There are probably lots of topics I can post about after hearing her stories, but I asked her a while ago to let me know the popular cell phones in use by the kids.  I believe strongly that the cell phone platform is an early form of the next generation computing platform.  I never thought that the original iPhone would be seen very much due to its price.  Boy, was I wrong!  She told me that there are “so many” of the iPhones in use.  What parent in their right mind would buy a kid a $500 phone I asked her?  She said that most of the kids she spoke with about their iPhones had bought them with their own money.  Wow.

So, I tracked down one of these kids, a freshman girl who is a friend of my daughter.  I asked her if she liked the phone.  Predictably, she answered, “Oh, it is so cool.  I love it”.  I asked her what she loved about it.  She said the main thing was that she could listen to her iPod and text her friends at the same time with the same device.  I asked her if she used the Internet on the phone.  She said only once in a while – mostly she used it for listening to music.  She went on to say that she didn’t even talk on it very much because it was not comfortable to hold while she talked.

I believed her, but I pointed out that it was a really expensive iPod.  She agreed, but said she liked the convenience of only one device.  I thought more about this comment.  For her, it was not a great phone.  It was not a great Internet platform.  It was a great multi-function device.  In this case, the sum of the parts is what makes it great.

The next kid I spoke with who had an iPhone was a young man who plays on a soccer team that practices on the same field with my daughter’s team.  I asked him if he liked the phone and he said “Oh yeah”.  I asked him what he liked about it and he put it this way “It’s just cool to have”.  So, for him, the “Cool Kid” factor was the thing.  I have noticed other phones in use by teen-agers and they all oogle over the ones that flip open, turn sideways, change colors (yes, there is one), and generally look different from the standard chicklet Nokia or Motorola flip.

Do these kids think about using any of the multi-function devices as a substitute for a computer?  The specific answer is no, they do not “think” about it.  They just use it as a substitute.  The venerable desktop computer at home, most likely a Windows device, is for playing computer games.  If they are serious about their homework, there is likely to be another computer, most likely a laptop, for them to do homework on.  Neither of these two devices get the same amount of use that their phones do.  As their friends show them all the cool things their phones can do, they want one just like it.  And, now that the iPhone is much cheaper than before, it is easier for them to get one.

So, what’s so great about an iPhone 3G?  It’s cheaper than the first generation one.

However, the implications for innovators in education are much more subtle.  The platform is not yet suitable for significant amounts of input.  But, I wonder how long it will be before someone comes up with an adapter to attach the iPhone to a keyboard/mouse and display?  Or, will there be a way to do this wirelessly, using Bluetooth for the keyboard/mouse and something else for the display.  I can see a time when kids walk into a classroom and insert their iPhones into a docking station on the desk they are sitting at in order to recharge their battery and keep it from draining during class.  Using a small bluetooth keyboard and integrated trackball, they take notes; bookmark sites for later research; collaborate with their peers, probably using SMS (text); contribute to a project wiki; and so on.

So, once again, what’s so great about an iPhone 3G?  It paves more of the highway to the future.