iPhone observations
Since the iPhone's release, it seems that everyone has an opinion on whether or not the features are worth the money, or how it will or won't impact the world. It has this, and doesn't have that, etc. Here are a couple of my observations.
First, I know 25 people with the iPhone – personally. I have never seen such adoption of any consumer electronics device. Say what you want about the feature set, but the numbers don't lie. The interesting part of this is that nearly all of them have (err, had) and iPod too.
If you doubt the draw of the iPhone, go to a local Apple store and watch not only which device draws attention, but notice the sheer volume of traffic in the store. People of all ages are there, from the dreamer in grade school, to the mature senior adult.
Second, I've noticed that iPhone users are less likely to use their computers after business hours. I noticed on Sunday, for example, that after my morning email/news checking, that I didn't open my laptop again until Monday morning coffee. If you know me, you know that this is very, very unusual.
It took a while for that to sink in, but once it did, I pinged a few other owners. The story is the same. The experience with the phone is so delightful, that it is actually enabling people to get away from their computers.
I bet Apple didn't anticipate that one.