'Pinch' me, I'm dreaming

On the knuckles of one hand is tattooed "H-A-T-E" for my hate of cell phones.

On the knuckles of the other hand is tattooed "L-O-V-E" for my love of everything Apple.

Today, my hands came together in a welcoming embrace of the iPhone. In one of its archetypical PR blitzkreigs, this one seemingly overshadowing the entire CES affair, Apple used the annual MacWorld forum to once again revolutionize an industry. Apple Inc (the Computer has officially been dropped from the company name, symbolizing its position as a consumer electronics company) announced its much-anticipated foray into the cell phone space with the iPhone. Frankly, if a cure for cancer were announced today, it would probably have to be satisfied with page two coverage.

I'm starting to sound like a lame regurgitation of all the press coverage I've been reading today, but I'm that excited by this product. While the price is exorbinant, and the world will undoubtedly wait to see if performance lives up to the hype, the iPhone seems to have the potential to be a paradigm shifter. It embodies the convergence not only of so many technologies and applications, but it also marks the infusion of Apple's enlighted approach to user interface into a space horribly deprived of elegant solutions.

After the announcement, not only is every executive at every cell phone manufacturer losing sleep tonight and wondering if it's time to sell their stock, but Bill Gates is probably preparing to eBay all his surplus Zunes now that its minor competitive advantage of the horizontal screen just got one-upped with the the auto-rotating, "accelerometer"-invoked iPhone LCD.

If you haven't looked into it further, enjoy these links:

Apple iPhone site (be sure to watch the demos)

If you have an hour or so to kill, watch the Steve Jobs iPhone Introduction.
I'm not sure how long it will be up, but it's worth the time.

If you do watch it, you'll understand the relevance of the 'pinch' reference. Good God, it's cool. Frivolous, but cool in a Minority Report sort of way. (Hint, you'll first see it in the second phase of the speech about phone features, when Steve talks about the Photo Organizer. It's at about the 33-minute mark. I personally love the "no way" moan from the crowd as Steve Jobs implies what the pinch is, and then the shock and awe when he demonstrates it.)

Apple Computer is dead. Long live Apple.