What's That Big Thing in my Pocket? Right, it's an iPhone

For years I rebelled against the great iPhone craze and made several excuses about why I didn't own one, like it's too expensive, too anti-social, and I don't want to be part of the herd. Now I own one, and have fallen for this seductress of a smartphone.

I swore I'd never fall for this handheld computer disguised as a phone, but here I am now feeling as if I'm the guy that pre-judged the supposedly quirky girl in class because I never chose to really get to know her.

However, when my sister chose to upgrade to the iPhone 4, she kindly gave her year-old 3GS to me (thanks again!), so I felt torn. On the one hand, I'd kind of, sort of, lobbied for it. But on the other, I now had to figure out whether or not this device was what I really wanted.

After owning it for little more than a week now, I have to confess that I'm rather smitten with my new mobile toy.

The only downside to this is I've become what I used to criticize. I used to often give several people I know a tremendously hard time about just how glued to the iPhone they'd become. Every time a fact or name of an actor needed to be confirmed, I'd see an iPhone fly out and I'd roll my eyes.

Now I've gone from the eye-roller, to the eye rollee. As I ride the TTC, I can feel the judgment of other riders. I can sense that they find it a little obnoxious that I need to swipe my screen continuously during a 10-minute bus ride. Sure, I'm usually never in any rush to look up something that springs to mind, but now I feel as if I have the perfect tool to make a rush toward certain information or activities if I want to.

I'm not sure if this is because I appreciate the speed in which I can track something down and just how snazzy all of that stuff looks on the screen, or if it's because I now feel like I have to justify carrying such an enormous item in my pocket all day, every day. Sure it doesn't possess the weight of a brick, but my God, if I were to wear jeans that are remotely tight, it would look like my thigh was trying to give birth to a tall, rectangular baby.

Let's face it. If you're a girl without a purse, or a guy without a satchel or a "European carry-all," you really have to commit to an iPhone. If you don't, you're just sacrificing an entire pocket for no reason. I know that now that I've locked myself into an iPhone, I sure as hell better make the most of it.

On a daily basis, I already fill my pants with a wallet, pack of gum, iPod, keys and change. Now that an iPhone has entered into the mix, it's throwing off my whole on-person organizational system. So now, I have to make that entire hassle of hauling this pocket-hog around feel worthwhile.

For the time being, that will be my excuse. I will never admit to being like the rest of you iPhone users out there that live and die by the device. I'm simply a man with a sister that chose to bring him into the iPhone planet.

If anything, blame me for flirting with the device from a distant, distant place and being late to the party of a technological marvel.

Don't get me wrong; I'm becoming more and more impressed on a daily basis with what this device is capable of doing. I find that I can get a lot more accomplished while using an iPhone and I can actually (gasp) have fun while using it.

Just don't expect any of these blogs to be composed on it. These fingers aren't yet nimble enough to navigate fluidly through this touchscreen business.