Rob Blackhurst

My faith had been shaken in the cult of Mac had been shaken by my original I-phone. Its spitfire curves were beautiful and the touch-screen functionality stunning. but, however beautiful the 3G maps and clever little touches like the gradual fade-down in volume on a track when an incoming call comes, or the easy-to-use visual voicemail. The problem I had was a daily battle to decide whether these dream-world futuristic gizmos were worth the more prosaic fact that it was the world's worst phone.

The battery life was dire: you could easily find yourself running out of energy by mid-morning, especially if you'd taken in a podcast on the way to work (presumably the whole point of an i-phone in the first place). When it ran out of juice it would have to be plugged in for at least twenty minutes to revive – hardly helpful when the boss had asked for an urgent call back.

The 3G map was a hit and miss affair, generally finding it difficult to load, and pointing out that "search was not available". And, worst of all, it would randomly ring numbers. Many of my runs were interrupted by the horrible realization that my i-phone was calling an ex-girlfriend or a tool hire company in Leyton. It was like a sports car built in Britain during the seventies - futuristic with beautiful mahogany interiors but susceptible to letting in water after a few miles.

So, after all the "death-grip" tales of the I-phone 4's reception and marketing campaign centring around "Voice Control" - (Another powder keg waiting to explode) I was on the point of switching allegiance to the blandly corporate Blackberry. But, hell, I was persuaded by a six year old in the 02 shop to go for the I-phone 4. And I've found it's utterly wonderful. The battery life has been sorted out. Safari responds as if you're on a fast broadband connection, and the high-definition camera is pin-sharp. I will continue to make votive offerings to the God of Mac - until I end up irritating that bloke from the Tool Hire company again.