3G

A few things you should know about me: I can be impatient. And I often act on spontaneous whims. And I get very excited by tech toys. That's more or less what happened yesterday.

I bought a new iPhone. It wasn't a necessary purchase by any means, even less so than when I bought my initial iPhone, almost a year ago. And I'd been putting it off — we don't have 3G coverage in the area, so there didn't seem to be much point in paying for it. I've been quite curious about the GPS features, but not so much so that I wanted to be a part of the hours-long wait in line during that first week. Then they sold out.

And then, they came back in stock. A day, maybe two, was as long as I could resist. Once I got the idea in my head that I wanted one, after all, there was just no getting rid of it. Unfortunately, the wait was only slightly better. What was estimated at a half-hour quickly (though not quickly enough) became 90 minutes. (My experiences with Apple's Retail Stores are usually much more pleasant than this.)

But I've had the most fun watching that pulsating blue ball follow my path as I drove up the street. I am completely, inexplicably excited by the idea that my phone is communicating with satellites. (I told my six-year-old about this, but he doesn't think it's quite as fascinating as I do.)

What came as an especially pleasant surprise was that we do seem to have 3G coverage in this area, despite AT&T's claims to the contrary. (Perhaps it's better I didn't know that before now.)