Why I Don't Have an iPhone ... Yet

I've been an avid Palm Pilot owner for the last 8 years. Every couple years, after I wear out another Palm, I replace it with a newer one. The buzz around the iPhone has me very interested (after all, it has 2 of the 4 sensors that I suggested back in 2005.) There are still some important things I use my phone for that the iPhone can't do … yet. Once the iPhone has these things, I'll consider upgrading:

1. To-do list - more than anything else, I use my phone to keep track of what tasks I want to accomplish each day. The iPhone comes with no to-do application. Boo! (Perhaps OmniFocus for iPhone will solve this one for me)


2. Offline scriptures - I regularly read the scriptures where there is no wi-fi connection and no phone connection. With Safari on the iPhone, I might be able to install raw HTML files for the scriptures


3. Password tracking - I have too many passwords to keep in my head. I currently use an antiquated Palm application to do the job. Certainly there will be something like this for the iPhone, but I haven't seen it yet


4. PMTxl - track my checking account. Now that my wife and I use Mvelopes to track our personal finances, I don't use the Palm anymore. (By the way, Mvelopes is the best personal finance program I've ever seen. It perfectly matches my mental model of flowing water budgeting).

It's been intriguing to look over my old PDA Wishlist and compare it to the iPhone. Only the FM transmitter, thermometer, barometer and bar code scanner are still missing. Give the industry a couple more years and some of them will be available.

Audio Magazines

I've found it really difficult to make time for reading magazines lately. Occasionally, the time-tested technique of reading on the loo has worked well. I've also tried listening to audio magazines. My church publishes MP3 files of all their magazines for free download. I often download a couple articles onto my phone before running during lunch break. That works really well. Are Forbes, Fortune or Popular Mechanics available that way? If not, they should be.