the greatest thing since sliced bread?

So, yeah, the iPhone. (click that link -- you will be surprised -- yum!) No, I'm not willing to stand in line for one but I think one will find it's way to me kind of soonish. A few weeks ago I dropped my cell phone three or so times too many. It started falling apart. In my hand. Little pieces breaking off. The top half hanging on to the bottom by less than a thread. I called my oh-so-much-less-than-fabulous provider, the yellow and black one, to discuss my options. My contract has been up for ages and I have loathed them for a lot longer. The ensuing customer service "experience" solidified my desire to ditch them.

In a nutshell, they told me my only option was to pay them full price for a new phone OR sign on for another two years. They knew I could walk but that didn't matter. I asked the person if they would rather lose me as a customer than let me buy a phone on my own and activate it without another contract. I used the words "lose me as a customer" and the rep still said, "Yes." Someone is really slacking in their customer retention skills.

Needless to say, I went to my nearest AT&T store immediately. For a whopping eleven bucks I walked out with a new phone, my old number, and warm fuzzy feelings all over. My sales guy was amazing and since then has even answered questions for me on his day off. He did not, however, divulge anything about the iPhone I didn't already know. He's a good soldier, too.

Now that we know CD will have his own iPhone by the end of July, what about me? It will depend on how supplies hold up since, as I said, I'm not willing to queue for one. Wow, I must be getting old. A few years ago, I'd probably be trying to figure out a way to camp out at a store. Now I'm thinking that if I killed my last phone by dropping it, should I really be trusted with one of these beauties?