Bought an iPhone--no, wait! TWO iPhones!!

I admit that I had no hardon going for the iPhone, despite being a regular Mac user. My wife was in technolust, though--yet at $500 for the basic 4GB unit and $600 for 8GB, a purchase wasn't going to be happening anytime soon. Of course, 'soon' is a relative term, isn't it?

Moreover, my wife mentioned to me in no uncertain terms that if I bought one for myself, that she'd immediately put the hammer down to me about my credit card responsibilities, that we shouldn't indulge ourselves, and that there was no way in Hell that she would allow me to keep it wthout knowing her dismay, ire, etc., well, you get it. So when I got the urge (and the cash) to go ahead and get one, I had a problem. What would be the solution?

Simple: I bought two iPhones.

One for her and one for me. If she insisted that it was an indulgence, the answer was simple--they'd both go back.

Like THAT would happen.

So now we both have the devices and we love them. Great fun, excellent manufacturing and engineering and all that. But--but--well, there's always a but: ATT service.

$20 for a data service package each month. OK, not too bad, but what about the folks who just want the iPhone, an iPod, and the cool factor? No such luck--you NEED the dataservice plan--even for voicemail! Yes, there's something called 'visual voicemail' that REQUIRES the data service package. Now, on balance, I wouldn't mind--and don't mind so much--paying the $20 data package service but to have to have the data service in tandem with basic voicemail services--it's kinda like...like blackmail.

Yah, blackmail. You can have the phone, you can have basic call and receive calls, but if you want voicemail, you gotta pay $20 a month. This. Fricking. SUCKS. It does NOTHING to ingratiate ATT with me, and I've been with the company for nearly ten years and have had increasingly more complaints about the company every year. Just little things, mind you--but now, with the iPhone now, well--if it weren't for the iPhone being tied to them, I'm not sure I'd stick with them at all. And just on general principles.

More and more it seems that large corporations are STICKING it to the consumer in little, inane, or horrific ways. I don't like the trend, not at all.

But the iPhone is pretty awesome, I must admit. Going online in the middle of the day to check email from work or for personal--to check movie listings? Directions to some address? You can do most anything electronic with this marvel, and it's SO COOL...

Chris