Then again the joke that requires explanation was poorly implemented… Go figure…

So the new iPhone was announced yesterday, the 3g S. Aside from the new firmware which all phones will get, it has a faster processor, up to 32 gb storage (!!) and a better camera. All of these features are, of course, very nice, but nothing compelling enough to make me throw my 3g out the window and rush to upgrade.

But then again, this is the 3rd generation iPhone, and it’s not really about greasing the converted for a few more quid. It’s about refining a design enough and seeing if you can’t entice some new users over to the Apple side.

So, what I think *is* compelling is that they are keeping the current 3g iphone in production and lowering the cost to $99. Now *that* is a sweet deal. Yes, it’s still tied to AT&T, but this really is the greatest phone I have ever used! As per the costs of the AT&T plan, they do stick you with a mandatory data plan, but I’m paying less for the family’s three phones at AT&T than I ever did at Verizon or Sprint, so I don’t see a problem there. I can also get a signal in my lab with AT&T which I never could with the other two, so for me, at least it works. In any case, the cost of entry for an iphone has just gone down a rather substantial notch, and that is a beautiful thing…

…now if I could just manage the thing from linux…