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It seems like every year, Apple comes out with some sort of new and fancy gadget that makes us all swoon. Whether it's a sleek laptop or a great looking desktop, Apple has created a loyal following, even if they're still a small part of the overall computer market. But their latest cell phone creation – the iPhone – is making more people than ever consider adding Apple to their life. With a slick design and user friendly applications, it's difficult not to consider buying this expensive gadget. But is the iPhone worth your money?

Looking at the Design

When you first pick up an iPhone, you will notice how light it is, yet it still feels sturdy. Though the latest generation is made out of plastic entirely, the design is strong and seems to be able to weather any number of bumps and scratches. The plastic screen is touch sensitive in two ways – pressure and from movement. This allows you to move your fingers around the screen to perform a number of tasks, including typing, increasing the size of pages, and more. While it does take a bit of time to get used to the keyboard – BlackBerry users will have the hardest time with this transition – it is still quite intuitive, helping you by filling in words as you type. You can also flip through pages on your iPhone by brushing your finger across the page or by pinching pages and moving them. The screen image will also turn when you turn the phone on its side. This feature isn't very fast, but it does help when you are viewing web pages or maps.

Looking at the Applications

But it's the applications that have most iPhone users talking. You can download one of many thousands of free and pay applications right from your iTunes home page or from the iPhone itself. These applications can be used for everything from counting your calories for the day to looking at spreadsheets on your phone. The free applications are often silly programs, but they also include applications for accessing news feeds as well as social networking sites like Facebook. You can install as many applications are your phone's memory will allow, and then you can easily remove them to keep your iPhone clutter free. The basic applications on the phone include the actual phone setup, but also iPod capabilities and mapping. With the GPS sensor, you can find out where you are and where you need to go to find any one of a million different locations in your general vicinity.

Looking at the Price

Of course, it's the price that has kept many a would-be iPhone buyer from heading to their store to bring one of these phones home. With the current 16GB iPhone price of $299, it's understandable. But users also need to look at the phone as more than just a phone. Since it does include iPod capabilities, you aren't buying that separate mp3 player too, so that can factor into rationalizing the cost. In addition, data plans are only $30 a month for unlimited access, so this is comparable to your home online account – and nearly as fast. There are rumors swirling of lower end models coming out soon with much lower prices, but they are just rumors. If you want to step into the iPhone revolution without paying too much, you might want to opt for the albeit slower 1st generation model or the $199 8GB 3G model that came out this past year.