The lines have disappeared, AT&T stores are no longer mobbed, and the nerds are nestled, all snug in their beds. Given, they're basking in the warm electronic glow of touchscreen computing at its tiniest, so they're definitely NOT sleeping. As an Apple fanboy and notorious early adopter, I'm not ashamed to say I'm one of them. You see, the long-awaited iPhone has been out for well over a month, and the earliest reports I saw said they sold 270,000 in the first 30 hours. Even if Emperor Jobs made a measly $1 on each one, he made enough in a day and a half to buy a nice starter home in Ohio.

I think that’s a hit.

Now I’ll preface this by saying that the iPhone will not make you a better guy. It will get you attention, though, and that might just lead to meeting new women – women who like gadgets – and that ain’t bad at all.

For your sake, I won’t describe the prices, specs or any of that nonsense. We all know that stuff, but on the off chance you don’t, you can Google “iPhone” and read the first 3 paragraphs of any of the 1000s of articles about it. This is purely an annex to those “reviews.” See, I’ve already saved you some reading time. Let’s just get into the pros and cons.

What iLike

• Form Factor: Thinner and slightly taller than other smartphones, but definitely smaller than I expected. And, even when it’s off, I can stare at it for hours – so can the ladies.
  
• Screen: Gorgeous resolution. Pictures look GREAT on it. Icons look great on it. And it automatically adjusts brightness depending on if you’re inside or out, a carry-over feature from Apple’s MacBook Pro. Best of all, it turns itself off completely when you hold it up to make or take a call.
  
• Interface: This one is hard to put into words. It just works, the way you think it should. You want to go to the next picture, you slide your finger over. You want to zoom in, put your fingers on it and spread it apart. Got an e-mail with an address or phone number in it? Instantly add it to your contacts or get directions. And I mean it. One screen tap. I love it. At least do yourself the favor of trying it out at an Apple or AT&T store, or just play with your friends’ if you haven’t already.
  
• Syncing: All done through iTunes, which also automatically grabbed my address book and calendar. Easy peasy, and it’s charging at the same time. Bonus.
  
• The Keyboard: I thought the virtual, software-based keyboard would be the deal-breaker. But, it actually does everything they said it would do. Even words I horribly massacre are magically fixed by the time I get to the last letter. Within the first two days, I’d graduated to typing with 2 thumbs. I do wish that it worked in landscape mode too, though.
• The Earbuds: You can listen to music, and when a call comes in, you press this piece below the right earbud to take the call. When you’re done, click it again and your music picks up right where you left off. Bad-ass. But, they’re still earbuds, so they fall out a lot. I’m already dreaming about the nice over-and-inside-the-ear version that Sony will make.
  
• Call quality: This depends on where you live, but I’ve gotten better reception and call clarity than I ever did with my Treo. This was a bit of a surprise. I did notice, though, that it does occasionally jump to voicemail without the phone ringing.
• E-mail: Now I get all my personal accounts on my phone, and I can set how often it checks for new messages. iPhone doesn’t play so nice with work e-mail, yet, but why the hell would I want work e-mail on my phone? They gave me a blackberry for that, which I can turn off on nights and weekends.
• Data Plan: Unlike my wife’s Blackberry, which was another $80 per month on top of our voice plan, my new unlimited data plan for the iPhone was only $30 more than what I was already paying.

What iDon’t

• Customization (or lack thereof): If you’re into custom ringtones, games, and changing the interface on your mobile device, stay away. This thing is CLOSED, for now. Remember, the first iPod didn’t have a color screen or video capabilities, so, let’s consider it “opportunity for growth.”
  
• No 3G support: 3G is the faster, 3^rd generation wireless data transfer protocol used by AT&T… except on the iPhone. Websites load pretty slowly unless you’re on a wi-fi network. It works OK on AT&T’s EDGE network, but only as well as dial-up. So, it’s not going to replace your computer, and good luck watching YouTube videos unless you’re REAL close to a cell tower.
  
• Smudging: I never realized how disgustingly greasy my fingers and face are, even after just washing hands and face. Or, like any other cell phone, it just smudges like a mofo. This was also a problem with my old Samsung flip, and my Treo. I just notice it more now since I’m not using a keypad or a stylus. If you’re sweaty or are wearing makeup for any reason, bring along the little polishing cloth that come with the iPhone. You’ll need it.
  
• Memory: Unfortunately, it won’t replace my iPod just yet. Even the 8GB version isn’t going to hold my 3,000-song library on top of my contacts and calendar.
• The headphone jack: It doesn’t fit any regular headphones, of which I have many, without another $20 adapter. Then again, regular headphones don’t allow you to listen to music and make/answer calls. I’d imagine that within 60 days, we’ll have new options.
• The camera: I’m not a huge fan of camera phones, but they are great to have in a pinch. The iPhone’s 2-megapixel camera, though, only works in great light and if your subject is relatively still. You’re definitely not getting anything on TMZ with this one.

For a user who only had a regular cell phone up until now, this is one hell of an upgrade, especially if you’re the type who only has an iPod Nano or Shuffle. You’ll easily replace 2 devices – 3 if you were holding on to a crappy 2MP digital camera, too. That’s less stuff in your pockets and on your belt, and BBG would definitely approve of that.

However, current “smartphone” users will miss the 3G capability and the lack of configurations for enterprise e-mail clients (that’s your work e-mail). So if you’re a total crackberry addict, you may want to wait for 2.0, rumored to be out by the holidays. Then again, you may not ever give up your Blackberry. And like Boston Red Sox fans, I guess I can respect that.

But I definitely see a lot of Treos being sold on eBay.

To close, the iPhone won’t replace your computer, just yet, but you will definitely think twice about bringing your laptop if you’re just going away for a night or two.

If I had to rate it on a 10 scale, considering that it’s a “1.0” product and many of its issues will be easily solved with software updates, I give it a solid 9. (Even for all my smack talk, my departing Treo was a 7) I’ve never, ever loved my cell phone before now. Maybe since now, it’s finally easy to do more than make a call with it.