And here is the result in form of a timeline:

Two weeks earlier during packing I thought about leaving my MacBook Pro at home. After all, it is a vacation and I don't want to spent too much time with it. But then I realized that there is almost nothing that would require a notebook during vacation when I take my iPhone with me.

Answering e-mails, web surfing, twittering ([Tweetie](http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=296415944&mt=8)), chatting ([BeejiveIM](http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=291720439&mt=8)), navigating ([OffMaps](http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=313854422&mt=8)), calculating tips ([Tipulator](http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284935446&mt=8)), checking the Metro trains ([New York Subway](http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=301912130&mt=8)), SSHing ([TouchTerm Pro](http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=296468040&mt=8)), sending digital postcards ([Postage](http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=312231322&mt=8)) and playing games are all perfectly doable with the iPhone.
Well, perfectly doable when a prepaid data plan would exist in the US. But all the service providers we asked seem to have no need to offer one. That's just sad.

There is only one compromise I had to accept: I had no chance sending pictures I made with my digital camera without a computer. However, handling 12 megapixel images on the iPhone surely wouldn't have been much fun anyway. And there are very nice [Apple Stores](http://www.apple.com/retail/fifthavenue/) in New York with lots of Macs on which I could've done that.

So I decided to leave the MBP at home. And it all worked out well. Sometimes you have to exercise yourself in patience but there are lots of free WiFi hotspots. So the missing data plan was no big deal at all. It even saved us some money.

This experience again made it clear to me that sooner or later traditional computers will only be necessary for complex tasks. For every day living devices like the iPhone are almost sufficient. The iPhone is already a very good companion on the go. Perhaps we will see some sort of "iTablets" replacing the traditional personal computers in the living room in the near future...?

Here is a list of iPhone apps I've installed on my device. Maybe you find something useful or maybe you can recommend an app which definitely should be added to that list (please leave a comment).

## Books
* **Stanza**
Read eBooks on your iPhone

## Entertainment
* **Now Playing**
Read reviews, locate theaters and show times, even purchase tickets (purchasing tickets didn't work for me, but still useful app!)

* **Remote**
Remote lets you control iTunes from your iPhone over WiFi

## Finance

* **Checkbook**
Nice app to manage daily expenses

## Games
* **Caissa Chess**
Beautiful chess game. Even supports games with other players via e-mail.

* **Enigmo**
Very cool 3D puzzle-game (*Best iPhone Game* at WWDC 2008)

* **Everest: Hidden Expedition**
I love hidden-object games!

* **Fieldrunners**
One of the best (if not the best) tower defense game on the iPhone

* **Frenzic**
Addicting fast-paced puzzle-game (also [available](http://frenzic.com/) for the Mac)

* **Tangram Puzzle Pro**
If you like [Tangram](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangram) puzzles this is the app for you

## Lifestyle
* **Circulator**
Keep track of the things you borrow from and lend to your friends

* **eBay Mobile**
Place your bids on the go

## Music
* **[Last.fm](http://last.fm)**
Web radio on the iPhone

* **Shazam**
Fascinating music identification software

## Navigation
* **Geocaching**
Great app for paper-free [geocaching](http://geocaching.com)

## News
* **NetNewsWire**
RSS-Reader which syncs with desktop version of [NetNewsWire](http://www.newsgator.com/individuals/netnewswire/default.aspx)

## Photography
* **Mobile Fotos**
Nice app to browse and upload to [Flickr](http://flickr.com) (location-aware!)

## Productivity
* **1Password**
Store your passwords and other sensitive data on your iPhone and login to websites automatically

* **Air Sharing**
Useful app to view your documents on the go. You can upload new files via WebDAV (using Finder or web browser)

* **iTranslate**
Universal translator using [Google Translate](http://translate.google.com/)

* **Keynote Remote**
Use your iPhone to control your [Keynote](http://www.apple.com/iwork/keynote/) slides

* **Things**
Easy-to-use GTD app which syncs to [desktop version](http://culturedcode.com/things/) of Things via WiFi

## Reference

* **ViReference**
Covers all important aspects of vi (the world's most awesome text editor )

* **Wikiamo**
Comfortable [Wikipedia](http://wikipedia.org) reader

* **WordBook English Dictionary & Thesaurus**
Rich dictionary and thesaurus of the English language

* **ZugInfo**
Easy and comfortable app to query the timetable of the German railway system

## Social Networking
* **BeejiveIM**
Instant messaging for almost all networks

* **TwitterFon**
Great [twitter](http://twitter.com) client

* **WordPress**
Create and edit content for your [WordPress](http://wordpress.org)-based weblog

## Utilities
* **Bytes**
Tool to convert between data units, number bases and more

* **Clinometer**
Precise slope measurement tool (useful for aligning a picture on the wall)

* **PRG-16C**
Emulator of the [HP-16C](http://www.hpmuseum.org/hp16.htm) RPN calculator (programmable!)

* **Seismometer**
Measurement tool for everything that vibrates, shakes or moves (no scale though)

* **TouchTerm (Pro)**
Powerful SSH client on the iPhone (yes, it is usable!)

* **Units**
Simple but beautiful unit converter

*To be continued...*