I bought a used iphone 2G model for work. I didn't intend to use it as an actual phone. But, as time wore on, I started playing with it, and (mostly) prying it out of the hands of my 10 and 12 year olds and I've grown to like it.
Oddly, I've yet to activate it. I suppose I will soon, but the idea of spending $75/month is a little painful right now. I guess I'm paying $50/month for my current phone, so maybe it's not that much of an increase.
The most fun part for me has been the mp3 player. I have a lot of music on our home file server, all legally paid for and ripped from CD's. Except for the mp3's I downloaded directly from Amazon (THANK YOU Amazon for selling MP3's!). Anyway, all of the music is legit. And now I can load it onto the phone and listen to it as I walk to and from work. Heh - I've become one of those "young people" who wear headphones. But I swear it's great to listen to music on the way to work.
I may have to upgrade to the 3G version, however, if only for the EDGE and GPS. I think the GPS might come in pretty handy.
I'm a little sad because my sleek little MP3 playing Sony Ericson slide phone is still pretty cool. I didn't intend to cheat. It just happened.
One thing I will mention - using iTunes can be a real pain. It's a very pretty interface but for the first time user it can be pretty confusing. I spent 15 minutes trying to figure out how to get music into it from a file on my hard disk. It should not be that hard.
I should also mention that the apps you can buy (or download for free) from the Apple "app store" are pretty cool. There's a lot of things to browese through. A few too many, to be honest. I would be nice to find some place the reviews the apps and recommends the best ones. Naturally my son (he's 10) immediately downloaded the Star Wars "light saber" app. Even I find it fun after a few coctails.
Even without activation the 802.11 connectivity make it a very useful device. I can browese, get weather, stock info, you tube, send email, etc...
All in all, I like it. And I didn't think I would.