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Two iPhones: How do you tell the difference between them?

  • Posted on: November 09, 2007
  • In: Personal
  • Comments closed

Goldfish don't bounce. ApparentlyHere’s the thing. The Wife and I are getting an iPhone each. Apart from turning them on and seeing which background image is on there, how can you instantly tell them apart. I thought that engraving might be the best way to go for this. So, I’m planning on getting mine engraved with an odd saying or something (rather than my name or something like that). I recently heard an interesting statement: Goldfish don’t bounce. That’s the best I can come up with.

Any other amusing ideas?

UPDATE: It seems Apple don’t offer engraving options for the iPhone. At least not at the moment in the UK.

Comments

"Can’t touch this!”

Tobias's Gravatar

Tobias
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 8:50 am

Nice.

Mark Boulton's Gravatar

Mark Boulton
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 8:52 am

’myPhone’

tom's Gravatar

tom
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 8:56 am

"Don’t Panic”

Stewart Pratt's Gravatar

Stewart Pratt
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 8:58 am

"Stroke me the other side”

Martyn Loughran's Gravatar

Martyn Loughran
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 9:01 am

This is mine. Get your own!

José Carlos's Gravatar

José Carlos
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 9:08 am

Dr. Seuss-ish:

“One phone, two phone, your phone, myPhone”

Jason Long's Gravatar

Jason Long
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 9:08 am

MiPhone

Joe Angus's Gravatar

Joe Angus
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 9:11 am

"Get your stinking hands off me you damn dirty ape”

megagreg's Gravatar

megagreg
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 9:15 am

megagregI like that! I’ve just thought though, Apple may not offer engraving for the iPhone.

Mark Boulton's Gravatar

Mark Boulton
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 9:17 am

iPhone, therefore I am.

Tilman's Gravatar

Tilman
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 9:18 am

"My other phone has 3g...”

Dio's Gravatar

Dio
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 9:21 am

DioHa! I didn’t think it’d be long before someone started…

Mark Boulton's Gravatar

Mark Boulton
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 9:24 am

Blast! Pratt took mine (good to see it so early on, I suppose). Well, in the same vein:

“42”

JA

John Arthur's Gravatar

John Arthur
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 9:31 am

(a faster horse)

from the Henry Ford quote

Chris Wible's Gravatar

Chris Wible
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 9:32 am

"Sworn to Fun, Loyal to None”

Mike L's Gravatar

Mike L
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 9:36 am

Damn. Seems there are no engraving options.

Mark Boulton's Gravatar

Mark Boulton
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 10:11 am

work is the curse of the drinking classes

blokkkk's Gravatar

blokkkk
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 10:18 am

Picking up your iPhone and turning it over to see an engraving is hardly easier than just hitting the Home button and seeing the background!?

It’s all swings and roundabouts though! :)

Sam Brown's Gravatar

Sam Brown
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 10:33 am

Admittedly these aren’t engraving but cool none the less.

http://www.gelaskins.com/

Gordon Elliott's Gravatar

Gordon Elliott
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 10:35 am

You can take the phone to a laser engraving place, they will writea few lines of it for a minimal fee. For a bit more you can even get vector graphics etched on the back.

macintalk's Gravatar

macintalk
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 10:42 am

As someone just said, anyone with a laser engraver can do it. Look on Youtube for some examples and the required settings. Essentially the engraver works like a printer and you can send an Illustrator file to it, do vectors and even bitmaps.
I love the things, but the smell gives me a migraine…

Jonathan's Gravatar

Jonathan
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 11:18 am

For awhile I had two macs that had those little white remotes. To tell the remotes apart I put a tiny (<1cm) firefox sticker on one of them. Might be worth a shot - see if you or your wife would mind a little sticker on one of the phones.

Brian Warren's Gravatar

Brian Warren
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 11:22 am

howsabout iwoods in different woods:
http://www.miniot.com/miniot/
think they do engraving too

Cole's Gravatar

Cole
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 11:25 am

My partner and I had this problem when we had identical Sony Ericsson phones. The solution we came up with is that I charged mine in the bedroom, and he charged his in the living room. We had different ring tones, so we would know which phone was ringing. Once you get into the habit of keeping it either in your pocket or charging in the correct room, it’s pretty easy to not get confused.

Tyler's Gravatar

Tyler
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 12:13 pm

"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya”

garrettc's Gravatar

garrettc
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 12:29 pm

I’m with Stewart on this one. I always thought the iPhone looked like the guide would. . .

“Don’t Panic”

Antix's Gravatar

Antix
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 1:25 pm

Put a big scratch down the wife’s phone’s screen. Problem solved. Although I guess you may be causing another one in the process.

pauldwaite's Gravatar

pauldwaite
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 3:26 pm

how about… “Nickelback Sucks”

swinefactory's Gravatar

swinefactory
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 3:29 pm

"paradise is a feeling - not a place”

btw. on the error page for this form is a templatish error in the title ;)

ftf's Gravatar

ftf
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 5:32 pm

"I love Brush Script\”

In Brush Scriptof course. Actually, this is a bad idea if I think of it for long.

Simon Clayson's Gravatar

Simon Clayson
Fri 9th Nov 2007
at 10:33 pm

Leslie and I both have iPhones. Each comes with its unique IMEI engraved on the back, no special order required. But the number tiny so like Sam said, the flip and squint is probably more trouble than just hitting the home button.

Shaun Inman's Gravatar

Shaun Inman
Sat 10th Nov 2007
at 6:02 am

i would look into cut vinyl. Something that can be removed. I like to change up the graphics on my phones, and design my own. So I peel it off and start fresh once every 2 or 3 months.

matt's Gravatar

matt
Sat 10th Nov 2007
at 6:38 am

"Mr Fashion Victim” and “Mrs Fashion Victim” ;)

Daniel Reeders's Gravatar

Daniel Reeders
Sat 10th Nov 2007
at 7:35 pm

http://www.colorwarepc.com/ seems like it might be the sort of thing you’re after - if I were getting an iphone, that’s what I’d do.

Jasper's Gravatar

Jasper
Sun 11th Nov 2007
at 12:53 am

I have my .mac email address engraved on the back of my iPod, as it’s short and I’m planning on hanging on to it for a while. Not amusing admittedly, but quite useful. If you prefer funny then how about “This isn’t the iPhone you’re looking for”

Robert Sharl's Gravatar

Robert Sharl
Sun 11th Nov 2007
at 1:41 am

Don’t worry - by the time you’ve both dropped them a couple of times, each will have their own unique personality and you’ll know which is which - designer dents and scratches!

Benjamin's Gravatar

Benjamin
Sun 11th Nov 2007
at 2:26 pm

Custom wallpapers perhaps?

Chris Carpenter's Gravatar

Chris Carpenter
Mon 12th Nov 2007
at 12:14 am

Yes! My phone is scrathed.

Emyr Tabrizi's Gravatar

Emyr Tabrizi
Mon 12th Nov 2007
at 4:32 am

Obviously not spelt wrong like it is above because that will look silly! doh.

Emyr Tabrizi's Gravatar

Emyr Tabrizi
Mon 12th Nov 2007
at 4:38 am

iPhone, king of buzz :)

Fubiz™™'s Gravatar

Fubiz™™
Mon 12th Nov 2007
at 7:33 am

C’mon. Engrave them both:

herPhone; hisPhone

Owen's Gravatar

Owen
Mon 12th Nov 2007
at 9:31 am

Nothing can say

Billerud's Gravatar

Billerud
Mon 12th Nov 2007
at 12:13 pm

How about Howard and Hilda?
:)

Chris's Gravatar

Chris
Mon 12th Nov 2007
at 1:43 pm

I like ‘Don’t Panic’, but how about ‘His’ and ‘Hers’?

Ryan's Gravatar

Ryan
Mon 12th Nov 2007
at 8:04 pm

Can I borrow your towel? I just hit a water buffalo. Source: Fletch

Matt Herzberger's Gravatar

Matt Herzberger
Tue 13th Nov 2007
at 10:47 am

w’iph’one - say it as you see it ;) at least you’ll know it isn’t yours

Ben's Gravatar

Ben
Tue 13th Nov 2007
at 2:49 pm

Make me ring!!!

King's Gravatar

King
Tue 13th Nov 2007
at 8:55 pm

Why don’t you get a case/pouch for them? That or stickers

Rob's Gravatar

Rob
Wed 14th Nov 2007
at 1:47 am

"Trust me, yours is much better.”

Husain's Gravatar

Husain
Thu 15th Nov 2007
at 5:40 am

It makes me happy

haus's Gravatar

haus
Thu 15th Nov 2007
at 1:37 pm

Buy different IPhones

Casio's Gravatar

Casio
Fri 16th Nov 2007
at 12:16 am

Ha! DIY with one of these. It will look really crude compared to your phone which I guarantee will be a nice contrast. :)

Phillip's Gravatar

Phillip
Fri 16th Nov 2007
at 11:56 am

I CAN HAS iPhone! KTNXBYE

Marko Mihelcic's Gravatar

Marko Mihelcic
Sun 18th Nov 2007
at 6:38 am

Never pet a burning dog.

Zachary Jones's Gravatar

Zachary Jones
Sun 18th Nov 2007
at 9:33 am

"Eagles Don’t Catch Flies”

artin's Gravatar

artin
Sun 18th Nov 2007
at 9:52 pm

You sold my dead bird to a blind kid?

Kate's Gravatar

Kate
Mon 19th Nov 2007
at 10:06 am

I have already seen this golden fish for many weeks

Podcasts's Gravatar

Podcasts
Tue 20th Nov 2007
at 10:14 pm

Probably too late, but you could go this route:
http://steampunkworkshop.com/ipod.shtml
The iPhone back is metal as well, isn’t it?

Brian's Gravatar

Brian
Tue 20th Nov 2007
at 10:50 pm

mine has three dots on the back: . . .
It’s subtle and not going to annoy me after a few months.

Caspian's Gravatar

Caspian
Wed 21st Nov 2007
at 12:05 am

Check out your local college or some other establishment which has CAD laser or drill engraving machines. If you can manage to get the design of whatever you want in the right format then it’s a one minute job to get anything engraved.

Scott's Gravatar

Scott
Wed 21st Nov 2007
at 1:06 pm

There’s a growing popularity in Asian countries to Customise your phone in a very interesting manner.

They have plastic shrink-wrap sort of stuff, they can design it while you watch or you can pick from pre-made designs, and they sort of shrink it onto your phone with a hairdryer.

Then they scalpel the unnecessary bits off to leave you with a perfectly fit design on top of your original case. I don’t think they come off.

It’s interesting to watch :) I’ve started seeing it in Australia too nowadays, so I’d imagine there’d be somewhere around you that would.

Ming's Gravatar

Ming
Wed 21st Nov 2007
at 4:27 pm

A funky sticker will do the job…

Bernhard Benke's Gravatar

Bernhard Benke
Fri 23rd Nov 2007
at 7:22 am

Simply label it your name period

Paul B's Gravatar

Paul B
Fri 23rd Nov 2007
at 7:50 am

"definitely not your iPhone”

“look for your iPhone elsewhere”

“this is mine”

LOL

mae's Gravatar

mae
Sun 25th Nov 2007
at 8:24 am

cqkgjytmwg cqkgjytmwg cqkgjytmwgcqkgjytmwg
cqkgjytmwgcqkgjytmwgcqkgjytmwg cqkgjytmwg

cqkgjytmwg's Gravatar

cqkgjytmwg
Mon 26th Nov 2007
at 3:03 am

We’ve just bought 5 iPod Touch for work and found this interesting take on protection and identification - iCovers

Sadly, only available from Merry Hill - something good has to come from Dudley sometime!

Simon Douglas's Gravatar

Simon Douglas
Mon 26th Nov 2007
at 11:18 am

put a ‘radioactive’ symbol on it…

Frances's Gravatar

Frances
Tue 27th Nov 2007
at 8:02 am

Here’s a link to actual, honest-to-goodness iPhone laser engraving: http://www.epiloglaser.com/sc_iphone.htm

Chris Gerrard's Gravatar

Chris Gerrard
Wed 28th Nov 2007
at 7:41 am

"I love lamp.”

“I am Mark’s smirking revenge.”

Shane's Gravatar

Shane
Wed 28th Nov 2007
at 11:05 am

"Racoons do bounce”

Kim Andre F.Ottesen's Gravatar

Kim Andre F.Ottesen
Wed 28th Nov 2007
at 4:02 pm

Buy your wife a dangle gem or something to attach to it. They are handy, the number of time’s i’ve nearly dropped something but managed to catch it by that…

Anthea's Gravatar

Anthea
Wed 28th Nov 2007
at 8:46 pm

Ceci n’est pas une iphone.

Michael Daum's Gravatar

Michael Daum
Thu 29th Nov 2007
at 6:01 am

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A picture of Mark BoultonI'm a graphic designer from near Cardiff in the UK. I've been a designer for over ten years now and primarily work on the web. I'm still partial to a bit of print every now and then though. I used to work for Agency.com in London as an Art Director before working as a Senior Designer for the BBC in sunny Cardiff. This was all before I took leave of my senses and formed my own design consultancy, Mark Boulton Design Ltd.

I've got a thing about grids and typography and occasionally ramble on about them to anyone who will listen.

If you're after simple, clean and effective web design; let me know.