iPhone, post-release

As predicted, the iPhone created one of the craziest product releases in recorded history and delivered that unmistakable Apple ingenuity. I had the good fortune to actually handle one in an Apple Store while on vacation in Washington, D.C. and I was astounded.

First off, the thing is tiny. And I mean tiny: it’s unbelievably thin and light, with a gorgeous screen resolution for its size. The multi-touch technology added to the device’s ease-of-use, and the iPod and Phone features completely blew me away.

However, the Internet and YouTube features failed to meet my expectations. Safari proved sluggish and had difficulty displaying complicated websites, while YouTube took forever to load the browsing page and videos themselves. While these disappointments can be blamed on AT&T’s inferior data network, I still expected more from Apple.

As expected, the iPhone greatly helped Apple stock, which has been skyrocketing ever sine the launch. Also, my fears about the iPhone’s market seem to have been overblown: the iPhone is not only a hit, it’s a phenomenon. And as Apple continues to become more and more popular, more and more powerful, and more and more an essential tenet of American pop culture, one must ask one’s self what it means to Think Different.