Drooling over the iPhone … Again. Yawn.

Ya know, it’s been a week since *it* came out, and I already have serious iPhone fatigue. Well, except my interest is piqued when something happens like AT&T’s Wi-Fi snafu Friday. I admit, I have a snarky streak and my secret dream is to be a commentator on VH1’s “Best Week Ever.” If only I were telegenic. And wittier.

But seriously, can the media get any more breathless? Yeah, yeah, I know all about how cool it is: 3G, some new nods to business users and the applications store, and of course, the lower price tag. I gushed on about it myself back in June. Yes, I was one of those people. But now...I’m a little shocked that others of my wireless beat ilk—and they know who they are—are going on and on, hailing the device as the second coming of Alexander Graham Bell.

Enough, already. I’m already dealing with those that have drunk the Kool-Aid: people that like to whip out their iPhone ostentatiously at dinner in-between passing the salt and cutting their meat, or maybe they just casually leave it where it can’t be missed by companions and passing waiters (ooh, the coveted “passing waiter thinks you’re cool” rush). I don’t need the media making it any worse than it already is. Can Microsoft and Yahoo! start talks again or something? Please?

Funny I was thinking just along these lines when my editor sent me a link to a kindred spirit: John Dvorak at PC Magazine.Cheers, John.  Though Helio? Brother, please. 

Anyhoo ...  I’m not saying the iPhone isn’t an important story. It’s just the device itself has benefited from a veritable frenzy of coverage—almost all of it laudatory, mind you—the past few days. And there’s a duty on the part of us journos to consider all the angles. You know, fair and balanced. Consider new and different takes on an over-reported topic. Be journalists, not hype-machine extensions.

For instance, one could talk about the other options to consider: the Samsung Instinct from Sprint-Nextel Inc., for instance. And the LG Voyager from Verizon Wireless. Not to mention the sleek, like-it-despite-myself Windows Mobile phone from Sony Ericsson, the Xperia X1, announced at Mobile World Congress—still looking for a carrier home, if I’m not mistaken.

An interesting story, competitively speaking, is that handset makers have to deal with more than simply fighting touchscreen with touchscreen (of which I’m not a huge fan, actually—they’re too, well ... touchy). It’s also the operating system, branding, marketing, ease of use, ability to offer the real Internet and all those other things that have led Apple Inc. to the position of being able to say: “Shazam, suckas!”

Other story ideas: For the industry at large, we’ll have to see whether Apple’s applications strategy will do for telecom what iTunes has done for (or to, depending on how you look at it) digital music. Also, software guys are falling over themselves launching something, anything for the iPhone. The Oracle Corp. mobile business intelligence suite, for instance. trategically, is the iPhone really that important to a giant like Oracle? Why? I want to know. Do they just think it’s table stakes?

And I wonder about the potential bump in AT&T’s 3G traffic and what will they do if they find themselves oversubscribed. Something for channel partners to consider is what problems does the iPhone as a device present for the IT managers at various enterprises? OK, that’s dry, but important nonetheless. Rogue iPhones don’t a pretty picture make.

And for Homer Simpson’s sake, does it work the way it’s supposed to? That first generation was a delicate little flower indeed. At least that’s what people tell me.

And most importantly, will those rabid Applephiles (you know the ones who camped out for days before the launch ...Yeah, I’m talkin’ bout you) ever stop trash talking?

In other news, can anyone explain to me Belden’s acquisition of Trapeze Networks? I don’t understand.

Share this article: Email, Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Yahoo!MyWeb, Windows Live Favorites, Furl
Add this article feed to: RSS, My Yahoo, Newsgator, Bloglines