iPhoney

I'm tired of people hating on my iPhone. I remember when I first got it, my friends were so jealous. Not even two years later, and I'm actually embarrassed to take it out on the train. They can't even tell that I have the crappy 3G version, that I'm running a badly jailbroken 2.2.1 firmware, they can't see the scratches and cracks in the screen, or the "I got into a fight with a bear" gashes on the back...they just know it's an iPhone and therefore they hate me with the fury of a thousand suns. Everyone assumes that I'm some sort of Apple fanboy or I'm too stupid to realize that I'm basically buying a brand.

Let me set the record straight: I am not an Apple fanboy. I have never owned an iPod, I use Windows computers, I think the iPad is only good for the accordian app, and I think Steve Jobs looks suspiciously like a cyborg with a fetish for turtleneck sweaters.

I realize the iPhone is sort of "behind the times", especially the one I have. Considering the phone I had before, it's a damn super computer. I could go out and get an HTC Evo, but I have AT&T and a great plan. I could unlock it and be frolicking in the fields of happiness and unicorn farts, but why would I go through that much pain?

I didn't get it because it looks pretty (even though it is), or to be another pretentious jerkwad and whip it out on the train and prove to people I'm oh-so-rich (even though I do). I got it because I wanted to have an mp3 player and a smart phone without having to lug around two objects everywhere I go. It was smaller than most smart phones that were out on the market, there were lots of cases and accessories for it, and it was available on my plan.

I know loads of people who have iPhones. My sister, my mother, my boyfriend, a few of my friends...but I still get tons of slack from people. If I have some sort of trivial problem with my phone and I post about it on Facebook, I can bet that at least 4 people will "like" it and talk smack. It hurts my feelings. Why hate? What has the phone ever done to you? What makes your TracFone (which uses AT&T's towers) any better than my phone?

Maybe in the next few years, I'll upgrade to a better phone. Maybe the next iPhone that comes out will be fifty times better than any phone that has ever existed, and you'll be eating your words. But until then, leave me and my decrepit phone alone.