Welcome to the dawn of the iPhone mom

September 6, 2009 |

Welcome to the dawn of the iPhone mom

By Ronald O Carlson

Given the iPhone’s 99 percent overall customer satisfaction rating, it shouldn’t be too surprising that soccer moms are transmogrifying into iPhone moms, taking to the device like yuppies to Volvos. From shopping lists and on-the-go price comparisons to GPS enabled Google Maps and life-saving medical data, the iPhone is increasingly the go to device for people on the go.

TwinCities.com reports on the growing convergence between moms and the iPhone, which seamlessly marries category defining industrial design and ineffable cool with Apple’s game changing “there’s an app for that” philosophy.

Moms “once tended to be late adopters of smart mobile devices,” said Pat Lilja, a marketing and public-relations strategist with Tunheim Partners. “But the iPhone has had such fantastic word-of-mouth promotion that a lot of moms have picked it up. They’re looking up stuff while walking the store aisles or sitting in coffee shops.”

As you might expect, iPhone moms are using their Apple handsets to track down stores and routes using the device’s integrated GPS and Google Maps functionality, as well as find recipes while perusing the local grocery.

And dads like ‘em, too

I don’t have an iPhone, but my 2G iPod touch — yup, just upgraded from my trusted and reliable 1G — and I are inseparable.

Here are some of the apps that make my life that much better every day: iCab Mobile, the best browser for the iPhone; MacGourmet, menu planning, recipes and shopping lists to go; LocalEats, you deserve better than Olive Garden; Whole Foods Recipes, organic is good even if their CEO is a “let them eat cake” bastard; Facebook; and The Weather Channel.

Got some App Store favorites? Share an anecdote and a link in the comments below…

When 35-year-old St. Paul native Laurie Jesch-Kulseth gets a craving for fennel while at the supermarket with her two young kids, she searches the Web for a good recipe incorporating the herb, grabs the other needed ingredients and has a din din on the table within hours.

“I don’t have to waste time,” says the Minnesota mom. “I can get it all, then and there.”

In numbers too big to ignore…

According to ComScore data, women now account for nearly 40 percent of iPhone users and more than 43 percent of BlackBerry users. Of all women, those 25 to 44 are likeliest to use smartphones, according to the market analysis firm.

As you might expect, BlackBerries also are popular with working moms, whereas the iPhone is the winner with self-sufficient mothers on the go.

Hey, iPhone moms, and dads, how has the iPhone, or iPod touch, changed your life for the better?