1.  It's sleek, modern, compact, smooth, sexy.  One touch and I get an instant glimpse of my most favorite image (whichever one I put there), along with the time & date;  it's quicker than looking at my watch.  I even like the typestyle of the words: simple, easy to read, modern.

2.  One flicker of my finger and I enter the main screen of the 16 icons.  Each one is a cute little picture indicating an ability of this "nano computer". 

3.  My calendar.  One touch on the calendar icon gets me into this month, with today highlighted and today's appointments neatly organized on the second half of the screen.   Everything is at a glance, exactly the way I like it.  To enter or change an appointment, I just touch the plus sign and another screen pops up .  One touch on the location tag, and out pops the keyboard.  Ah, this gadget is too good to me!!!

4.  Pictures. I loaded all my favorite albums in it.  One touch & the album opens. 20 little pictures now grace my screen.  Lightly touch the screen and scroll up or down to view another few hundred pictures.  Touch the picture of choice and view it on the whole screen.   Can't see the freckle on your child's right cheek?  Not a problem!  Bring your fingers together, then open them up and magnify the picture until you do.  It's that easy!

5.  In the morning my I-phone wakes me up with the lovely sounds of a harp.  It's my favorite, although the xylophone and the crickets come a close second.  The ducks are annoying, but will definitely wake me from a deep sleep, and the bell tower sound wakes me up for church on Sunday mornings.   Under the clock feature I also have the world clocks, so I can see at a glance that it is 2:55 am tomorrow in Paris, and only 8:55 pm today in Myrtle Beach. 

6.  When I go jogging, not only is my I-Phone my I-pod replacement for my music, but when I'm training, I can run laps using the stopwatch feature on it, and quantify my improvement in nanoseconds. 

7.  When I'm cooking, I can use the timer feature, and it will alert me that my meal is done to the tune Jerry Lewis' piano riff.

8.  Calculator.  Yes, it's that too.

9.  Notepad.  Yes, that too...  Darn easy to use & organize all notes @ a glance.

10. Text messaging is so much fun, because it looks like the blurbs in cartoons, and they are colored, so you can easily see who said what, when.  You can have an ongoing dialogue & reveal it all as one continuous stream of messages with the flick of a finger.

11.  Voice Mail.  My very favorite!  How many times do you wait for an important phone call, only to miss it, then have to listen to a whole bevy of messages until you get to "The One".  Not anymore!  Your voice mail is tagged with the person who called you, and neatly organized in the order received.  Simply touch the one you want to listen to, and voila! - you can listen to it right away.   The length of the message is indicated right on the screen and there is a scroll bar that travels from left to right as the message is being played.  If you don't understand a word your caller left you, not a problem:  you can take your finger and move the scroll bar back a notch and listen to the word all over again.  Great for listening to messages left by foreign clients with heavy accents...   You can scroll back until you get it.  Ah, wouldn't it be great if we could do that with everything?  Let me scroll back through my college years, PLEASE!!!!

12. Maps, directions, time to get there, or just finding Victoria's Secret.  Touch the screen, bring up the area map, tell it you want Victoria's & it will put it on the map for you with every location of it in the area.  Click on the location you want, and the next screen shows you the phone number, exact address, website, directions to it, the whole 9 yards.  Touch the phone number and you are instantly connected.  "Do you have that sexy bra in Hot Pink, size 36D please?"

13.  Stocks Watch.  Not a favorite of mine, since I am well diversified in Real Estate only.  My clients ask me all the time: "How are you diversified, if you only invest in Real Estate?"  "Simple", I answer.  "I buy homes, condos and land!"  If you like stocks, you can watch them in real time on your I-Phone.  Don't ask me to explain that one!

14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19.......10000.  Internet Access.  Browse it as if you are in front of your computer screen.  Turn your phone horizontally & Internet it anywhere you go.  Period!  It will pick up wi-fi from any source available around you, or go a bit slower through AT&T otherwise.  Either way, anywhere you go, if you have signal, you have Internet access.

1001.  YouTube.  Yes, you can hand your I-phone to your kid while shopping, bring up "YouTube"on your screen, and you won't hear another peep.  Ah, such a great mother-helper this I-Phone is...

Would I pay $ 600 for the I-Phone?  Yes, I already have, and it's worth every penny!   I would pay a lot more for it if I had to...  Throw away all your gadgets: your Palm Pilot, your i-pod, your laptop (maybe you should hold on to that for special occasions, like when you are in one place for more than five minutes), your watch, your calendar, your alarm clock, your camera (yes, I forgot, it also has a camera), your pen & pad, your navigation system (maybe still keep that one, since the I-Phone is more like Map quest), your outside thermometer (yes, it has the weather at a glance also), your portable TV, your timer, your stopwatch, your calculator.   I think I'm done!  Did I mention the e-mail feature?  Yup, it has that too!

Your Myrtle Beach Real Estate Connection, Mirela Monte

www.MyrtleBeachHomes.us