Am I an iPhoney?

Last week, the cell phone that I've had since I was a senior in college finally bit the dust. It didn't have a lot of functionality but it never dropped calls and most importantly was cheap with a cheap coverage plan. I went to AT&T and while perusing the phones was approached by a sales associate and began to discuss the various models. He suggested I consider an iPhone. Clever, I thought, just by the virtue of bringing it up you're giving me no choice but to consider it. I love my Apple computer, but when the iPhone came out I wasn't terribly interested in it and figured I would wait until the price came down. Whenever an expensive new gadget comes out and people go crazy over it I always think of that scene from The Wedding Singer where Glenn tells Julia he just got the newest thing (a cd player) and that it was only a thousand bucks. Basically I like to give myself a little time to let the excitement calm down a bit and then evaluate whether or not I really want it.

Turns out the price of the iPhone has dropped enough and AT&T has revised their minimum data plan so that the whole thing is significantly less expensive. This is undoubtedly due to the fact that their exclusive deal with Apple is running out shortly and they realize they are going to have to become more competitive. I was able to get an iPhone for roughly the same price as another phone I was interested in with a nominal increase to my monthly service charges. I was probably the easiest sale the kid made all day. Cell phones are probably on my top 5 least favorite things to shop for list and I was glad to get in and out. A small part of me felt personally defeated. I had resisted the trend for so long, held out against the need to feel constantly connected and have the internet at my fingertips at all times. Had I held out all this time for nothing?

I spent the afternoon customizing it to my preferences and thinking about this new piece of equipment that I will use on a daily, possibly even hourly basis. I thought to myself "This isn't going to change me. I'm still the same person," a mantra generally reserved for first time parents and people undergoing real life-changing experiences. I didn't download a truckload of apps, or cheeky ringtones in favor of a more minimalist approach: when the need comes up for more stuff, I'll get it then. Forty-eight hours later I had sent and received a handful of texts, sent an email, read some blogs and downloaded exactly two apps (NPR News and a fitness/diet app). I feel calmer, more convinced that I'll be able to resist the phone addictions that have entrapped so many of my friends and acquaintances.

As I sat on the bus home from work on my first weekday of being an iPhone user I decided to respond to a personal email. I didn't enjoy emailing after work so perhaps this would be the perfect way to save some time. As I composed my email I couldn't help but feel like the eyes of the woman sitting next to me were scrutinizing everything I wrote. The email was a planning discussion with a fellow hostess of an event I'm putting on and was mainly logistical but interrupted every so often with fairly personal texts. The bright colors and snazzy logos on my iPhone just begged of this woman "Read me. Look at how colorful I am and how quickly I change. I am the chameleon of technology." I realized while sitting there that although I now have the capability to do all these things in virtually any public place, it doesn't mean I will. A close friend had given me a good natured ribbing over the fact that I am now one of "those people with an iPhone" but sitting on that bus I couldn't help but wonder: am I an iPhoney?

Only time will tell. It's early and perhaps I'm not assimilated into iPhone culture yet. To be continued...