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Looks like Courtney will be getting an iPhone shortly too.

UPDATE:  Courtney turned down the new phone offer mentioning that we’d be better off replace my lost wedding band before she gets a new phone. Sometimes her logic baffles me.

I’ve made no secret about my love of all things Google lately. Recently I began to keep our budget on Google Docs. I gave up on Quicken and MS Money awhile ago. While they provided an easy way to balance my checkbook, what I really wanted was the ability to track spending against our budget. So last week I stretched my spreadsheet skills a bit and updated the Google Docs budget version with some summing and grouping that helps me balance our spending against our budgeted spending. I was so impressed with my color coded document that I showed Courtney. She was mildly impressed if just for the fact that I was so excited to show her.

Then, came the revelation. I loaded the Google Docs spreadsheet on my iPhone. I expected the spreadsheet to load full page, just like any other website on the iPhone. But to my surprise the spreadsheet loaded beautifully in a stripped down mobile phone read-only mode. While many sites give you an ugly mobile experience, Google’s iPhone interface for their Docs was simply astounding. Granted, I couldn’t edit the spreadsheet, it was enough to just view it. It’s the closest I could come to carrying the doc around with me at all times.

Courtney broke the story first, I recently bought an iPhone. After months of listening to podcasts that ranted and raved about the phone my gadget-aquiring-sensors freaked out and I couldn’t live without it. I bought it a week ago today and I can say that it’s worth every penny I paid for it.

Here’s what I got for my money:

1. Courtney can actually use the phone. I’ve had some crazy phones over the years. With the iPhone being more than just a dedicated phone, Courtney had her reservations about how well it worked as an actual phone. Within 5 minutes she was comfortable with the interface.  I don’t think either of us knew exactly how to dial on my MDA.

2. A new, working iPod. My old 4th generation iPod has been dying a slow death. It’s hard drive developed the “click-of-death”, which could be fixed with a swift whack on any hard surface. While I am grateful that there is a fix for the “click-of-death” I don’t believe it was extending my iPod’s life much longer. The new interface is slick and fun. It’s quicker too, when navigating to shuffle songs.

3. A GPS-esque map system. Google Maps I think is the killer app on the iPhone. While not quite a GPS, as long as I have a data connection through the cell provider I can find where I’m at and where I’m going to. This weekend we were out and about in Green Bay, WI visiting friends and family. Google Maps came in handy when navigating the streets of Kaukauna, WI.

4. A 80% normal web browser. Safari is awesome on the phone. But it’s still short of a full web browser. it chokes a bit when it comes to AJAX. Also, the touch interface gets in the way a little bit when trying to navigate the actual http://maps.google.com . But all in all, it’s the best mobile browser I have used.

Courtney was well aware of my intentions with the iPhone. I wasn’t about to pony up for AT&T service. I’m a very happy T-Mobile customer.  Courtney knew what it was going to take for me to use the iPhone. We were standing in the mall and I was damn-near pleading to get one. She looked at me and said, “You’re sure you can hack it?” “Oh yeah,” I assured her. When we got home I went to town and started researching how to get the phone unlocked and onto T-Mobile.

After an hour I wasn’t having much luck. Court asked me how it was going and I gave her the straight scoop. “You didn’t know how to hack itbefore you bought the phone?” “uh, no.” She called my bluff, I hadn’t done my appropriate research before I bought the phone. I wasn’t sure how easy or hard it was to actually unlock it. It took some time and some alternate instructions but at the end of the day I got it fully working.

So Christmas came early for me. I’m 400 bones down but at least I have traffic conditions in my pocket now.