iPhone 3GS

All the reviews said that there’s no point in upgrading to iPhone 3GS if you already have a 3G. It’s a point release, they said. Yeah, it’s a little faster. Yeah, the camera is a little better. But worth the non-upgrade price? No way.

Then explain why every time I went into an Apple store (which my husband will tell you is far too often for any reasonable human) I would spend much longer than I should have playing with the new, speedy device.

And don’t get me started about the camera.

I should explain how I use my iPhone. Or more specifically, how much I use my iPhone. It’s probably unhealthy, but it’s always with me. A couple seconds waiting in line? That’s plenty of time to check mail, Facebook, and Twitter. See something silly on the street? Out comes the camera.

I read somewhere recently (probably on an iPhone blog) that an iPhone app addict is someone who uses an app more than 100 times in a month. What’s the word if someone uses 100 apps in a day?

Anyway, details like speed and the camera matter. And for me, that was what finally pushed me over the edge. So while I’m loath to admit it, I did it. Ignored all rational reasoning, including the fact that I’m 6 months away from the upgrade price – and got the 3GS.

What’s good? Speed. Phenomenal. Apps, web pages, mail, everything is noticeably, significantly faster. Games that took a minute to load now just open. Mail downloads so fast I hit the reload button again because I can’t believe all my mail downloaded so quickly. Evernote, one of my favorite apps, but which has been sluggish since it started syncing docs and tags upon loading, is ready to go in the blink of an eye. Even dumb things like checking for app updates in the App Store – a task that took literally minutes just to tell me all my apps are up to date – now tells me in seconds if I have any new updates.

Some might argue that any new device fresh out of the box is going to be faster. And I’d agree, if I hadn’t restored the full force of my entire 3G backup onto the new iPhone.

So I’m a believer. Was it worth it? We’ll see how much I can get for the old device onto eBay. But it’s looking pretty good.

Oh, and as for the camera… well, I’ll let you decide.