Three Arguments the iPhone is the Greatest Gadget Ever

When Britain's Daily Mail wrote an article titled "Is the iPhone the best gadget of all time?" it made an interesting point.  We're not asking if the iPhone is the best mobile phone out there.  We're asking this:  Is there any high-tech gadget you can remember throughout history that brings more usefulness any easier?

Sure, one would have to consider useful inventions like the abacus, but the iPhone can do everything that an abacus does, plus more.  So let's take a look at the arguments that yes, indeed, the iPhone is the greatest gadget ever:

1.  Connectivity.

Say what you will about the abacus, but it can't connect to the internet.  The iPhone's connectivity separates it from a crowd of ancient personal gadgets that couldn't call, e-mail, or web surf their way out of a wet paper bag.  Need to know your precise coordinates on planet Earth?  Done.  Need to e-mail your client in Singapore?  Just type in what you need to say.  The connectivity is great.

2.  Innovation.

Sure, other mobile phones have similar connectivity - and many praise Verizon for having one of the best coverage networks out there.  But the iPhone was the first to bring so many different aspects of different gadgets into a smart mobile phone in this way.  There's no need in having a phone and an iPod when you can afford both and keep them in the same little black contraption, and it's that innovation that makes it all the more impressive.

3.  Information capacity.

There's no competition here.  Using our standard for a handy gadget back in the day, the abacus, it's clear that the iPhone is far more useful, even for the more powerful brains that have a high tolerance for information storage.  Apple advertises the iPhone as a "mobile phone, iPod, and Internet device" at its web site, but it's essentially a small, handy computer combined with a phone.  In other words, the greatest gadget of all time.

The sheer development of personal gadget technology makes this a difficult argument to counter.  We know that the iPhone is continually evolving - its latest incarnation is the iPhone 3G S - but the iPhone "brand" is what's exciting about today's technology.  And it's hard to take that away from the little bugger.