So the day iPhone fans were gleefully waiting for is here. Right now there’s a global Mexican wave of people queueing for days, then grabbing any iPhone they can at pretty exhorbitant prices.

Go them.

You may have noticed here that I’m not all gooey about today, and that I didn’t also camp out to gets me one. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think the iPhone is an awesome piece of kit and, to mix metaphors, certainly wouldn’t kick one out of bed for eating crackers were one to fall in my lap, but it’s just not for me right now. Why?

I have a perfectly good - really nice, actually - mobile phone. It’s a Sony Ericsson k800i and for me it’s perfect to the point of being almost excessive. It takes great pictures, syncs perfectly with my Mac’s address book and calendar (from across the room) hell, I probably don’t even know how to drive the advanced features of this phone. What’s more it has the ability to receive and send text messages over thin air, and when it rings, I can talk to other people as if they were right there. Magic! Okay I’ll dial back the sarkiness, you get the idea, then there’s the other half of the functionality...

I have a perfectly good - really nice, actually - iPod. It’s a 5.5 gen 30GB and for me it’s perfect to the point of being almost excessive. It produces great sound & video (we regularly watch movies on the main AV rig using it), syncs perfectly with my Mac’s iTunes music & video, hell I probably don’t even know how to drive the advanced features of this iPod. What’s more it has the ability to carry my entire music collection as well as a backup of essentials from my Mac. Magic! Okay I’ll dial back the sarkiness, you get the idea.

Thing is, with the functionality of these two devices that I own outright, I really can’t see the need to be a bleeding edge iPhone 3G owner. I like them, and I’m almost gleefully waiting for the Apple naysayers to eat their words as it takes the planet by storm, but for me right now an iPhone would just be excessive and extravagant.

I saw today on the news first a story about people doing it tough just to survive current petrol prices, rent and food costs, queueing by the thousand for a charity food handout. This was in Queensland. Not ten minutes later on the same program I saw people queueing for iPhone 3G. In Australia they’ll be paying an absolute minimum of $51/month for 24 months (or close on to $1k for an outright purchase) for something they don’t even need. What’s wrong with this picture?

Yes, technically I’m a hypocrite in saying that since I’ve bought more than my share of unnecessary gadgets, but I like to think I’ve tempered that with giving whatever bit of kit became redundant to someone else who’ll get another few years good use out of it. Been doing it for quite some time now.

I’m not making judgements here (pot - kettle - black) but I just think - for me - it’s a little... um... distasteful to spend so much on something I don’t need. Maybe in a year when the pricing gets sane (and I see good homes for the current kit to go to) I’ll kick tyres, but until then...

Maybe I’m growing up a little?

Tags: Apple, iPhone, consumerism