The Addiction that is the iPhone

A long time ago, a new kind of phone came on the market. One that combined all the convenience of a mobile phone and the wonder of a tiny internet-enabled computer.

Technology. It is amazing.

After the initial prices came down, Mr. at Home's dreams were realized and he became the proud owner of one of these technological marvels. He was happy. Excited. Awed that he carried the whole internet in his pocket. He spent hours staring at his tiny screen and tapping away. When I asked a question, he could look up the answer. When we drove to Orlando, he could figure where we were and where to go next. He'd hand it over to me periodically, but it was more intimidating than interesting. I mean, what use could I possibly have for the thing?

Then, the new iPhone came out and the new technology bug bit again. More of my friends were talking about how great their iPhones were. Another friend had his new iPhone out and Mr. at Home saw just how much faster it was. This time when he offered to give me his iPhone if I would let him get a new one, I accepted.

Do you know what my techno-geek, cutting edge, early adopter hubby did? He offered to let me have the new phone. That, my friends, is the ultimate sacrifice. I told him that I would really be happy with the "old" iPhone and he'd appreciate the power of the new one so much more than I would. Besides, he'd probably still slip in remarks about how his old phone just wasn't as fast/powerful/snazzy as my new one :-) In the end, I got the old phone and a cool new slip-proof cover for it and he got the new faster/more powerful/snazzier one and we're both happy.

Now that I am in possession of the iPhone, I understand the addiction. I can check my email while I'm sitting at the playground, read my Google Reader while I'm waiting for L to get out of dance, find the address for the ballfields since I forgot to do it before the basketball game, check to see if tonight's church activities were cancelled because of the snow, and look up the name of Shah Majal's wife to cheat on a MOPS quiz.

Oh, I kid. I marked that question wrong *then* I looked it up because I was curious what the story was. Her name was Mumtaz Majal, by the way.

All of this is to say, the iPhone is cool. Very cool. It's becoming an absolutely essential tool even for a stay-at-homeschooling-mom like me.