When it was announced back in Jan 2007, it was a foregone conclusion that the iPhone would be huge. Not only was it the most hyped product ever, but it delivered on all accounts - the largest shortcoming of the device being the speed of AT&T’s EDGE network. When I make a big technology purchase I like to think of the potential and use of that device, but then I patiently wait to see if my assertions were correct and I’ve stood on the sidelines long enough.

As a backstory, I wanted a PSP when they first game out, but I waited until it was hacked. What I really wanted to do was play old school Nintendo games on my PSP and I knew with the device it was a possibility. Then it got hacked, then someone created an emulator, and only then could I justify buying a PSP (which I’ve since sold).

With Apple’s recent release of an iPhone API and introduction of the new iphone developer program I’m about to climb onboard the iPhone gravy train. I was undoubtedly impressed seeing what the phone is capable of while viewing the keynote.

So far, I’d say most people may have bought iPhones for lust or they’re early adopter crazies of Apple products with plenty of disposable income. Only now will pragmatic people (such as myself) buy them for their software capabilities as well. The game demo’s shown in the keynote were amazing. The single point of distribution with Apple’s own App Store application to be included with the 2.0 update is incredible integration. The iPhone is going to become a candy store of applications for users that I can no longer ignore.

I was hoping to stave off the forgone conclusion of iPhone ownership until Version 2 (The second version of Apple products are always exponentially better), but then I had a realization this morning. Apple is in bed with AT&T for 5 years and they are hoping to sell 10 MILLION iPhones by the end of 2008. Why would they release a second better version of the phone to upset 10 Million users before hitting sales targets? And you know the backlash of consumers who feel they’ve been cheated is severe. Besides Apple will take care of you anyway. More so, are millions of users really going to be locked into a shitty EDGE data network indefinitely? That is, aside from those that jailbreak their phones to use on other GSM networks… Apple has a master plan, and there are a lot of intelligent, crafty people out there that will all be in the same situation and won’t be happy with their crappy EDGE data plans if there’s an alternative.

To steal a page from Malcolm Gladwell, I’ve reached my tipping point with Apple’s iPhone. I must have one, now.

With Microsoft Exchange Server support with the 2.0 firmware update not even the Crackberry crowd of business lemmings will be able to resist. The naysayers have officially been trumped.

Reactions around the Interweb

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Update

Rumors of 3G

I’m going to wait a couple months before jumping the gun after reading this article. It does add up and some of my conversations with current iPhone owners lead me to believe that patience will be a virtue when it comes to my iPhone purchase.

From Seeking Alpha

And then, of course, despite the lack of any announcement, the iPhone v2 (3G) would be coming out soon. In my mind, this development is more definitive than speculative. I think the only reason Apple did not announce the iPhone v2 is because such an announcement would halt the sales of the current generation of iPhones.

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