No IPhone? Write a Letter

So the new iPhone is out as of July 11, 2008. People are spending the equivalent of $200 US per phone; and there are some places like Belgium that are restricting the purchase to one item at a time so that everyone who wants one gets one.

Frankly, when I heard the geeky tech guys on the news saying that they can't see why everyone wouldn't want one of these things, my first response was "yeah, ok, whatever" and my second response was "and when was the last time you needed internet AND a cell phone at the same time?" I, have a simple cell phone. I call out, and people call in. I can send and receive text and I believe I can send email, although I never had a reason to do so from my phone. That's what my computer is for. I don't need a phone to take pictures, that's what my digital camera is for. For me this is simple; if you need to call me, I answer my phone. That's what phones are for, to CALL people.

I have an idea for all those people who just had to spend $200 for the new iPhone. Toss it out and start writing letters to people again. Has everybody forgotten how to do this? Have we gone so insane about needing speed to get things done that we are now willing to spend $200 on something just to give us a phone and internet faster than we probably really need it to be? I bet the people that just bought this newest gadget don't even know proper penmanship, or how to spell it either - does the new phone come with a dictionary? I can hear it already...

"What's a dictionary?"

"Wasn't that a book in the library..."

"What's a book? O, wait, weren't those the things with paper pages mom and dad used to have lying around the house?"

Remember when you had to actually be home to get a phone call? O, sorry, I forgot we're not supposed to be at home anymore. There probably is a good lawsuit for some newspaper to sue Apple Computers. They could blame the iPhone for the reason people don't take the time to read the news from anywhere but the internet, which is the reason no one reads the newspapers anymore. Let's all call each other and celebrate how we're saving the planet by not needing paper for anything anymore except to print out stupid stuff from MapQuest or our email.