iPhone

I want an iPhone.

Why?

That's what I'm trying to work out.

For a couple of weeks now, I've been thinking about getting one. I can't remember whether it was because of failings with my current phone, or whether I saw someone else using it and thought it was much better than mine, or if I was simply brainwashed by the advert saying "If you don't have an iPhone, you don't have an iPhone." (Whoever thought of that line was a genius, eh?)

But regardless, for the last few weeks I have been trying to save up a bit of money, with the intention of - soon - getting an iPhone.

As stated, I'm not sure why. The iPhone looks good, no doubt. From the typical capabilties of a modern-day mobile to the huge amount of memory, and further advanced features, it just seems like, the next time I require a new phone, I should get this one.

But what makes the iPhone better than mine, or any others? And do I really need it?

My current mobile is a Nokia 3200 slide (or something like that; I can't remember its exact name). It has a camera, video mechanism, sound recorder and Internet access, amongst other stuff. It also has (with a memory card anyway) a lot of storage space, and other functions that make it a good phone. I've had it for over two years and, besides a week where it went all funny because of heavy rain (made worse by the fact it happened right after Liverpool's embarrassing defeat to Northampton), it's pretty good.

Yet I want an iPhone.

I know I am 23, and not 3. I know that I have a 20 GB MP3 player, which would probably have more room than an iPhone. Even the 20 GB is too much: I've got 1200+ tracks on it, and barely half the memory is taken. And that's after four years with the thing. I know that I have a digital camera, which takes much better pictures than an iPhone. As for videos: unless I wanted to live my life via YouTube, I don't need anything more than a basic recorder.

In other words, everything an iPhone appears to do, I already have devices that do these things - maybe even better.

But I still want an iPhone.

The reason?

Everyone else has one.

Well, nearly everyone.

Back when I got my first mobile, everyone - and I mean, everyone - else I knew had one. The actual model I got was good enough for me, yet still lagging behind the others. It was like Doctors to Coronation Street, or Daybreak to GMTV, or Matthew Hatton to, er, Ricky Hatton.

My second phone was brilliant - did everything you could ask, given the standards of the time - but then broke. My next two phones were good, but had frequent slowdown issues. (Does that make sense? I don't know.) And so I then went onto the phone I have now.

Each one got better as I went on: there was always an increase in the storage of pics, songs and clips; there was always an increase in the quality of the pictures themselves; and there were always new and exciting features (I felt like I had won the Lotto when I discovered a phone that allowed you to play Monopoly. Even if it was someone's else's, I was proper chedded,)

But the best today is never enough for tomorrow. There is always a newer, better version to come. Even with a device where you think, "They couldn't have done anymore" - well, they usually do.

Which may explain why I want an iPhone.

The camera is much better - I have tried it and the pics look as they would on a digital camera, unlike my current phone wherein an object has to be very close or it goes a bit fuzzy. There is far more room for music; I have the MP3, but I like to store my "current" favourites on my phone, for which there is only room for a couple. And I would imagine that the Internet access is far better than on the Slide, where you wait 5 minutes for your emails to show up, only to be told that due to some error you can't see them, and have wasted credit while waiting. As for the apps: I know too little about them, but needless to say my current phone doesn't have those, either.

This doesn't just apply to phones. It applies to TV's (did we need HD or 3D years ago?), computer consoles (I used to think the graphics on Goldeneye 007 were amazing, even when some fella's arm magically went halfway through a door), PC's (80GB was more than enough for me in 2006; now I'm only considering getting laptops with 500GB or more) and virtually everything else in life. You may have the best that's out now, but it won't always be the best. But that's life: you get what you want more than anything, and still want more.

And no doubt, in years to come, we will consider even the iPhone to be a relic of a bygone era.

So, for that reason, I have lost interest in buying an iPhone. Sure, it's great and advanced and all that, but it wll still end up being inferior to something else, and costs hundreds of pounds anyway. (Actually, that's probably more of a deciding factor than everything else). And besides, it may have all the fancy features, but it still does the same as my current mobile - and every other one currently in existence.

That is, to call and text people.

So, I shall stick with my Nokia 3200 slide, at least until it breaks. It may not have apps, the normal memory (as in, without memory cards) may be a little stingy and the camera may only work if you're practically touching the face of the guy whose picture you're taking, but this only seems inferior because the iPhone is available - and even if I get the iPhone, that will someday be second best too.

Therefore, I no longer want an iPhone. The guy said "If you don't have an iPhone, you don't have an iPhone." Well, I don't have an iPhone, and I no longer want to have an iPhone.

Well, not as much.