I got an iPhone the other day. I’ve found it a little confusing and hard to type on with my chubby (and mildly arthritic) fingers. But the apps, oh the apps. I am having so much fun. I started with the free ones, because after all, I wanted to make sure I even understood what an app was before plunking down big bucks.

But here are some of the amazing things I’ve found. iTranslate is an app that lets you speak into the phone in one language and the app speaks it back to you in another language. I tested it out with some Spanish speaking folks the other day and it worked really well! Now I’m tracking everything I eat in a health app. My daughter downloaded Night Sky so you can know which celestial bodies you are viewing. I could go on and on.

I started to get scared that this would consume me. So I went to my Facebook friends and asked whether the novelty would wear off. One said yes, the rest responded with other apps I should try. After that, I downloaded Kindle and a GPS. I am reading “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” This is free. Again, I wanted to be sure that I could even use it before I started buying books. I’ve never read “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” although I will say that I’ve read many of the free classics. It’s nice to have electronic tools to tell you that “you’re ok.”

But here is the comment that got me thinking the most about the Iphone and is why I decided to write this piece. One of my Facebook friends said that I will never be bored waiting in a line again. After all, I can read “Uncle Tom’s Cabin!” Now I am the first to admit that I can be an inpatient person. So maybe this will help me be less anxious while I wait. But usually when I am in a line, I start talking to someone waiting in line with me. My kids find that embarrassing. I think it’s being social. It’s not that these people will become my friends (although I suppose that is possible), but it is a nice way to pass the time. Will I now be too busy on my iPhone to talk to people? Or will I be rudely interrupting others on their Smart Phones when I try to engage them in conversation? I am not a Luddite, but I do wonder how this will impact my social interactions. Maybe I’ll just text you….