Face To Face With Temptation: The iPhone

Posted on October 5, 2007 by Melissa
Filed Under Reflection

and it better stay that way! A friend of mine stopped by to visit the other day. While we were talking she remembered that she had gotten an iPhone and she wanted to show me. Both her and husband just got them and were thrilled with them.

As she handed me the phone I saw my husband watching intently. As I was looking at it my husband’s hand starting extending towards it. Oh no - he wanted to play with it now. I could see the glint in his eye and I knew it was nothing but trouble.

It was a nice phone but I use cell phones as just a calling device. All the other functionality would have been lost on me.

Not so for my husband. He is a gadget guy. He loves the newest techie stuff and actually uses his phone to surf the web. He got a Treo a few years back before we started budgeting and he uses it for more for data than for talking.

He is aware of his gadget weakness and has tried his best to avoid the iPhone hype. In fact, he hadn’t even seen one until that moment. Of course, he loved it. My friend started telling him about how it is cheaper to buy one now and how cool it would be if he got one, too.

It doesn’t take much convincing for him to like a gadget like that. To counteract the encouragement I kept repeating “no” as he played with the phone. My friend and I were like the little angel and devil on his shoulders pulling him in different directions.

Finally, he gave the gadget back and went back to his computer work, or so I thought. After my friend left he exclaimed that he had found a way that the iPhone would actually be cheaper for us per month. Somehow I doubt this.

To my delight, he dropped it fairly quickly, in about an hour or so. Last time he wanted a Treo he didn’t stop and talked about it for weeks before finally getting one. This time he let it go with ease.

Although the siren call of the iPhone overtook him for a time, it was brief, and it subsided. He hasn’t mentioned it since, even after getting a bonus. I guess the key to avoiding temptation and desire is to simply hand the iPhone back.

Image Source: Refracted Moments(TM)

Comments

4 Responses to “Face To Face With Temptation: The iPhone”

Mike on October 5th, 2007 12:56 pm

But the iPhone is sooo coooool. I will have to hide mine if I get one when my current contract is up. Don’t worry Eric, the contract isn’t up until Feb.
Your toy loving bro (in-law)
Eric on October 5th, 2007 1:18 pm

@Mike - Thanks for the encouragement. Maybe you need to talk to Melissa and convince her it’s a great deal :-).

Seriously though, I’m using my Treo until it’s dead. Then I’ll have to do some serious thinking.

Looking forward to using *your* iPhone now :-).

Thanks for commenting!
Carnival of Money Stories Edition #29 « Carnival of Money Stories - Read About Personal Finance on October 9th, 2007 9:48 am

[...] Melissa from Penny Closer shares her Iphone encounter. [...]
Gary Diamond on April 12th, 2008 3:40 am

I bought one and it is awesome. Had the Nokia E90 before. I love my toys.