I broke down last weekend and bought an iPhone. I've been coveting it for months but I wanted to wait a few weeks after it went on sale to see if it could really live up to the hype. Since I couldn't find any reviews that were seriously negative, and since Walt Mossberg gave it a thumbs up, I decide to take the plunge.

In a nutshell, it's awesome.

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It's especially wonderful for mobile forays onto the web. The Safari browser rocks for everything from reading RSS feeds to general web browsing. When connected to a wifi network, the connection is about as fast as my laptop computer. When not connected to a wifi network, the Edge network connection that works on the cellular network is not as fast, but still fast enough. It has its own version of tabbed browsing (which I love) and a slick interface for filling out forms on web pages and logging into web sites that require registration.

The email synced nicely with my Gmail account. The video voicemail function allows you to scroll forward and back with a slide bar while playing your voice message, especially helpful for those fast talkers who blow through their phone number when leaving you a message. The screen is sparkling for display of everything from web pages, to photos and video, and readable even in direct sunlight. The battery life is solid – yesterday, after using it all day, I still had 75% remaining.

But the most amazing part is the overall user interface. It's like nothing I've ever used, but it works seamlessly and is extremely intuitive. (My 6-year-old son has already mastered the parts of it I've let him play with.) What would be a lengthy scroll through dozens of songs or contacts becomes a moment of joy as you swipe your finger downward and watch the list roll like a slot machine.

I wish it would shoot video. I wish it would allow for document saving and transfer. And I wish it would allow for copy and paste of text, although that's practically unnecessary because the interface makes most information clickable.

They had to leave room for the next version, right? Which my wife is anxiously anticipating since I'll be first in line for that one, meaning she can have my "old" one. Although she might have to fight my son for it.