Will iBuy the iPhone? iDon't think so!

For once I'll resist temptation,
wait for likely improvements

Hi, my name is Ken, and I'm an Appleholic.

That's why it was hard for me to get through Friday, when the iPhone went on sale and hundreds of thousands -- maybe a million? -- people finally got their mitts on the most anticipated gadget in the history of, well, gadgetry.

They'll be showing off their iPhones to family and friends. I'll be sulking in a dark, lonely place, going through withdrawal.

As much as iWant an iPhone, iWon't buy one. iMust resist.

How serious is my affliction?

In 1984, I drove 166 miles from Cleveland to the University of Michigan to be among the first Macintosh computer owners in the country. That machine -- with its blazing 8MHz processor, 128k of RAM and 9-inch black and white screen -- got me through college, and I've been a Mac user ever since. A heavy user.

I've always been an Apple early-adopter, buying five different computers as soon as they were introduced. Always, I'd find myself regretting that I didn't wait a few months for a second- or third-generation product. (For example, my iMac has no built-in camera, and doesn't run on an Intel chip. Those came out seven months after I bought mine, and at a lower price. I have the sweats.)

With four Macs (one desktop, three laptops . . . don't ask) and two iPods (one regular, one video) I surely qualify as an Apple nut, but this time I'm going to wait.

The first wave of reviews has been overwhelmingly positive, but mentions of clunky functionality and missing features on the iPhone, and critical comments about the AT&T data network, are enough to give me pause.

In a few months Apple will make improvements, AT&T will get its act together, third-party developers will add lots of widgets and Web apps, and the price will come down.

And, I won't have to wait in line!

(I'm trying to convince myself I'm doing the right thing. iMust resist.)

As it turns out, I'm in the market for a new mobile phone; my previous contract has expired, and I switched to a prepaid plan so I'd have the flexibility to grab an iPhone.

But $499 or $599 is a lot of dough for a gadget. Tack on taxes and a two-year plan from AT&T, and you could be looking at $2,365 -- nearly $100 a month -- to make phone calls, check your e-mail, send text messages, take pictures, surf the Web, listen to music and watch videos.

Instead, I'll use one of my four Apple computers for the Internet functions, use one of the two iPods for my entertainment needs -- and pay 10 cents a minute for my calls and texts on a little phone that doesn't even have a camera.

I might as well save money, since I've already lost a bundle. Back in early March, I told some friends that we needed to buy as much Apple stock as we could. Mortgage the houses, I said. The price that day was $88 a share. Lately, Apple shares have been trading around $120. That's a $32 bump in four months. Of course, I bought zero shares.

So, good luck, iPhone pioneers! Give Apple lots of feedback so we interlopers get something better -- when the tremors wear off.