iPhone™ 3GS Portable Genius: Also covers iPhone 3G

Introduction

The iPhone is a success not because tens of millions of them have been sold (or, I should say, not only because tens of millions of them have been sold; that's a lot of phones!), but because the iPhone in just a couple of years has reached the status of a cultural icon. Even people who don't care much for gadgets in general and cell phones in particular know about the iPhone. And for those of us who do care about gadgets, the iPhone elicits a kind of technological longing that can only be satisfied in one way: by buying one. (Or, in my case, by buying three of them!)

Part of the iPhone's iconic status comes from its gorgeous design and from its remarkable interface which makes all the standard tasks — surfing, e-mailing, texting, scheduling, playing — easy and intuitive. But just as an attractive face or an easygoing manner can hide a personality of complexity and depth, so too does the iPhone hide many of its most useful and interesting features.

When you want to get beyond the iPhone's basics and solve some of its riddles, you might consider making an appointment with your local Apple Store's Genius Bar, and more often than not the on-duty genius gives you good advice on how to get your iPhone to do what you want it to do. The Genius Bar is a great thing, but it isn't always a convenient thing, and in some cases, you may need to leave your iPhone for a while (No!) to get the problem checked out and hopefully resolved.

What you really need is a version of the Genius Bar ...