I have written about this before but it still shocks me when I travel: due to the iPhone (as well as Android- in most cases), we have reached a new level of constant connectivity. This spans many areas of travel, but especially when it comes to location-based knowledge, one of my favorite mobile improvements. This was relevant throughout my entire trip- from checking in on Foursquare at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, and again at Denver International Airport (+4 points for 1336 miles between check ins!) to using Google Maps to navigate walking shortcuts around Breckenridge. The iPhone navigation system is a perk unto itself, which I will elaborate on later.
Although I will certainly acknowledge that it took a bit of time to adjust from my three-dimensional Blackberry keyboard to the 100% glass iPhone screen, I now view the touch screen as a big perk in the Blackberry vs. iPhone travel debate. It allows the user to take advantage of the size of their phone. For example, why should half of the Blackberry be devoted to a keyboard if the user isn’t typing 100% of the time that they are using the device? Apple understands this; therefore they created a phone that only displays a keyboard when the user needs a keyboard. My flight from Charlotte to Denver was the first time that I opted to use a downloadable mobile QR code instead of a printed boarding pass. This option is much easier on an iPhone because I can display the QR code as well as all of my flight information on one screen. For those who are timid to rely on a digital ticket, the iPhone can easily capture a screenshot that includes the QR code, which will then be saved as an image in the phone’s camera roll.
Newer identification technologies, such as fingerprint or cornea scanners, could take the check-in process to a new level, but these options are likely expensive and slow to implement. This makes me think that QR ticketing might stick around for awhile.
For most of the duration of my Blackberry career the thought of using my phone for directions was a comical notion. Sure, Blackberry has navigation capabilities that have certainly been improved over the past few years. That being said, the transportation knowledge that the iPhone (and most Android-based phones) offer is leap years ahead of RIM’s technology. If you were stranded in a forest with one Blackberry friend and one iPhone friend you should probably go ahead and sacrifice the Blackberry friend—you’re going to need the iPhone’s GPS technology to get out alive. Yes, that is an exaggeration, but after having my iPhone for almost a year I can’t imagine navigating a new place without it. I lived in Los Angeles for three months last summer and my iPhone got me out of many tricky directional situations. I am not confident that my Blackberry would have done the same.
Navigating new places on an iPhone is easier than a Blackberry for a few reasons. The most important is that thanks to a better integration of Google Maps and faster loading time, it is easier to see what is around you in less time. I am a Google Maps addict and the Maps team is one of my top choices when I am at Google this summer because I think the platform still has massive potential. (I am going to do an entire blog post soon about my favorite parts of Google Maps.) Without this technology it would have been much harder to navigate the complexities of Vail. The walking directions were particularly useful.
(4) New technologies
Many of the things that I love about my iPhone compared to my old Blackberry are related to the capabilities brought about by the speed at which the iPhone can function. The Internet is now more accessible and apps are easier to navigate. This has allowed for an entrepreneurial opportunity based on creating iPhone content. During Snowball Music Festival there was a start-up called SmartBar launching, based around the idea of “beer and wine without the line.” The app was based around ordering and paying for drinks from your iPhone so that they could be picked up at the bar without the hassle of waiting in line: