$30 ( a month) worth of happy

OK I lied. I'm still blogging. This weekend finds me in California for a wedding. I'm blogging on my newish iPhone, a purchase that I agonized over for months.

It wasn't the cost -- I'd happily pay two-hundred clams for the device -- but the requirement that I sign up for a $30 a month data plan with AT&T. For two years.

Yeah, seven hundred and twenty bucks.

All that agonizing was wasted. Within a day I felt like I was getting my full ration of pleasure and more.

To wit, the top ten ways that my iPhone males me happy:

I no longer need to keep my wallet stuffed with pictures of my cute kids--I can keep hundreds of pictures on the phone

I can instantly get traffic information displayed on a gps-enabled map

I can read everything on the phone without squinting.

I can focus and set the exposure of the camera with one tap.

With google sync I can automatically keep my contacts and calendar in sync between my phone and any desktop instantly, with no work, and for free.

There is one easy to use, integrated place for all phone settings.

When I adjust the volume on my Bluetooth headset, the phone displays the new volume on the screen.

It has exactly the right number of buttons, including a dedicated button for silencing the ringer.