Yes, this is more than infatuation.

I love my iPhone.

I confess that it feels ridiculous to speak of such affection toward an electronic device. Technologically speaking, I don’t tend to be either savvy or swift. In fact, I prided myself on milking six years out of my previous cell phone. I had purchased it when we lived in China in 2004. It was a phone–nothing more. When I purchased it, the very fact that I was joining the “cell phone world”, with a couple billion members at that point, felt like a quantum leap in my technological posture. When that phone finally gave out, I asked my wife to buy me the cheapest, plainest phone she could find. Bells and whistles were neither wanted nor welcomed. Part of the motivation behind moves like this is to minimize the learning curve typically associated with new gadgets. The other part is that I’m a cheapskate. Even when I had a cell phone, I was a pay-as-you-go, my-bill-is-$100-per-year customer, and quite proud of it.

You can imagine the shock of those around me then when I confessed just before Christmas that I was considering an upgrade to an iPhone.

But my “considering phase” has the pace and life span of a tortise. Nearly six weeks of inner debate persisted over what many would consider a no-brainer. How much will I use it? Is it worth that monthly bill? Can I justify both the one-time and monthly expense? Will it really be that helpful to me?

I had a number of reasons for believing that an iPhone could impact my daily life in a number of significant ways, but when you’re a lunatic inside, that isn’t enough information to obsess over. If you’re reading this babble, and thinking, “Hello Mr. OCD,” I simply reply, “Nice to meet you.”

As I purchased my phone, the salesman indicated that I had a fifteen-day window during which I could return it, no questions asked. My paranoid, still resistant side took note of this potential out.

Let the record show: I will NOT be returning this phone.

Three weeks into my new life, and I am stunned by the things this little instrument is capable of. I have always agreed that there is a special kind of beauty observed in something that is well-designed, fully functional, plainly pleasurable, and “just right” in a host of ways. But the iPhone 4S might be the finest example of this that I’ve ever observed in anything man-made. Seriously, this thing is a piece of work. Apple, I salute you!

And I am fairly certain I can milk at least seven solid years out of this baby!

Question: iPhone users, what do you enjoy most about your phone?  Any tips or tricks to give a newcomer to the community?  Comments below would be great!

Next Post, I’ll reveal the first wave of must-have apps that I’ve discovered.