When she whipped out her iPhone, Erica Sadun could feel her husband’s eyes roll. But she had a point to prove. And in less than a minute, she was able to report to the skeptics around the dinner table that Menno Simons, whose followers are known as Mennonites, was in fact born in 1496.
Apple’s iPhone, which went on sale nine months ago, isn’t the only so-called smart phone that provides itinerant access to the Web. But its wide screen and top-quality browser make it easy to use and read, which means it can in seconds change a lighthearted conversation into the Pursuit of Truth.
“It’s turned me from a really annoying know-it-all into an incredibly annoying know-it-all, with the Internet to back me up,” said Sadun, a technology writer in Denver. “It’s not a social advantage.”
As USC student and iPhoner Cliff Smith put it, “I have the ability to clear up any confusion.”
Internet companies, though, report that they have been getting more traffic from mobile devices, much of it from outside the U.S. And the companies have noticed that iPhoners use their handsets differently from other owners of mobile phones. They search the Internet more, particularly for movies, restaurants and news, according to market researchers, and they watch more videos on YouTube and do more online banking.
Wil Shipley, a Seattle software developer, uses his iPhone at the Whole Foods fish counter to check Web sites for updates on which seafood is the most environmentally correct to purchase. He quizzes the staff on where and how a fish was caught. Because he carries the Internet with him, “I can be super-picky,” he said.
The clerks who work the fish counter don’t mind. “He’s confirming on the Internet things that I am saying,” said Whole Foods’ Ken Shugarts.
That’s nice, but as Sadun warned, you should pick your iPhone moments carefully.
“The second you go into the pocket for the iPhone, you have disconnected yourself from the conversation,” she said.
“No one has the patience.”
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RedEye’s Scott Kleinberg writes about all things iPhone in his blog. Check it out at redeyechicago.com/iphoneblog.
