iPhone Fever

Its a fever gripping the nation: iPhone fever. Apples hotly anticipated cell phone extraordinaire will be released in Friday, and buyers everywhere cant wait. Apples iPhone is the most highly anticipated product of the year. So hot, because its so cool. CEO Steve Jobs announced plans for Apples first-ever cell phone five months ago, the first note in a building chorus of commercials, articles, even lawsuits over its very name. iPhone details trickled out as Apples stock price soared 40%. Finally, Friday at 6:00 p.m., you can buy one. The iPhone aims to do it all: phone, e-mail, Web browsing, music, camera, even play YouTube videos, layered into a sleek fashion statement with a price tag of five to six hundred dollars. It will be for sale only at Apples stores and Web site, and some AT&T stores. AT&T is the iPhones sole service provider, but some consumers who want to buy one are sitting out round one, hoping the price will come down, or that any glitches can be worked out. "My strategy is to wait. If I can hold out for 18 months, I figure by then theyll be into the second generation, perhaps the third generation," says PR Executive Scott Piro. Piro isnt the only one waiting. Publicist Gail Sideman desperately wants an iPhone, but she doesnt want to switch to AT&T, highlighting the high stakes for wireless service providers wondering how many defections there will be. "Ive gotta tell you its a real tough decision not to buy it right out of the box. I almost wanna be in line to touch and feel and see what the iPhones all about," Sideman says. By Friday, she may have to take a number.