Confessions Of An iPhone Virgin

First of all I must say that you should never say "Never!" How many times have I ranted against AT&T, which was holding me back from making this conversion? Many times, but I must say, while I'm not feeling AT&T, I am feeling the iPhone 4. I consider myself a professional shopper and before I buy anything, I do all the research. I have walked out on Sprint as if it were a tawdry lover and moved on with my life. On the advice of my firstborn, I was up before the sun and at the AT&T store at 4:30AM…No big deal for me, since I'm up early anyway. I arrived to end up the 10^th in line. Okay, that was good. So at about 6:30, the AT& T staff arrived and accounted for who was in line. They treated us to water and a breakfast snack and handed out T shirts. The Starbucks next door treated us to their new ice coffee and more snacks. Nice.

The store was open by 7:00 and they were taking folks seven at a time. I was out of there by about 7:45 and activated. This was just too easy…So as I got into my car and suddenly all of the troubles in the world were lessened,I was floating on cloud nine! Dayum! I felt completely unstressed and ready to make that call to Sprint to tell them to kiss my ass. OMG, I'm glowing…or is it just more radioactivity?

In making my decision to switch, I had already resolved in my mind what I was going to do and why I was doing it:

I had already dealt with the possibility of upgrading to the EVO through Sprint. There was a problem with that upgrade. There was double talk in their game. I'd researched the price all over the net and looked into the pros and cons of the phone. Quite frankly, I had misgivings about getting a phone that was so big, I could literally drive it. Anytime a phone comes with a built in kick stand, it kinda makes you wonder. The last kickstand I remember was on my bicycle.

The phone was going to cost more than $199 if I went through the Radio Shack store or the Sprint store. Now, I already had a $150 credit which I had banked on which would bring my costs down. When I got my Instinct (the hot number of its day) I paid literally almost nothing due to my upgrade credit because it was applied to the discounted price with an additional two years with their contract. When it came to the EVO however, Sprint took my credit and used it against their $499 list price which meant I would be paying over 300 bucks. Not good.

As a professional shopper who can squeeze a penny until it farts, this just was not sitting well with me. Now, mind you, The Radio Shack store had it in writing next to their EVO sample that the phone was $199 with an upgrade and 2 year contract commitment. That didn't sit well with Sprint and they handed me a different set of rules. I spent an entire day rationalizing the Radio Shack price with their customer no-service reps, but to no avail. I was even thanked for my loyalty and told that I had options when I told them I was going to leave. I had been with them for 9 years. Well---- you know what they say about a woman scorned.

The most important consideration was this, although Androids are in tough competition with the iPhone, they still have not arrived yet in my opinion. I didn't want another iPhone Imo (imitation) that's going to be obsolete within 6 months. I knew there would probably be another HTC phone with 2 kick-stands and a parking space within the next few months and I just wasn't seeing it. I rationalize that there is no point in investing in a phone that immediately depreciates in value. Not so with the iPhone. I like that they aren't always coming up with a new phone every six months. I like the stability and the ability to upgrade and still feel on top of the world a year or so later.

In fact, if I wanted to turn this into a business venture, I could have made a small fortune standing in lines and reselling them to the desperate! Seriously, the phone doesn't have a cheap, cheesy cell phone look and I like that it is well made and holds its own. I consider it more of an investment. It has more apps than any of the other phones and I like having those options. It may seem a little cult-ish until you've become a part of the iPhone experience. And while I stood in a line for two and an half hours, it was well worth it.

So, as I mosey into the sunset with all said and done, I look forward to the day when my daughters and I will come together and "bump" our iPhones in harmony in our Apple phone universe. Of course, the last time I did the bump it was a dance and it was the 70s, and the first time I bought anything by Apple, it was The Beatles White Album.