It’s just a phone, right?

I’m not a big fan of touting specific devices or brands. I’m a real fan of finding what works for each of us and making the tools work for us instead of the other way around. I’m sure that many other devices can do what my iPhone has done for me. I just happen to know and use the iPhone because it’s what I have.

That being said, my iPhone has AMAZED me over and over again throughout the past few years. It has saved me from more technical mishaps (usually network problems) then I ever thought possible. Here are a few of those ways:

– as long as i’m in Canada, I never need to pay hotel wireless fees, I can simply tether my computer to my phone.
– if the conference centre wireless is slow because they can’t handle the number of people using it, I can tether my device to my phone
– if the video conference equipment isn’t working I can hook my phone up to speakers and use a skype call so the kids can talk to each other
– if a teacher is frustrated with a program and needs 2 minutes of help, they can share their computer screen to me on adobe connect and I can see what they are doing from my car, helping them problem solve
– when the wifi goes down, I can create a hotspot with my phone, connect 5 iPads to it and the lesson can continue (where each iPad is on adobe connect so kids can collaborate with their parnters in a different city)
– when I get lost looking for a rural school, my iPhone can find out where I am and then tell me where to go
– when we decide to share a link on the fly, the iPhone gets connected to a projector and we throw the link up
– when the grade 3’s are struggling to keep up with the grade 4 and 5’s in an online chat because their typing and spelling and writing skills are acting as a barrier, they can use Dragon Dictate to see how to spell what they want to say to their partners
– when facilitating a classroom of grade 3’s on edmodo talking with their partners in another city, we can use the iPhone to monitor the chat rooms while walking around to support those in need
– when a family member can’t make a funeral because she lives across the country, my iPhone can stream the service to her so she can celebrate life with us and help find some closure and meaning
– when I’m struggling with something, my network is only seconds away
– when my 3 year old neice has something to show me, she can skype me and we can have breakfast together while I’m waiting in line at the gas station and she’s at the breakfast table across the country

Before I became a consultant which required travelling around the county and ending up in unanticipated situations on a regular basis, I only used my phone for web searches, text messaging and email. Now it’s found it’s way into almost every project I work on.

Oh… and it’s a phone too.