The iPhone turns 5

Gruber nails it.

He makes the point that one reason the iPhone has done so well wiping the other phone makers off the map is that they, including the media and other pundits, all think it's a phone.

It's not, though it does make phone calls.

To all those (including my dad) who say, "Yeah, but what would I do with it?", I don't know, but here are the top 50 things I do with mine:

1. Check the time or date.
2. Check weather forecasts when I need them. (We went for a bike ride with all the kids a month or so back, and it started pouring rain on us. We raced forward and took shelter under a bridge. How long was it going to rain like this, we wondered. I pulled out my phone, pulled up the weather radar animations, zoomed in on our position using the GPS fix, and saw that it was going to pass in a few minutes. So we waited it out, and rode back dry.)
3. Use it as a remote control for our AppleTV. (Where's the remote? Oh yeah, it's in my pocket.)
4. Take pictures or videos of my kids being cute. (Who has a camera handy when the kids are being cute?? I do, now.)
5. Take pictures of fliers or other useful pieces of info I want to remember.
6. Show people pictures of my kids (including onto the AppleTV via Airplay).
7. Read scriptures, and keep track of our reading with the kids.
8. As a lesson manual at church.
9. Have instant access to our church membership directory, including addresses (tied to maps), phone numbers, and kids names (which I'm all too quick to forget).
10. Use it as a church hymnbook.
11. Read books or PDFs on it.
12. Keep all my contact information up to date and synced easily.
13. Set multiple alarms with different tones (the perfect alarm clock!!)
14. Set countdown timers so I don't lose track of time, e.g. when I'm working in the garage.
15. Use it as a flashlight whenever I'm out in the dark.
16. Battle boredom with it. (Note, my 22-month old baby knows all 26 letters, upper and lower case, because of an iPhone game. He can't even talk yet! Oh, and I've gotten pretty good at Scrabble/Words with Friends too...)
17. Listen to music, whatever I want, whenever I want.
18. Listen to podcasts (General Conference, church talks, NPR Fresh Air interviews, etc.)
19. Keep lists of things to buy at stores the next time I go (using the built-in Reminders app).
20. Manage my calendar.
21. Read news and my other Google Reader items (Reeder is awesome!)
22. Poke around in Pinterest and Facebook whenever I feel like it.
23. Read emails.
24. Navigate (Maps and TomTom) when driving or walking in new places.
25. Look up stuff on wikipedia when a question comes up -- instant knowledge!
26. Check bank balance, deposit checks (by taking a picture of the check), and transfer money between bank accounts.
27. Lookup movie times and nearby theaters, check ratings and parental guides.
28. Find the nearest Redbox with whatever movie I'm wanting to see.
29. Watch Psych (and other fun shows/movies) on Netflix and Hulu.
30. Use the WebMD app to figure out whether a particular "bug" is serious enough to warrant seeing a doctor.
31. Buy stuff from Amazon.
32. Lookup something I'm considering buying on Amazon to see how it was rated, e.g. a thermometer at Wal-Mart. The Amazon app has a cool feature where it will use the phone camera to scan a barcode and use it to look up items in their store.
33. Remote control the computers in the house (via VNC free app).
34. Maintain and have immediate access to all my online usernames and passwords via 1Password.
35. Keep lists of important info, e.g. A/C filter sizes, house paint colors, clothing sizes, etc. 1Password is great for this because it's so efficient about storing important info for me already.
36. Do quick calculations (for woodworking or whatever), or crazy hard ones with the Wolfram Alpha app.
37. Find my wife (via Find Friends free app by Apple), and help her find her phone with the "Find My Phone" free app.
38. Watch movies on the plane.
39. Make sure I'm on pitch when singing in choir with the nice "Piano Free" app.
40. Flip coins when I don't have a coin handy (using the free "Coin Flip" app).
41. Convert units, e.g. teaspoons to tablespoons.
42. Whitenoise generator for when it'a a little too noisy for the baby to go to sleep.
43. Figure out what species a tree is using Audubon's "Trees" app.
44. Check the status of my flight (FlightTrack app).
45. See the value of homes I'm driving by (Zillow free app)
46. Take voice memos or record talks, speeches, or other impromptu audio that's worth keeping.
47. Download coupons when we're at the store.
48. Use as a microphone where there's a sound system using the "Megaphone" free app.
49. To check the meaning of the ODB II codes I read off our vehicles when the check-engine lights come on, using the "FUZZYCodes" free app.
50. To check the value of a car on Kelly Blue Book when I'm away from home using the KBB.com free app.

Oh, and I sometimes use it to make phone calls. =)

It's not just a phone, it's a Swiss Army Knife of information you can carry in your pocket.