Yes, I am that person.

Before I get to the point of the post.

Those of you who know me quite well know that I am usually really ah, frugal.

I am the type of person that watches for coupons from restaurants I might like (There have only been a couple times where Allison and I have eaten at Situl without the 1/2 off coupon) and uses the customer-tracking card at Harris Teeter regularly.

I have sold many small, outdated computer things on ebay for $9.99 or less instead of throwing them away.

I have bought and calibrated a programmable thermostat per house occupancy at different times of the day so that it is warmer during the day when no one is home, then cooler at night when we're around to save energy and money.

The least fuel efficient car in the household gets high 20's mpg.

And then, sometimes, things go a bit awry.

so, the iPhone.

It works exactly as advertised - anything you've seen on tv, online - it is really that easy, and that smooth.

As a phone it has some really neat design qualities. It requires less [virtual] button pushing to get things accomplished than any phone I've ever used (two Nokias and two Siemens previously)

But the phone is just a sideline application to what makes it worthwhile. You have the internet anywhere you go.

1) How do you get to anywhere? ... One minute later Google maps has a pushpin there and is giving directions.
2) It is cloudy, I wonder if it is going to rain? .... 10 seconds later you have an answer
3) How late is that store on the other side of town open? ... 30 seconds later you're at their webpage and looking at store hours (And this was Allison looking it up, from the passenger seat of the car, while we were driving up South Blvd)
4) I wonder what the... and wikipedia is right there.

This is really as close as any device or company has come to making the vast resources of the internet a pervasive part of everyday life, even for not-that-technical people.

Not to mention the iPod capabilities... the new GUI, flipping through the cd cases, is really slick - it even finds the cover art for albums you have MP3ified previously, or downloaded, through a non-iTunes program.

Yes, the initial cost and monthly cost are a bit high (if you have a family plan it is $20 more per month than whatever you're paying now) but for someone that is technologically aware and will actually make use of the unlimited data plan, it is almost worth it.

If you're away from a Wi-Fi connection, AT&T's Edge data service is inconsistent - most places I've been it is equivalent to any public internet connection you are used to (university lab, library, so on) - or like your home connection while you're downloading some large files - laggy but usable. However there are times inside of buildings where the speed qualifies as 'faster than dial up but that isn't saying much'

And I carry it around in a cloth sunglasses case, because the pretty pretty screen collects fingerprints and face smudges.

Those negatives aside, it is an incredibly useful device.