iPhone's Auto-correct Deserves its Own Article

I'm going to start out and say that I love my iPhone like the brother I never had. I mean we do get in fights and have a sort of sibling rivalry for the love of the parents, but in general it's all good and clean-natured tom-foolery. Like a little brother, I treat my iPhone with a fragile and gentle touch because I'm afraid to break it and I haven't bought a warranty yet. With such fantastic features on the iPhone, despite the voice activation thinking I'm some kind of dirty foreigner, the one feature that tends to keep plaguing me is the auto-correct feature.

Now don't get me wrong, auto-correct is a handy feature on such a fickle digital keyboard, but I think the people at Apple should consider an experiment of getting a life before programming what the phone thinks you wanted to type. A phrase known by all text linguistic enthusiasts is the phrase "OMG" translated to "Oh my God" (or goodness if such "swearing" offends you). When I attempted to type said phrase to a friend in a text message, the auto-correct changed the phrase to say "IMF." I don't have any idea what IMF* means and nor did my confused friend. In a fit of confusion and self-doubt and loathing, my friend texted back "IMF...?" And that was the end of a long and strong friendship.

Another example of such treacherous spell checking was when I was trying to text a friend saying "Have fun skiing in Tahoe." To my dismay, the auto-correct on my phone translated this simple well-wishing to say "Have fun skiing in table." My other friend, confused at the remark thought that I was referring to a buffet and got offended, claiming I was calling her fat. In response, I said "IMF! I totally didn't mean to offend you." Luckily, the phone seems to be keen in the skill of adaptation and has redeemed itself for it's unforgivable follies. More on this story as it develops.

And Hawaii's fun.

*IMF is an acronym for the International Monetary Fund. Seriously, Apple, I would rather convey my feelings of astoundment than refer to the International Monetary Fund. (looked up 8/10/09)