iPhone is nothing more than an electronic lamprey attached to your wallet.

I've lugged my laptop computer with me on travels all over the world.  I hated hauling the damned thing through airports and being forced to take it out of it's over-padded travel bag every time I shuffled through security.  By the time I found a free wifi location at my destination, I positively despised that inconvenient eight pounds of dead weight. Especially considering it was really only email access that I ever needed while away.  Taking a vacation, even a short one, was a pain when it came to basic client communication.  Inevitably, no matter how thoroughly I prepared my clients for my pending absence, the shit would hit the fan within in hours of powering down my primary computer.

Enter iPhone
For a hard-working small business owner, iPhone represented the dream of travel without being completely cut off from my clients for days at a time.  It's small form factor also meant I would be carrying a device far less cumbersome than a laptop coupled with the amazing bonus of not having to locate coffee shops that offer free wifi the world over. 

Within 36 hours of purchasing my first generation iPhone one year ago, I paid for the cost of the device (not the AT&T contract) with a single email sent from the steps of El Morro on the Island of Puerto Rico.  Cool.  Really really cool.

That said, iPhone is nothing more than an electronic lamprey attached to your wallet.  Breath deeply.  I like my iPhone, but I'm not going to extoll its benefits without addressing the very simple fact that it's cost of ownership is appallingly high.  Nearly $2000 over the course of the mandatory two-year contract!  $600 more than it costs to provide high-speed internet and email access and a host of other services to my desktop computer and laptop for the same period of time.

Original iPhone
Device cost: $399 / $499
Cheapest voice plan: $39 for 450 min.
Cheapest voice plan: $20 (data plan)
200 SMS included - $0
Cost over 2 year contract: $1815.00

3G iPhone
Device cost: $199 / $299
Cheapest voice plan: $39 for 450 min.
Cheapest voice plan: $30 (data plan)
0 SMS included - $5 for 200
Cost over 2 year contract: $1975.00

This amounts to approximately $3 per day.

It bears worth repeating that this cost applies to the cheapest voice and data plans available.  It is also worth noting that this does not include roaming charges, crazy SMS usage, or international fees. 

iPhone and world travel
I recently took my iPhone with me to Chile for a 10 day adventure.  Prior to leaving, I added the 20 MB Data Global Plan to my account for $24.99 / month (An additional $300 per year if you forget to remove it from your account after you return).  This covered basic usage, but NOT SMS or pictures.  Both of which required additional high fees. 

I was covered.  Or, so I thought. 

I discovered that coverage in Chile outside of the major metropolitan areas is virtually non-existant.  I suspect this is the case anywhere you may travel outside of the U.S. and U.S. territories (ie Puerto Rico). My $24.99 investment was only valuable for the two days we were in Santiago.  The remaining eight days were spent roaming the Chilean backwaters.  And, let me tell you, international roaming rates are the equivalent of getting lashed with a cat of nine tails. 

Despite having measured the amount of time I spent on the device, the resulting bill had my wallet begging for mercy.

There is simply no reason why this devise should cost what it does to operate.  AT&T has itemized and priced every available feature of the iPhone in order to fleece the fleece out of consumers while their "network" seems to be taking an unbelievable amount of time to "upgrade" to handle the technological "advancements" of the iPhone.

Yes, the iPhone is a luxury item and the standard refrain is that "luxury" costs money.  Bullshit.  The iPhone is a technological device that relies heavily on existing satellite networks and existing telecom infrastructure.  AT&T even purchases bandwidth from Sprint in order to keep their costs low and avoid having to upgrade their own technology delivery systems.  The result is that AT&T makes an enormous profit, Apple makes and enormous profit, and both companies provide dubious service to their customers.  iApps?  C'mon.  Most of them are abjectly useless.

iPhone isn't a necessity for small business owners, or anyone, but that simple fact doesn't justify the exorbitant cost of ownership.  I've got another $1000 to look forward to paying AT&T for the privilege of using my iPhone ... Check back in a year for my final verdict.