Do you really need an iPhone?

It was a slow last week, largely due to the Hari Raya holidays here. So with a few public holidays in hand, I decided to spend the week relaxing and catching up with friends and family over long lunches and dinners.

In between those lunches and dinners, I also spent a significant amount of time playing with my new toy, the Apple iPhone 3Gs, which I had recently purchased.

As I carried the iPhone around, many of my friends wanted to view my iPhone and have a first-hand touch-and-feel of this phone that has been touted as revolutionary.

Malaysia got into the iPhone game in March via local operator Maxis Communications, which followed up last month with the launch of the iPhone 3GS. But in reality, the iPhone had long been available in the grey market with many people opting to own unofficial versions of the original iPhone in mid-2007, and the 3G-version in mid-2008.

Just after I picked up my iPhone, several of my friends decided to take the plunge and get one for themselves. Others were more cautious, asking me what I thought and whether they should invest in one or not.

As I began to think about it, I asked myself, what is it that the iPhone has that mesmerises people?

Sure, it looks good aesthetically and yes it does come built solidly as a multimedia device. The iPhone had brought features to a mobile phone that were unseen anywhere else at the time such as "finger pinch" zoom in/out manoeuvre, and the ability to switch from a portrait to a landscape display or vice versa by a mere turn of the device.

And yes, there was the iPod player integrated into the phone, the Google Maps with GPS, digital compass, the slick Safari browser and the literally thousands of applications that users can download from the Apple App Store.

But, the iPhone also brought with it some odds and ends that did not seem to tally up for a smartphone. First that comes to mind is the absence of the copy-and-paste and the multimedia messaging functions, which not until recently only did Apple see fit to add to its latest software version.

Other quirks the iPhone suffers from include the absence of an SMS character counter, which is standard on most phones today, and a Safari browser that doesn't support Flash or Java applications. Throw in its less-than-capable battery life and the picture of discouragement seems complete.

But, despite some of these glaringly missing features and quirks, the appeal of the iPhone is still intact and consumers still flock to buy the iPhone. Here in Malaysia, I understand the waiting list for a purchase of an iPhone 3GS is between three and six weeks with Maxis. And in grey markets, the iPhone pricing fluctuates based on supply and demand.

But is the iPhone all bang-up as it is advertised to be? Is it such a revolutionary phone that consumers just have to have it? Or is it merely the clever marketing savvy of Steve Jobs and Apple that has consumers mesmerised, drawing them into believing that they need an iPhone in their lives?

I think there are good reasons why the iPhone is such a hit with users. It is stylish and aesthetically pleasing, it's fairly easy to set up and use, and it does seamlessly present information in a fuss-free manner, all of which are the hallmarks of an Apple device.

But, I suspect that for many out there, the quest to own an iPhone is more about being hip and about keeping up with the Joneses rather than a calculated decision to buy a phone so that they can exploit the true power of a multimedia device.

Many consumers, I believe, turn to the iPhone because of the way it's been positioned in savvy marketing campaigns churned out by Apple, as well as the hype that has been carried in the media.

The Apple iPhone is certainly not the only phone in the market that has clever multimedia features. Today, there are quite a few multimedia-enabled phones out in the market that consumers can choose from, all of which basically have the same functionalities the iPhone has.

And tomorrow, there will be more phonemakers introducing new smartphones to the market. These companies may implement features differently, but nonetheless, such features are not unique only to Apple.

So at the end of the day, I think anyone considering an iPhone should ask themselves three questions: First, what features would you want on your phone? Second, how much are you willing to part with to get those features? Third, have you considered other smartphones with similar features on the market?

An honest assessment of these three questions would definitely reveal if one should consider buying the iPhone or not. After all, it's pointless going ga-ga over the iPhone's sexy looks and much-endowed multimedia capabilities if more than half the time, one would not be using those features.

For many out there, I do believe they would not need to load hundreds of applications on their phone. Much of the time, many of us would be happy with probably a dozen or so apps, and this would keep us happy most of the time.

And, don't forget, every time you download an app, you are likely to spend more and you'll also need to budget for a data package as the iPhone won't be much fun if you can't connect to the Internet while on-the-go.

In short, my advice to my friends is to let their heads reign instead of their hearts when considering if they should purchase the iPhone. After all, if you strip away all the hype of the iPhone, it's only just a phone.

As for me?

Being a self-confessed gadget geek, my justification for owning an iPhone is that I'm constantly playing around with my iPhone, tweaking it over and over again.

And that's my reason for owning the iPhone--at least that's what I tell my very understanding wife.