Why doesn't everyone have one?

The iPhone camera is good even in low light conditions, and is less intimidating than a standard camera, especially one with flash. One must master the technique of holding the phone steady and actuating the release "button" without shaking the device. Here is a medley of difficult subjects and subject matter shot with a variety of lighting conditions. The pixels can be enhanced to simulate flash but have not been adjusted in these photographs.

The clown and the harlequin are from the Museum of Musical Automata housed in the BarockSchloss, Bruchsal, Germany. "Nothing scarier than a clown after midnight."

Phil loves Babysbreath, and can't get enough of it.

The iPhone is silent and so does good candid camera. Skin tones are the best test of a camera and film/digital system. I have been impressed with the iPhone in this regard. My collection of Leica lenses and bodies pretty much stays home these days.

The lens is surprisingly good and handles distant and near scenes. Sometimes it surprises you with the quality of the image.

I had a Blackberry and loved it. At first I found the iPhone more difficult for typing. In fact, all these tiny informational devices are frustrating if you actually type--as opposed to index finger picking--your messages, notes, other various entries. But after some time passed my "typing" on the iPhone has gotten easier and quicker. Some short cuts and techniques one figures out for himself and others must be learned from documentation or a teacher. As an example, when you want to write "u umlaut" you first select Deutsch, lower center; then Leerzeichen appears, then you press "u" (and the keyboard is no longer Qwerty, but not much different), and hold the "u" key until a range of special character "u's" appear. Slide your finger to the one you want and linger there a while, and magically your "u umlaut" appears in text. I stumbled upon this one myself but could more easily have read how to do the languages.

The camera is good, and one can tweak the pixels so as to simulate flash, picking the version of the image you most like. The photographs move so easily back and forth from iPhone to computer either PC or Mac. And if the iPhone photos are good enough for David Hockney, they are surely more than good enough for the rest of us.

The weather application is terrific for travellers or weather junkies. You get six days and most cities on earth. Notes and Memos are good. Really facile. These Apple geeks are really good. I use the Calendar a lot. Great for a trip.

Stocks application is a must for even the poorest capitalist. And there are hundreds of applications to choose from for spreadsheet effects.

I like the clock application, too. I set all the antique clocks in the house according to this iPhone clock. Of course, clocks from the late 1600's and early and mid 1700's drift a bit for the rest of the week. But they all chime in harmony and synchrony for the first part of the week.

The iPhone is a good phone, too. I like it the best of any I have ever had.

Maps Application is fun and easy to figure out. There is a compass application for the 3GS, and I would like to have had that function but am not willing to buy a new phone just to get that one feature. I have used the navigation in remote parts of Germany and found it helpful. At times and in places my iPhone and I were the only English speakers within hailing distance. The satellite view of things is fun, too.

Of course, there is a calculator. It's pretty basic and will not satisfy the needs of engineers and physicists who have their own equipment anyway.

Mail application serves the purpose. Having a number of e-mail accounts and providers might mean a trip to the ATT store or the Apple store for expert help.

And lastly, there is the APP store providing more than you could ever want in terms of further applications for this little wonder. Two years ago Steve Jobs said there would be no room for amateurs writing applications for the iPhone. The exclusivity of the product mirrors Mac and the way some PC problems just don't happen to Mac users. I don't pretend to understand this but there must be less room for viruses and all other nuisances with Mac. At any rate, that kind of pronouncement just energizes the hacker community. So there are now all kinds of non Apple applications. Of course, there is always the possibility that your hacker app will be working fine until an Apple upgrade arrives and bricks your phone. Enter the iPhone App Store. Apple says it checks each and every game, puzzle, recipe box, and so forth. There must be 100,000 or more apps (applications) by now for this truly astounding piece of engineering.

There is an old joke: the world's leading scientists and engineers gathered in New York City to reach a consensus on what was the greatest invention of the human race. A distinguished guest said the wheel. Another said fire. Others submitted speech, writing, gun powder, domesticated grains and animals, electricity, and so forth. From the back of the room a person said the thermos bottle. The high powered panel guffawed "what's so great about the thermos bottle?" "It keeps hot things hot, and cold things cold," replied the man in the back. "What's so great about that?" countered the panel of experts. To which the man answered "how does it know?"

Well, I submit the iPhone as at least one of the seven wonders of the modern age, if not mankind's greatest invention. Bravo, Steve Jobs and crew at Apple.