I Miss my iPhone

As I am in Japan, I have turned off my iPhone to avoid any surprise charges. It is kind of liberating not to have to carry a mobile phone with me all of the time. If anyone wants to get a hold of me, they have to send an e-mail or come and find me. However I am discovering that I am missing some of the other features of my iPhone.

I miss the map. I am in a strange new city. While I am pretty good at paying attention to where I am, it would be nice to have an interactive map, just in case I get lost. It would also make finding places to eat a lot easier. Right now, I pretty much walk around until I find something that looks good.

I miss my contact list. I have a new computer and have yet to transfer all of my contacts to it. That means if I want to send someone an e-mail, I have to have their address memorized or go through an involved process to get it. Generally I have decided not to send the e-mail and justify that it can wait until I get back home.

I miss my games. I don't play a lot of games on my iPhone, but yesterday I found myself with a few minutes to spare as I was resting on a couch. Usually I pull out my phone and play a game of Risk. Yesterday I just sat and watched a bunch of overworked Japanese engineers sleep or play with their own iPhones.

Yes, I also miss the phone. When I want to call my wife, I have to be at my computer and use Skype. If she is not on Skype, I have to send her a text message via e-mail and then she will contact me. It isn't a big deal, but there is something nice about being able to whip out your phone and call home any time you want.

Could I live without my iPhone? Sure. My quality of life isn't strongly effected by pocket technology. However, there are one or two things that go just a bit more smoothly because of it.