The iPhone is here. I have one. Yes, I’m a Mac fanboy.

Well, perhaps I’m not a raving Mac fanboy. I don’t have a framed, signed picture of Steve Jobs hanging over my bed, though I do have a signed letter from Steve Wozniak. Still, I like Apple’s stuff, and buying the iPhone 3Gs has been in my plans for 2 years now.

Yeah, I know: there was no iPhone 3Gs that anyone knew about 2 years ago. Still, let me tell the tale:

About two years ago, I had a crummy little cell phone with the cheapest plan available. I think I was paying $24 a month. I hardly used the cell phone, and I never told anyone the number. I used it when I left town, but two years ago using on a business trip it cost me $120 in roaming fees. Ouch.

During my trip, I visited an Apple store and played with an iPhone. I loved it, of course. It combined three toys, er, tools that I was already using: the cell phone, an iPod, and my Palm Zire personal organizer. Plus the iPhone had Internet access, which could prove handy.

So I took the plunge and paid the outrageous $600 they asked for the original iPhone. My notion was to keep it as a secondary phone, but still hold on to my main land line. I also figured that Apple would come out with a better phone in two years, when my AT&T contract expired.

Hello! It’s two years later, and the iPhone 3Gs is that better phone. Indeed, I’m impressed with it. So much so, that I’ve disconnected my land line.

Yep, I’m one of the growing number of people who lack a land line telephone in their house. The wiring is still there, and the phones linger about for ornamental reasons. Otherwise, I’m a cell phone person, wholly and complete.

Right now, I’m in a trial period. I’m trying to see how well I can function at home with just a cell phone. I mean, if I leave it in one room, will I still hear it in another?

A solution for those making the transition such as myself, is to get a Bluetooth broadcasting system, which allows you to hook in your existing home telephones (wired) to the cell phone (wireless). The system I’ve been looking at is the XLink system, which you can read about here.

I don’t know if I’ll go with the Xlink, but it’s good to know that such an option exists, especially for old fogeys such as myself who may still believe that having a land line telephone is a good thing.

Update. Still no call from the IBM tech to repair my main writing computer. I’ll be phoning their number this afternoon if I don’t hear anything before noon. The laptop setup is working fine, but I want back the full power of my old desktop.