Eric In Seattle

Why I can’t have nice things

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— site admin @ 1:41 am

A few months ago, I finally took the plunge and got an iPhone. I was already with AT&T, so it wasn’t really a major change and I had considered getting one ever since they came out. Overall, I’ve been happy with it, although there are some major shortcomings. The biggest one that gets mentioned is the internet speed, which is now fixed with the release of the 3G model. The lesser known shortcomings are it’s lack of ability to take video and inability to send multimedia text messages (SMS). Multimedia text messages are received by way of a link to a website where the message can be viewed. Despite those issues, it works well enough for me and I’ve been happy with it.

BUT…

Two weeks ago, after a day of yardwork, I came inside and proceeded to do the laundry. Including the jeans I had worn while I was outside. A few hours later it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen my phone in a while and I might have missed a call or text message. I calmly went upstairs to get the phone off my dresser and it wasn’t there with my wallet and keys. No matter, I must have left it on the desk. It wasn’t there either. That’s when I started to panic. I immediately ruled out leaving it in my pocket and sending it through the wash. No, that couldn’t happen. After franticly searching for a few minutes, I worked up the nerve to look in the washing machine. There, at the bottom was what I could only assume to be a $400 piece of plastic and metal. "Well, it was a good two months. Maybe I’ll try a Blackberry next.” I thought to myself. I went over to the computer and Googled “iPhone washing machine” to see if there was any hope. The results were promising. There were blogs and forums with tales from people who had also sent their iPhone/iPod through the wash or dropped it in water and the majority had gotten their iThing back to some degree. The common piece of advice was to leave it alone for a day or two before trying to turn it on. I was way too impatient for that. I stuck my phone in the toaster oven and turned it on to it’s lowest setting, just to warm the phone up a little. After a few hours of that, I plugged the phone into the charger and… nothing. So, I resigned myself to the fact that I just couldn’t have nice things. Maybe I would go and get a $49 phone or something, say, on a string network. One of those all-metal kinds that you use with a very small calling circle.

After a restless night of tossing and turning, I dragged myself out of bed the next day and slowly walked over to my computer thinking “maybe one more try". To my amazement, the screen lit up with an Apple logo and displayed a battery graphic, showing an empty battery. Not wanting to push my luck, I unplugged the phone and gave it another day. That night, I plugged it in again and it came up with water spots all over the inside of the screen. After a day plugged into the charger, it had only charged halfway. I still remained hopeful that it would return to normal. While the water spots cleared up and the phone looked normal, the battery wasn’t the same. It would last for two days but then take another two days to charge again. The display was also different after turning it on when it was unplugged. Instead of showing the wallpaper, like most cellphones do, it would show the battery graphic with the amount of batter power left. It was a mild annoyance, but I was just happy to have a working phone. Until tonight. I plugged my phone in to charge it and checked on it two hours later. It was almost completely charged. I unplugged it and turned it on and the wallpaper was back.

Two weeks after sending my iPhone through the wash, it has returned to normal. But I still shouldn’t have nice things.

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Eric In Seattle

6/21/2008

Why I can’t have nice things

My Very First Welder