The first post about the iPhone here at patrickWeb was on January 10, 2007. Many iPhone stories have followed since then. I have to admit that I love the iPhone technology and the many things it makes possible.  The iPhone 5 will be the sixth iPhone in my life. The string of past models includes iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPhone 4S.  This may seem excessive acquisition of technology, but as I keep saying, I don’t play golf! There is a cost to stay on the early adopter curve, but it is not exorbitant if you act quickly when new things are announced. I had thought 6 AM was plenty early enough to order the iPhone 5 — wow, was I wrong.  I was not aware that they would open the apple.com store as early as 3 AM. I did look around the web for clues on the opening time, but I did not look sufficiently.  My 6 AM order got me an October 5th  delivery. Ok, I won’t be the first kid on the block to have one, but I will have it almost soon enough. The reporters that write stories about the 5 not being that exciting do not understand technology. I see the 5 as a breakthrough device. The Apple keynote was captivating. They are superb with their engineering, but even more superb with their marketing.  I love how they exploit the age-old model of “tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them.” They execute with precision. The competitors are making great strides as predicted, and they have some very nice features to offer that the iPhone does not have. However, Apple has an uncanny ability to integrate things, to make it simple, and to delight. Nothing goes straight up forever, and Apple will have its day, but for now, they are no top with no signs of slowing down. 
I would have commmitted my 4S to gazelle.com but, unfortunately, I dropped the 4S on a hard floor six months ago and it has a crack in the front. I was able to patch it up with some glue and a good buffing, but I don’t think gazelle would give me the undamaged value. However, I am confident that eBay will come to the rescue. I will list the 4S there and will disclose the imperfection and provide a closeup picture. I am sure a buyer will emerge and pay a fair price for it. In the past, I have actually received more than market value for some of the iPhones.  

The best example I can offer of the minimization of cost to stay on the leading edge is with a musical upgrade I just made.  I have become a fan of Sonos music technology.  The Sonos app runs on the iMac, MacBook Pro, iPhone, and iPad. Wherever I am, I can make a musical selection from the music streaming services in Sonos. Depending on the day, the time, and the mood, I can select SiriuxXM, KDFC (San Francisco) classical music, Songza playlists of the day, Van Morrison on Pandora, or some Mozart playlists from the iTunes library.  The Sonos Bridge, which connects the music service to my LAN, and the Sonos Connect, which feeds the selected music into my home audio system, cost $398. The new system replaced my Squeezebox (similar to Sonos but older), a cable music box from AT&T Uverse, and a Delphi SkyFi XM radio receiver.  I sold the Squeezebox on eBay for $150, the Delphi auction is still underway with one $10 bid. I may get $50 for it. The cable music box went back to AT&T but my monthly fee reduction will save $84 over the next year.  The XM radio savings will be $120 because I have lifetime Sirius in my car and that includes access to Internet-based SiriusXM which now flows through the Sonos app.   The bottom line is that my significant musical upgrade  was free!