In most agencies, the Creative Director and Account Director don’t get along. In fact, they usually disagree and think the other person’s ego needs its own office.  At Rhythm, I think that my Creative Director, Tony and I get along very well. My only challenge with Tony is his obsession with his iPhone. I mean he can’t even tell a story without referencing his new toy and literally has a twinkle in his eye when he makes reference to his new best friend, as one does when in love. I was starting to get worried about Tony’s infatuation with this device. He carried his iPhone everywhere he went, even at meetings he would make any excuse to refer to it to solve any questions or thoughts we had. “For God’s sake, put the iPhone down Tony!” was always my initial reaction, followed by a headshake feeling sorry for him that his obsession has gotten this far.

Then the tables turned. On a recent trip to Santa Barbara with my husband and our four closest friends, I discovered why the iPhone was so remarkable and treated like that high school egg assignment where you identified with it as your own baby. You see, our friends, the Bliss’ had just bought the iPhone and boy did we get lucky that they did. 

I was told by some locals to try Pascucci on State Street, and not thinking ahead, didn’t make reservations figuring we could just get a table no problem. Well, we are idiots for thinking that. After walking two miles in my 4” inch heels, I asked the hostess to please seat our “party of 6” and she replied that it would be a two hour wait…what? 2 hours? I guess we weren’t the only ones that were told to try this delicious Italian joint; apparently everyone visiting Santa Barbara that weekend was eager to taste their food too. What to do, what to do? My stomach is telling me to just walk into Mckey D’s and order a burger and some nuggets, my feet are barking at me not to walk aimlessly up and down State St. and my husband and friends look as if they had not eaten since the beginning of the Great Depression.

Then it was like all of the stars and planets were aligned and Shane, the owner of the iPhone experienced a revelation and quickly grabbed for his new device and typed in our current address, asked it to find nearby Italian restaurants and TA-DA, within a split second we had options. We used the same heavenly tool to call the closest restaurant to see how long their wait was and then made reservations. It took us 5 minutes to walk to the new restaurant without getting lost because we used the GPS feature on this blissful smartphone. 

Not only did the iPhone save us that night but also during our wine tour. The enthusiastic driver gave us a trivia on the history of Santa Barbara and its wineries then blasted the music, which consisted of Jack Johnson and other talented artists. Then that song came on…you know, that song…the one that famous artist sings and everyone loves? Maybe it was the lack of sleep and coffee, or just our mind playing tricks on us. Either way, none of us could remember who that artist was or the title of the song but TA-DA we had the magical iPhone and it was determined to save us once more this trip. Quickly Nicole used the application called, Shazam and surprisingly the name of the artist and song appeared on her screen. All of the non-iPhone owners’ jaws dropped and eyes lit up with amazement. “That is the coolest thing EVER!” we all shouted. The Bliss’ were a hit that weekend because of their new pet.

So, needless to say, I came to work that Monday and had a greater respect for Tony’s iPhone. I never told him my story or the experience I had with the iPhone on my Santa Barbara trip, as I don’t want him to think I am giving in to his smartphone obsession.

However, to stand by my stubbornness, I will by no means run out and buy an iPhone. I am extremely happy with my Blackberry Curve but if I do decide to change devices one day, I would probably buy a Blackberry Storm, as I am a loyal Verizon customer and feel it is my duty to live up to the agency stereotype where Creative Directors and Account Directors don’t get along…even though its far from the truth here at Rhythm Interactive.

Click on any of these links below to compare the two smartphones and decide for yourself which you prefer.

http://news.cnet.com/the-blackberry-storm-is-no-iphone/

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/100908-storm.html?t51hb

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/110308-guide-mobility-smartphone-showdown.html?nwwpkg=slideshows