The soonest I'll get one is in a year. I want to wait for updated devices before I dive in.

I'll be getting a new one in a year as well. I pretty much replace my cell phone once a year. I figure even if this phone has issues, it's still going to be as least as good as the crap that was my 8125 and the crash prone and totally outdated Palm OS. I don't expect the iPhone to live up to the hype, but it would have to be pretty damned bad to be worse than the dreck that is currently on the market.

I'm on the fence - it's not easy to get from here, it is a bunch of money, but it's really cool and so far, the reviews all seem to be very positive.

I've been told by someone who is in a very good position to know that it's probably better to wait until fall.

I want an iPhone badly, but I suspect it will be a long while before I can even think about affording one.

This. I'm also hoping that in a year it will be available through other cell providers, or at least on AT&T's faster data network. And GSM with a sim card slot so I can travel with it.

(Also, I would like it to come with a free pony and be able to make me cupcakes on demand. And do my laundry and taxes and change diapers.)

The iPhone is exclusive to AT&T for five years: [link]

I think iPhone's exclusivity to Cingular/AT&T is a rare blunder for Apple. Tying their fortunes to one cell phone company gives Verizon (as hinted to in the article), T-Mobile, Sprint and the other companies a strong incentive to help competitors like Palm, Blackberry, Samsung, Dell?, etc. come up with competing products. And I just left Cingular (and consequently AT&T for at least the fourth time) because of crappy customer service.

The iPhone is exclusive to AT&T for five years:

Feh.

I think that Jobs has a trick or two up his sleeve. I'm betting that the contract with AT&T covers existing technology like GSM and CDMA, but it doesn't cover emerging technology like WiMAX.

Or at least, that's what I'm hoping.

Supposedly the terms Apple was demanding for carriers were pretty onerous. Supposedly no European carrier would accept them.

Internal Steve Jobs keynote promising all sorts of Apple goodness in the future: [link]

Also, about the iPhone:

Steve opened up with how he believes that the iPhone will change the mobile space forever. He said that when the Mac first came out, people talked about how some day, every computer would work that way, and the same would be true of the iPhone. The iPhone was driven by the fact that everyone hates their phones, and it's all about "core competence"—making all of the features easy-to-use and self-discoverable.

Huh. We'll see.

In any event, hopefully it'll force improvements in other phones.

Supposedly the terms Apple was demanding for carriers were pretty onerous.

I read in some review that Cingular agreed because they were at the bottom of the market and that Apple wanted to change everything form the ground up.