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What with enjoying my new iPad as a doodle tablet and browser, hearing about Android "FroYo" and its tethering/portable wifi hotspot stuff and AT&T coming with new plans, along with the an expected announcement about the next version of the iPhone and its software, I've been thinking about this stuff a bit more than usual as of late.

Initially toying with the idea of switching to Android, I decided to try and enumerate the things I really use my iPhone for, stuff I'd need Android to do about as well or better to justify making the switch...

• the Appigo "Todo" app - I've been relying on similar gadgets for this since 1997...
• the Datebook app, with synching to google for the calendar I share with Amber (she thought "relationship 'saver'" was overstating the case, but still it's been good for us.
• a web browser anywhere - plus being able to put links directly from the homepage is great.
• music - figuring out how to do playlists right, and having all of the "good stuff" with me always reinvigorated my relationship with my music collection.
• phone (well, duh- though I dig how easy it is to do tricks like merge calls, and use the speakerphone...)
• SMS txting (maybe the next release of the phone will FINALLY get a character count in there)
• maps with GPS locating, local search, and routing -- admittedly this is mostly as a backup to other things that to do it a bit better
• memo pad
• pocketwatch w/ "wallpaper" - I like seeing that line art of Amber - it looks great on the iPhone.
• clock app with alarm, stopwatch, and timer... surprisingly handy, this
• "Shazam" app to identify music I hear around me-- this one is kind of magical.
• camera -- mostly this would be a backup, though the new "Uploader" app I got lets me do some photoblogging here. (Why the browser doesn't support direct upload is another story.)

Those were the most crucial things... other bits are

• quick weather check
• specialized Twitter app (currently "TweetDeck") along with a link to also put stuff on the "of the Moment" section here.
• the web-based gmail wrapper "iGmail"... a bit faster than always going to the site in mobile Safari
• a doodling program ("ArtStudio"), though admittedly the screen is a bit tiny for this. (Funny how few drawing apps there are that support "flood fill" for coloring.)
• random games, though none have really "stuck" for me.
• Flixster to see what movies are playing in the area
• Kindle reader, I've read a few books on this and it was pretty good-- and easy to hold on to while holding a subway strap.
• On occassion Pandora's music service, the ability to make a voice memo, and the calculator have proven handy

That's quite a bit! Seeing that the Palm only really did Todo, Datebook, Memos, a few games, doodling, and the pocket watch bit I feel a bit better about being as enamored of this gadget as I am. All in all it's kind of empowering! (On the other hand there was PocketC on the Palm, which let me do some casual programming wherever I was...)

Admittedly at the moment I'm leaning against switching to Droid, mostly because I'm pretty conservative about learning a new UI, and its taken me a while to find "best of class" apps for all of this stuff on the iPhone.

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It is the final proof of God's omnipotence that he need not exist in order to save us.

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http://www.slate.com/id/2249562/entry/2255493/ - more from the Internet Sabbatical... how anticipation and synchronicity emerge when off that tap of instant gratification.