Headline of the Day: ‘AT&T to Welcome iPhone Users to 2003 Tomorrow’

All Things Digital—and it’s an understatement. “At some point late tomorrow morning, the carrier will release an update enabling MMS,” he writes. About a minute later, AT&T’s network will go all to hell—it’s the end of the world as we know it—as iPhoners break out in one giant unison MMS.

Ah, the iPhone. A few weeks ago, I pronounced that my Nokia N97 is gone, it’s back again. I dumped the iPhone 3GS, and I’m surprised how little I miss the smartypants phone. Perhaps it was a psychological sense of missing out on something that caused the “disconnected” feeling using the N97 that I blogged about . No more.

I’m disconnected from the gazillion iPhone apps, but more connected with the real Web. The N97 runs bunches of apps at once, plays real Flash YouTube, shoots better pics and video than iPhone, etc. etc. It does little things like MMS, which only everyone else on the planet use!

Ah, the iPhone. It’s in some ways the platform of the future, but done the Apple Way or the highway. First model gave up 3G, video and MMS; you know, little important things. Second model gave up battery life to add 3G; still no video or MMS. Both iPhone models shipped with crappy cameras, but, admittedly pretty good software. The iPhone 3GS finally does video, offers a slightly better camera and tomorrow for US iPhone users MMS.

The phone of tomorrow—with multitouch, gazillions of applications and the slickest hardware-software integration anywhere (other than perhaps Zune HD)—is still the phone of yesterday. For what they get, iPhone users still give up plenty. Just ask anyone using any other smartphone on any other network.

Anyway, to my many  journalist colleagues who overly writing about iPhone, welcome to 2003. Maybe. Tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

But stay clear if you and your fanatical friends bring down AT&T’s network. Wait. Failing AT&T network? That’s 2003, too. Never mind.

Photo Credit: Antonio Tajuelo