REVOLUTIONARY

I am so amazed with this iPhone. I seriously can't stop thinking and talking about it. I probably talk and think about it more than any boyfriend I've ever had!! =0 Men are like fish in the sea, but this piece of hardware is like a diamond in the rouf/roff/rough (sp? help me out here people)! Ok. Maybe that was a bit much; comparing men to the iPod, phone, and web browser in one, but I have to make sure that you know exactly how I feel about this iPhone! I've been consumed with this thing ever since my best friend clued me in last week. If you aren't aware of its capabilities, please click on the link and watch the iPhone introduction in the keynote address. It's a bit long (1.5 hours), but it's worth it. For those who aren't interested, just know that it's your iPod, your cell phone and your internet in one. The additional features that come with this tool are amazing though. Visual voicemail, a pinch screen, scroll feature, landscape to portfolio profiles, etc. Just watch the introduction. I can't do it justice with a few words.

I don't know if I'm gong too far by saying this but the iPhone is to our generation what Neil Armstrong was to past generations. As tech savy as we are, this has to be the greatest leap in technology that we've had in a while. Sure, there have been intel processors and all the other gadgets that I can't even name that make everything we do today possible, but this is real. This is tangible. This is exciting!!

After all of the excitement I've displayed, you would expect that I would buy the iPhone and switch to Cingular (the exclusive service carrier of the iPhone) the minute it hits the stores. Well.....let's not be so hasty here. I'm excited but I'm also not that much of a risk taker. I like/love the iPhone, but research has to be done. Besides, I have questions!!! Here are a few issues/questions I have.

Issue one: I heard from a web nerd that the internet browser iPhone uses sucks. "But Safari is just crappy. If you look at a page in Firefox or even Internet Explorer and then in Safari, it can sometimes look quite different. Sometimes things won't even show up in Safari or buttons won't work properly." - Mike What does this mean?! Apple, why are you using a crappy browser?!! Why AREN'T you using Internet Explorer or Firefox? What if Safari ends up being bootleg and the worst feature on the iPhone? That would be extremely unfortunate.

My next issue: Being that Cingular is the only service carrier for the iPhone, what's going to happen when large waves of people switch to Cingular? Will the Cingular towers become overwhelmed? What will the affects be? How are they prepared to handle the sudden influx of customers? I'm not sure how the whole signal, tower, cell phone thing works, but it's a legitimate concern right? Is Cingular ready for the high volume? I think i'm going to wait to see if the tower explodes or something before joining the bandwagon. =) Alright now Cingular...I need to hear a statement, a plan, a proposal, a story...SOMETHING! Make me believe in you.

Another issue: Now that Apple has let the cat out of the bag, you KNOW the competitors are ON IT right now. They're scrambling like rats as we speak! LG already has their version of the iPhone, the Prada, which comes with its own, real, Prada, leather case. (Thanks again Mike.) The Prada case is going to be major perk for individuals into designer products. So who's next? Motorola has been a major leader in cell phone models, so you know they're going to reply with something innovative (I hope). Motorola doesn't have the iPod so maybe that won't work. But what if Verizon or any other cell phone provider makes a deal with Apple? What if there are better alternatives? Competition and better technology will always be a issue though. There's always something better. That's where we as customers come in and make a choice, weighing the pros and cons based on our individual standards and needs. Even still, I think I want to wait to see who follows and make an informed decision. I need options man!

Major issue: The iPhone comes in 4 or 8GB only. The greatest thing Apple could have done in terms of their iPod was to make 30 and 80GB models. What do they expect people with these iPods that hold 7,500 and 20,000 songs to do with an iPhone that can only hold up to 2,000 songs? Hello Apple!! Are you thinkng?! Yeah, iPhone is a great device, but people love their music/iPods, and people already have cell phones. How are you going to capture the serious iPod users? Serious iPod users are going to have a problem with the iPhone, which means they're not going to buy it. I have 4,762 songs on my iTunes to be exact. So until they make an iPhone that can handle my amount of songs, my money is staying in my pocket (even though I'm sold). =/

There are still other questions that fall out of this though. What's going to happen to Apple's iPods? Will the price of iPods fall to keep people interested in them? Are they going to slow production being that the iPod is now integrated into a cellular phone? When are they going to make iPhones with larger storage?! They lost their competitive advantage on that angle, so I'd be interested to see what company picks up on that first (even though it still won't have iPod). WHAT ARE OTHER COMPANIES GOING TO DO?!

I'm still in love with it though. It's a pretty cool thing, that iPhone. As soon as the kinks have been worked out, the questions have been answered, and the competition has had a chance to respond, I'm pretty sure I'll be in there. =) I need a gadget like this. As music crazy and internet consumed as I am, it's the most ideal product for me.

And to leave you with a little story, here's a snippet of one of the many conversations I've had about the iPhone. This is exactly why I need an iPhone (or something similar).

I wanted to use my bluetooth this morning, but since I haven't used it in so long, my Motorola Q asked me for a passkey to sync the thing. Immediately, I said to myself, "the iPhone pairs the bluetooth for you. If I had a iPhone I wouldn't have to remember my passkey". So I got up to look for the bluetooth's manual. In the process, I had to take out my iPod box, my digital camera box AND my Motorola Q box. LOL. You already know what I said to myself next!! "If I had an iPhone, I wouldn't have these 3 separate boxes. All of this would come in one!" Dag, Apple is smart!