At Last, the iPhone.

Another concern is that constant use of fingers on the touch screen will make it mucky.  I've found that the glass screen cleans easily with a damp cloth or baby wipe. As for wear and tear, I've been jamming it in my pocket with keyrings, coins and pens, and so far it's nearly as good as new.

Apple is already working hard at improving this first version of the iPhone.  I think the best way to make it more valuable would be to encourage outside developers to create new uses for it, and Apple has indicated that they are welcoming Web-based applications geared to their new device.  But as the Google Maps program shows, the results of a separate client application created for the iPhone can be spectacular, and I think the company will do well to keep those coming.  Apple also is taking the unusual accounting step of not logging the revenues of iPhones all at once, but taking it over the length of the contract: it says this will enable it to keep improving the software and adding new applications.   So the iPhone you buy now may have many more features and services by the end of your contract.

Bottom line: In a sense, the iPhone has already made its mark. Even those who never buy one will benefit from its advances, as competitors have already taken Apple's achievements as a wake-up call to improve their own products. But for all its virtues, the iPhone is still a risky venture because it's yet to be proven that, despite the wow factor, millions of people are ready to pay several hundred dollars more than the going rate for phones—and in some cases, paying even more to bail out of their current mobile contracts.   There's also a potential backlash from those sick of the hype.  During our iPhone conversation, however, Jobs professed that he wasn't concerned about inflated hopes, and certainly not whether he would meet his own projections of 10 million sold in 2008:  "I think we're going to blow away the expectations."

Certainly all those people lining up to buy iPhones will find their investment worthwhile, if only for the delight they get from dazzling their friends. They will surely appreciate the iPhone's features and the way they are intertwined to present a unified experience. But in the future—when the iPhone has more applications and offers more performance, with a lower price—buyers will find even more value.   So smart consumers may well wait for that day. But meanwhile they can only look with envy as the person sitting next to them to them on the subway, or standing ahead of them in the Whole Foods line, is enjoying the phone that finally fulfills the promise of people-friendly palm-top communication and computing.

© 2007