Surviving iPhone Mania

Now that it has all blown over, I wonder what all the hoopla was about.

The iPhone, no doubt, is one of the coolest little gadgets that Apple has ever launched. I wanted one. Bad. But reason (and my wife Jeanne) prevailed, and I did NOT go out and buy myself a gadget boasting features I would never use.

As it stands, I have a Razr cell phone which has ONE feature I use: the telephone… and that feature, just barely, as I often do not carry it around.

I remember a time when I carried around a pager and a cell phone and some sort of palm device — all for my work — and I felt nervous all the time that I might actually miss something. I was enslaved to little gadgets all the time and absolutely hated it. As soon as I could rid myself of those devices, I did.

And when I’m real honest with myself, I realize that I don’t even carrying around an iPod, so why would I want an iPhone?

Who knows? There might be a lot of people like me who LOVE the iPhone technology, would never use it, but who nevertheless got in line.

Which brings up another issue…

What’s our obsession with being first in line? About being the first to have the new toy? With the EVENT of being there to get whatever the new thing is?

Fact is, from coast to coast, you could walk in to an Apple store two or three hours after the 6 pm launch and walk out 5 minutes later with a brand new iPhone.

For those who are planning to be in line at their local bookstore for the big Harry Potter launch, you could pre-order it from Amazon NOW and have it arrive conveniently at your doorstep the day it launches.

So it’s not about access, it’s about the EVENT. About being FIRST. About BEING THERE. About being able to say, “I WAS THERE”.

Honestly, I don’t get it, because a) I hate waiting in line, b) I hate crowds and c) I don’t have a need to “be there”.

So I’m never going to be the event groupie that this culture tries to cultivate.

Simply because I love the technology, I may well end up with an iPhone some day, though I’m in no rush. I’m sure I’ll have pangs of jealousy and nudge my wife when a friend whips theirs out, but that won’t force the issue.

I just can’t force myself to do it now. I’m not in a rush. It’s not a priority.

If you ever see me sitting in a lawn chair overnight next to the Apple store, shoot me. It will be proof positive I’ve lost my mind…