iPhone, woohoo!

Five hundred dollars for a phone? I’ve been asking myself that question since Apple announced its ultra-cool, über-sophisticated iPhone Wednesday. Would I actually pay $500 for a phone?

Well, yes, and I’m not ashamed to say it either.

That’s because the new iPhone is more than just a device to call your friends and loved ones — it’s also an iPod, a computer that runs Apple’s latest operating system, as well as a fully Internet-ready machine that lets you see actual Web sites, not just text.

You can also watch movies, play games and do a host of other things on this little machine, which is hardly bigger than a standard iPod.

The iPhone, introduced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs during his keynote speech at the annual Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco, will operate exclusively on AT&T Inc.’s Cingular Wireless network and will start shipping in June. A 4-gigabyte model will cost $499, while an 8-gigabyte iPhone will be $599.

Pardon me for a moment while I gush, but this thing is cooler than cool. Logging on to Apple’s web site to take a peek, I could hardly contain my excitement as I thought about holding one in my hand.

It has a touch screen and features both portrait and landscape modes, which means when you rotate the device, the screen automatically compensates without pressing any buttons.

For instance, when you want to watch a movie or browse the net, rotate it for the landscape mode, or if you want to use the iPod feature, turn it right side up and the screen rotates once again. Every other function is controlled via a high-tech, super sensitive touch screen, which means no more ugly number buttons to push.

Awesome.

Apple has long been the leader in announcing amazing devices that have people wondering “how did we ever live without this?” I remember my first Apple experience with the old “Apple II E” machines in the mid-1980s — remember the the little green screens that let us play games like Pong and Solitaire? Back then those things were cutting edge.

Now, Apple has once again gone the extra mile to bring the world a truly inventive product that will forever change the way we think of cellular phones.

Already the Internet buzzing about this product, just like it was several years ago when the first iPod rolled off the assembly lines. But there are critics, too.

Some say the cost is way too high for a product “just to make phone calls.” I say those comments are from people who have never experienced the magic that’s unleashed when owning an Apple product for the first time.

Call me an Apple snob, but I truly believe their products are the most innovative and sleekest in the computing world. And now that same state-of-the-art creativity is being transcended into the world of mobile phones as well.

Brilliant.