Here’s a nice little parody from David Armano that is pretty much how I’m feeling about the predominantly fierce loyal coverage of the Apple iPhone.

The first day, it’s all everyone was talking about. I admittedly covet my iPods, but I haven’t completely crossed over to the dark side…yet. I admit that I’m guilty of asking the question “So, have you seen the iPhone yet?” but mostly it was just to see what kind of a response I’d get (my favorite being “I’d like to caress it.”)

I’m happy to say that for the most part I’m surrounded by people who are at least a little skeptical.

My two biggest concerns:

The Screen

I drop my phones. I inadvertently cause blackberries to roll down stairs. I’ve caused, witnessed or heard about many a device bounce down hills, hallways, or wedge themselves under grimy car seats.

It’s a utility device. And as pretty as some phones are, there are those of us should never be trusted with your Razr. Somehow it will end up covered in dog slobber, jammed by popcorn bits, and crushed by a rock. In one afternoon.

The touchscreen will either be as beautiful as it appears to be in the mock up (and be too vulnerable for me because of it), or it will take on a more tablet-y appearance, in which case having owned a tablet…it’s not nearly as swank a screen.

I tried the touch screen Treo. I effectively killed two of them in less than four months each. And their screen was recessed enough to be at least mildly protected.

Email

So you can still do that on here. Receiving emails, looks great to me. But the responding. The keyboard that’s not a keyboard. The lack of keys. The beauty that is pounding functionality’s ass.

Firefox just crashed while I tried to watch the email Quicktour. I take that as a sign of an impending pox on me if (1) get an iPhone, (2) recieve an email, and (3) try to respond.

So…

Far more interesting, I think at least, were a couple of camera related gadgets near us in the Sands. The first would be a little wrist camera, the Digital Hero,   which is an easy to swallow $79.95.

The picture quality is pretty awesome, and the designed to get dirty appeal makes it an ideal choice for those who find themselves up to 30 feet deep or snowboarding down mountains. I love it. I might be more likely to consider those two scenarios for it.

The other thing that caught my eye was a nifty, far easier to cart around reinvention of the traditional camera tripod. I’ve seen what my Dad loyally carries around for his many adventures. They’re big, their bulky, and you have to be really committed to lug it along.

 It’s called a Gorillapod. Instead, this little windy flexible thingie can be attached in all sorts of ways. So, you can  get the perfect shot without adding another piece of carry on luggage.

I have a phone. You may have heard of it…it’s called a Blackberry. So instead of drooling all over the touchscreen on the iPhone that I won’t actually be able to drool all over for another six months…I have to find other goodies to want and love.