I got an iPhone last weekend. Yes, I waited in line, and it was kind of fun. I want to say a few things about it.

First, this is the single most elegant computing device I’ve ever seen. This thing is not just a new cell phone, it’s a completely different tiny handheld computer that happens to have an awesome cell phone (and a gorgeous display). My RAZR had some kind of web access support, but I never used it because it was painful. This thing has a real browser like a PC does. Do you know which number you press while listening to your voice mail to rewind just a little bit? Neither do I, and now I’ll never need to know because the iphone gives me a slider bar that I can move around to hear any part of the message I want. That’s how radically different this is.

A lot has been said about the iPhone in reviews and in online forums. To its detractors, I ask: show me a better device. Silence will follow. You may find a few specific things that can be done better by other devices, but nothing even comes close to the iPhone’s combination of functionality and user experience.

If you want to know more about it, there are plenty of reviews all over the internet; I think the one at engadget is probably the most complete.

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