Thought I needed a catchy title – but it makes sense.

This past week, I was bedridden with a terrible shoulder dislocation (my right, predominant arm). It was so painful that I could barely walk. I won’t bore you with the details, but I was essentially stuck in bed, with one operational arm (which couldn’t even be used completely as it causes the other arm to move, which results in me yelping).

For 7 days, the only thing I could do was watch movies (I’m not a big TV fan, other than “The Office”). Using my Macbook was not an option – that requires two hands, and the way I was positioned in bed with a sling would not have allowed for it.

Well, that would have been the case if it weren’t for Apple’s extraordinary device, the iPhone.

You’ve heard it all before – the iPhone can do everything.

But this time, I wanted to share a different side of it’s usefulness.

Lying in bed, using only my left hand, I was able to do the following:

• Check email – I was able to respond to a few very important emails, and send out some important instructions to people. Sure they were short emails, but they got the job done. Hey, I was even able to clear my inbox of the abundant junkmail using the swipe-delete gesture.
• NetNewsWire – for my daily dose of knowledge, I’d turn to NetNewsWire to read all of the updates to the blogs I’m subscribed to. Was even able to share some insightful ones with my colleagues with a few taps.
• Twitter – although I didn’t end up publishing anything, I was able to use Twitter to check for any important Tweets, and ended up reading a few interesting articles that the people I’m following had shared.
• iPhone compatible websites – for entertainment and to stay in the loop of things, I was able to check some of my favourite optimized-for-iPhone websites, such as CNN, The Toronto Star, and GTPlanet (a blog dedicated to all things Gran Turismo…I’m a car nut).
• iTunes Remote – I had my sister setup my Macbook on my desk and turn it on. From there I was able to listen to my iTunes library – but not just on shuffle. I could easily choose a preferred song, with my one operational hand.
• Facebook – yes, I was even able to stay in the loop as to what my friends and “friends” were up to.

There are many other apps that could have kept me occupied, but I did have a fair share of recommended movies awaiting me.

Not going to lie – didn’t really need to use Daylite Touch while I was away, but had I any crucial tasks, etc. that had particular deadlines, I could have delegated them to someone with functional limbs back at the office.

The iPhone really made a painful (both physically and mentally) week a little less painful. And to that, I owe my thanks to Apple.

Ryan Cash

PS: my 13″ white Macbook took a 10+ foot fall onto hard tile floor during my dislocation and survived completely unscathed. Works perfectly and I can’t even find a scratch.