gave me access to information and connectivity I was not privy to before this phone. While making the user more productive as a whole is still debatable, I believed it is shaping a new way on human interaction as a whole.

It is also interesting to note that the iPhone is not the most expensive option in the market anymore. I remembered a time when having the iPhone was a status symbol for most. Nowadays it could easily mean you are simply a chronic updater of what you had for lunch.

Yes, I know other phones may offer you the same functionalities as well but from my experience (and not having the monetary means to explore all the other possible options), the iPhone hits more of my targets than the misses it comes with. And for that, this Microsoft supporter says YES to an Apple product for once.