Wolf Tracking

While I typically LOVE anything new, especially mobile phones, I won’t be one of the millions of people who are expected to switch from current cell phone providers to AT&T (I’m a Sprint customer), trade in their current mobile devices (I have a Blackberry 8703e) and plop down more than $499 for a new Apple iPhone – today.

According to Apple and AT&T, the iPhone is expected to be a “revolutionary new mobile phone that allows you to make a call by simply pointing your finger at a name or number in your address book, a favorites list, or a call log. It also automatically syncs all your contacts from a PC, Mac, or Internet service. And it lets you select and listen to voicemail messages in whatever order you want - just like email.

Personally, I don’t feel the need to be that cool AND I’m not going to spend such an insane amount of money customizing my service plan. I mean, who wants a basic iPhone without all the bells and whistles. It’s like buying a Cadillac Escalade without the rims!

I’ve also heard that there are very slow Internet speeds and some issues with the keyboards. Of course, to be expected with the first-generation release of this product.

But let’s switch gears on the product aspects to talk about the sheer media frenzy of it all.

Talk about dominating the news, media and pop culture. This iPhone is being written about, blogged about, talked about and Googled more than when news hit that Paris Hilton was prematurely released from jail and then sent back to the slammer crying.

Case in point, when I Googled Paris Hilton there were approximately 71,200,000 and when I Googled the Apple iPhone, it took the lead with 72,900,000 results in 0.9 seconds. Ok, granted this is not a true numerical calculation since we’re off by fractions of a second – but I know you get my drift.

My advice to anyone considering buying the iPhone on Friday is this:

• Read the product reviews; just check out this Reuters article in InformationWeek.
• If you’re not a current AT&T/Cingular customer, contact your mobile provider to ask about early termination fees (my early termination fee through Sprint is $250).