Today’s post is a fun topic for me. Less than a year ago I was a Blackberry User and a die hard PC User. I was addicted to my Blackberry to help me keep my businesses running when I was away from my desktop PC. And they worked nicely when syncing together. Access to Email, FaceBook and Twitter were critical for me. Well, that said, my husband was the opposite. He’d had a MAC for about 4 years and his iPhone for about a year, something I purchased as a Christmas present for him the year before.
What I noticed was that he never had a computer problem, crash, or blue screen of death AND my children were easily able to manuever the iPhone to view pictures and videos when we were on airplanes of long car rides. I was noticing a winning situation. So, one day I picked up his iPhone and played with it for about 30 minutes. I saw that it could do everything my Blackberry could and a ton more. So, I gave in and got an iPhone for my birthday. Within an hour, the verdict was in:
This was the best darn purchase I’d made in a long time and I was HOOKED!
What an amazing piece of technology. All the features of my Blackberry on steroids. I could do everything I needed from one little device in a much faster time frame and with less button pushing. I hung my head and thought, “Why did I wait so long!” I’m usually an early adopter but I so loved my Blackberry I couldn’t let go.
Long story short – earlier this summer my house converted to an all MAC house for business. I love my new MacBook and and this die hard PC user is no longer. But I digress….here’s the list of my favorite apps for life and business that help me stay connected yet allow me the flexibility to be anywhere:
In No Particular Order:
1. Facebook for iPhone – No brainer. because I spend a lot of my time on the Social Media Sites, this ranks right up there as a must have for anyone who needs to be connected.
2.Tweetdeck for iPhone and Tweetie – Both are great tools to access Twitter from your phone and stay connected.
3. Linkedin for iPhone – Same as above. These first three apps keep me in touch from anywhere in the world.
4. Skype for iPhone – make calls from anywhere in the World for free as well as use the chat function. All you need is a wireless connection and you skip on using up those cell phone minutes. This is great for international travel. I used it earlier this year when on Siesta in Mexico to call home to the kids. No long distance charges or international minute fees.
5. Roboform for iPhone – the iPhone version of Roboform is awesome. I cannot live without Roboform Password Manager on my computer and having my passwords with me under protection on my phone makes it easy for me to work from any computer (or my phone) from anywhere without a notebook or paper full of logins and passwords for sites.
6. The Amazon.com App – Order anything, anytime, from anywhere through your Amazon account. I used this the other day to order a book while sitting in my car outside of Target when I realized it wasn’t carried locally (after visiting 3 stores).
7. Evernote – Phenomenal app for notes to self in text, voice or photo form. If you’ve ever been somewhere and needed to remind yourself to buy milk on the way home or saw a beautiful piece of art that you wanted to see about buying when you got home – this app lets you leave post it sized notes to self right on your phone – and it syncs back to your computer.
There are so many more apps I love, I just might have to make a second post about this. Yes, I have a lot of apps on my phone and I do use 98% of them on a regular basis. I find that apps help me make life easier because I can stay connected and I don’t have to remember everything in my head – which, I admit can get overloaded in the keeping track of things department and am always looking to simplify the brain cramps. 🙂
I’ll post more soon. If you have an app or two you love – please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear about it/them!
And of course, I’d appreciate it if you’d share this with your friends, as they may have apps they love that we need to know about.
Now, where’d I put my phone?…….
Hi VaNessa,
I have a Blackberry at the moment but hate it, only 2 months to go before I can change my phone to the iPhone. These apps look great and I will be getting them once I have the phone. Also did you know there was a WordPress app so you can update you blog from your ohone? Thanks for sharing.
Tristram Lodge
Hi Vanessa,
Great post. As an animator, you’d think I would go MAC! I think I will some day. Always wanted a computer that you could use much more of the CPU on. PC still not great for that specially when you are creating animated films and all that. The iPhone…..I want one….you gave me much to consider now….lots of details too, thanks for all of it!
Cheers,
Joe Young
Hey VaNessa,
Just what I needed… I was looking at an iPhone yesterday and will be getting one in a couple days. Thanks… I’ll be using all 7 of those apps. Any more suggestions?
Coach Freddie
Vanessa,
Thank you for sharing..yes, me too changed from PC to Mac 3 years ago, and never turned back since…as Internet marketer and digital products creators, MACBookPro is a no-brainer business tool for me!
Thank you sharing the apps.
Kelly
I do love the creative capability of my MACBook. Makes life so much easier.
I’ve been thinking about doing the same thing…now you really got me thinking.
You have a choice so, make it a better than terrific day!
Terry
Well, you always get me thinking, so I am glad to return the favor. 🙂
I am so happy to see this post! I too am totally Mac’d out, I have the phone, the i pod, and the Macbook. Seriously, once you give Macs a try it is easy to see why people love them.