This is part 5 of several posts discussing Richard Foster’s chapter on Simplicity in Celebration of Discipline.
I need want a new IPhone.
There is nothing wrong with mine, except it’s old. A 3GS. If you’re not up on IPhones, that’s 3 models ago. The 4, 4S, and 5 have come out since. A few months ago, I got Mr. H.C. an upgrade for his. He needed one; his little slider thingy (technical jargon) was broken, and he couldn’t silence it, plus it was looking pretty bad because he is a construction guy, and his phone gets a lot of hard use, and he just needed a new phone.
He didn’t want one. Mr. H.C. is not a tekkie; he uses his phone for convenience and work and just wants a phone that will do everything for him and has a short learning curve. (He’s a busy guy.) So I bought him a 4 — not that much different from his old 3G, but it has Siri, and it has a great camera. Yes, a great camera. That’s why I need want one.
Unfortunately Richard Foster reminds me (yet again) that I am falling short here too. I know, I know, we all fall short…
Victoria Elizabeth Barnes, said in a recent blog post, “Incidentally— when you start a blog, you have NO IDEA that you need to take 12,000 pictures of EVERYTHING.” And yes, she is absolutely right! Not only does one need space for one’s thousands of photos, the new IPhone cameras take Panoramic shots, which one absolutely needs if one is trying to show a room transformation… Look at these panoramic shots of the kitchen:
Yes, these were taken by Mr. H.C’s phone. And not only does it have Panorama options, it also has HDR capabilities. Right! I’m not really a tekkie either, so I only recently learned what this is. It means High Dynamic Range imaging; a few posts ago I complained about not being able to get a good photo of the inside and outside of the kitchen windows in the same shot. That’s what HDR does —
By definition, photography is the art of recording light. This act must be done with the camera sensor — which is only capable of capturing a certain range of light intensity at any given time. Even the most expensive and most professional cameras on the market are not equipped with sensors that can capture all ranges of light in one photograph. That’s where “HDR photography” comes in.”
This was from an article on IPhoneography that I went back to study. So, this photo was taken with Mr. H.C.’s camera as well:
HDR technology at work — this is the shot I could never get with either my Canon or my IPhone. I deleted all the tries or I would show you the difference.
If I had my priorities straight, I could be in agreement with TWO of Mr. Foster’s rules for a simple life here.
- Refuse to be propagandized by custodians of modern gadgetry.
- Learn to enjoy things without owning them. (See post 65. More Stuff on Stuff.)
Most of the time Mr. H. C. is agreeable when I ask to borrow his phone. Last weekend I took eight pictures with it. But sometimes he wants to use it himself? Like tonight, for instance, I wanted to upload the photos onto the Mac and he said, “Well how long will it take?”
Right. Never mind, I’ll do it later.
Convenience! That’s what we want, and we want it now. (Sigh) Oh those wants vs. needs… They are so troublesome. Especially when it comes to tech gadgets. Those custodians of modern gadgetry sure have us propagandized, don’t they? Face it, I have three perfectly good digital cameras at my fingertips, and I’m not satisfied? There is something wrong with this picture. (It must not be in HDR!)
the circle of life 
You’d really laugh at my phone, it’s a very old flip phone. I’ really like that it fits in my jean jacket breast pocket HA. I barely use it for anything really and probably drops more calls then I make. I actually have a friend who doesn’t own a cell phone (his wife has an iPhone and makes all the calls and texts the kids etc). He says if he had one, his office wouldn’t stop calling (owns a survey business). When he leaves work, THATS IT! done deal. I admire that. I’ve been trying to decide on an iPhone or the Samsung which is easier to hold I think but I already own a MAC, iPad, and iPod so that CLOUD feature is handy…..I don’t know what to do
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I LOVE my IPhone! (maybe the new ones are smaller? a little bit???)
Before I got it, I had an old flip phone as well. And yep, you don’t use them because they are NO FUN! :-)
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Siri has changed my life… that sounds like an overstatement, but it’s really not. I don’t even remember life before it.
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Yes… when I see Mr. H.C. texting with Siri, I’m a little jealous…:-) (I actually think I can trade my phone in for a new one in June…that’s tomorrow!)
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Still crushin’ on your kitchen…I’m an HTC girl myself.
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I’ve never used one, but they look awesome! We’ve got the family plan though, so I can’t change.
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I, too, had a 3g until a few weeks ago… all of a sudden it wasn’t working properly. I was opposed to getting a new one (I have a great camera) but my husband is concerned when he can’t get a hold of me and he’s in a mtg several hundred miles away. So, while I browsed through the store, he sneaked over to the phone section (without my knowing it), picked one out, and presented it to me as a surprise gift. What could I say? He knew I couldn’t make him return it.
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Yes, I always buy Mr. H.C. his as well. It’s a good plan. :-)
So which one did he buy you?
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What’s Siri? The kitchen looks fabulous!!
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Siri is IPhone’s female voice slave — your wish is her command. That is, if she understands what you want. Sometimes there’s a bit of confusion there. Today Michael had her take a message for him — “Bring 6 x 6 ceramic tile next week.”
She got it as “Bring six by sex ceramic tile.” He just left it and said it would make him laugh when he read it next week…
We’re kind of at a stalemate in the kitchen while the washer and dryer get hooked up–water, drains, etc. But it’s all good!
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Oh, I don’t know…sometimes technology is just good, and it makes life easier, and that’s good too! I’m ready to get a new phone too. I have IPhone4, but I want, YES, “want” IPhone5 – :) Not really interested in Siri, as much as I am the camera on the new phones – they’re even better! Have fun with his when you get the chance to use it – it really does take pretty good photos, and when you have such great material to take pictures of (i.e. your kitchen) it makes it even better!
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The IPhone 5 changed the size of the charging port — it’s no longer the big size we’ve come to love.
It probably doesn’t matter — just the extra chargers you bought for the car are now obsolete. And maybe it’s because I’m not really a very good photographer, but my photos actually turn out better on the IPhone cameras.
I think the Canon just has too many settings that I don’t know how to use very well…
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