THEMACGIRL*

Despite being into technology I am usually always behind on having the latest and greatest. One, I’m a college student (‘nough said), and two, I’d rather wait and get feedback from others about a product before buying. I’d rather be late in the game than wasting money on something that turns out to be underwhelming.

I have been an Apple user since ’05, and say what you will about their prices, they produce great products. Just this year I upgraded my Powerbook G4 to a Macbook. I probably could have waited a little while longer but with the software I needed for college it was running a little slow for my comfort. It has now been passed on to my sister. My current iPhone is the 1st generation that I bought off of a friend when they announced the first 3G model. I’ve been using this phone for the last two years and it has served me well but it is time. Oh, it is time!

After the debacle of trying to pre-order the phone on the 14th, I was finally able to reserve one at the Apple store. The following day I was finally able to pre-order it, but it wasn’t scheduled to arrive until July 6-8. I was a bit bummed but I could wait. I waited until Friday and decided to trek up to the Apple store in Louisville. Heh. I was not getting my hopes up because after seeing the lines on launch day I didn’t think they’d have any left. I got there about 8:30am and there were only 20 people ahead in line. After waiting about 20 minutes the concierge at the door said they had sold out of the 16GB model; what I wanted. BUT I made the special trip, and I was already waiting; I’ll shell out another $100. An hour after arriving I was in and out with my phone activated!

I think the girl who was helping me in the store was a little too excited that I was upgrading from the original to the newest model. I can understand her excitement now after using the iPhone 4. Just simple things like turning the phone on and off is significantly faster, checking in on foursquare (my new addiction) is substantially faster, too.

I’ve spent a lot of time playing around with the phone this weekend and I am in love. I’ve only ran into one issue so far and that was pairing my Jawbone headset up with the new phone. After doing my own troubleshooting, looking at forums and what their solutions were, nothing was working. I finally had a friend look at it and it almost immediately paired to my phone. Go figure!

The one thing I am completely blow away by is the display. Seriously, the colors are so vivid and the text looks incredible. The screenshot below from twitter is a perfect example of how amazing the text looks. My only wish for the future is the ability to install themes without having to jailbreak it. I have no intention of jailbreaking this phone any time soon so I’ll be patient and hope that one day Apple will jump on the bandwagon.

01. Rooney – “I Can’t Get Enough” [ iTunes ]
I tell you yes, you tell me no, I ask you why, you never let me know, you close your eyes, I hold you tight, but it’s no surprise, I’ve got nowhere to go.
When I think of Rooney I think of summer, and this is a danceable summer song that everyone needs!
**For fans of Phantom Planet, The 88, and OK GO

02. Court Yard Hounds – “The Coast” [ iTunes ]
Blue skies, green waters, white birds in the air, brown skin, blue collar, and the wind blowing in my hair.
Another great summer song that everyone needs!
**For fans of Dixie Chicks and Sheryl Crow

03. The Swell Season – “Young Hearts Run Free” [ *free* download ]
Young hearts to yourself be true; never get hung up when love really don’t love you.
I recently saw this band live and I was blown away by their performance, needless to say, their albums have been on heavy rotation. This is a cover from the 70′s that they’ve modernized quite a bit.
**For fans of The Frames and the movie “Once”

04. Neon Trees – “Animal” [ iTunes ]
Here we go again, we’re sick like animals, we play pretend, you’re just a cannibal and I’m afraid I wont get out alive, no I won’t sleep tonight.
This is a gem I found on iTunes as a *free* discovery song that causes me to speed… among other things.
**For fans of fun., The Rocket Summer, and VHS or Beta

05. Hanson – “Give A Little” [ iTunes ]
Give a little heart and soul, let your body lose control, give a little oh oh ohhh…
I’ve been a fan of this band for over half of my life (!) and I can’t say enough good things about them. I know many people who are reading this are probably scoffing but do me a favor give them another chance. It’s been many years since “MmmBop” was released and their music has changed quite a bit. This is a fun song with a nice horn section.

06. Band of Horses – “Compliments” [ iTunes ]
If there’s a God up in the air, someone looking over everyone, at least you’ve got something to fall back on, and what do people really hope?, Does anybody even care?, I bet you get a lot of compliments down there.
A recent download that I highly recommend, in fact, the entire album (Infinite Arms) is fantastic.
**For fans of The National, My Morning Jacket, and The Shins