July 13, 2007

An unlikely love story

I don't fall for hype. Hey, I've written hype. I know how it works. So, when Apple unveiled their new iPhone as the new must-have, it barely caught my attention. After all, I had a cell phone and an MP3 player. I had a computer to browse the web and get e-mail. I had a calendar and a photo album. I did not feel the need to carry these with me at all times. I was immune to the growing hysteria. Who would wait in line for hours for the privilege of plunking down $500 for a fancy gizmo.

Well, my son, for one. I didn't know this until we went to his place for dinner on Saturday after the Friday Frenzy at Apple stores nationwide.

"Look what I got," he said, pulling the sleek black gizmo out of his pocket.

"Jason!" I said. "You didn't camp out overnight, did you?" In the primitive part of my brain I was thinking, "Was he warm enough? Was he safe? Did he have something to eat?" When my children are 50 years old, if I'm still alive (please God) I will still be worrying about stuff like this.

"Nah," he answered. I went down in the morning. I only had to wait 3 hours."

We were scheduled to meet a friend at a restaurant at a certain time, so the conversation turned to the logistics of who would drive and which route we would take.

It wasn't until we had arrived back at Jason's super-cool apartment with the concrete countertops, the stainless steel appliances and the surround-sound satellite stuff, that I got a chance to look at his expensive new toy.

Being skeptical by nature, I was dubious about whether anyone really needed this thing. "What the big deal?" I thought as Jason handed me his iPhone.

One look at those cute little icons on its shiny black face and I was smitten. The web browser that you could zoom in on with a stroke of your finger? Heaven! The photo gallery that you can literally flip through? Bliss! The ability to get a real-time weather report from Paris? Love it!

It wasn't until I saw Google maps that I moved from envy to lust. How had I lived my whole life without this? And look! An aerial picture of my house. Wouldn't this be great to have at my fingertips?

I had to have one. Keeper, who is wowed by the fact that a thermos can keep liquids either hot OR cold, was thunderstruck by the whole thing. When he saw me drooling over this new object of desire, he had one thought and one thought alone: I could buy her this for her birthday and score some big points.

Of course, once he agreed to pay for it, there was no reason to wait. The next Friday, when I had a morning meeting in Palo Alto, I hotfooted it down University Avenue to wait in line with the rest of the geeks. When the store opened 10 minutes later, we were told that there were no iPhones, but they were expecting them in later that day. We were told to call back at noon. I went home to walk the dog, feed the cat, and check my e-mail the old-fashioned way - on my desktop computer. At 12:00 sharp, I called the Apple store. "We just got some in," the breathless clerk told me. "It's first come, first served."

I hopped in the Subaru and made a beeline for Palo Alto. Would I be there on time? Why did I live so far away? It would be just my luck if they sold the last one to the guy who cut in front of me on El Camino. I parked the car and, panting, jogged the two blocks to the University Avenue shrine. There, under the counter, a black-shirted geek god pulled out a 4 gigabyte iPhone that was mine for a mere $499 plus tax. I hugged my purchase to my chest and walked back to the car, where I pulled out my outdated flip phone. I dialed the one person who would share my excitement. "Jason!" I cried. "I just scored an iPhone!"