Techno-wise teens flock to stores for ‘Twitter-tracking‘ Apple iPhone gizmo

Melody Brandon WEEKEND POST REPORTER brandonm@avusa.co.za

THE eagerly-awaited Apple iPhone, released earlier this month complete with all the frills and fancies craved by gizmo-lovers, has seen cellphone stores in the Eastern and Southern Cape cleared out of their stock by frenzied buyers.

Not only are the young- at-heart clamouring for the latest cellphone toy which sells for R9000 for the handset on its own or R2000 and more on a two-year contract, but youngsters are also managing to get their mitts on the prized gadget.

Already some teenagers‘ relentless nagging has paid off with brow-beaten parents flocking to stores en masse to buy the product for children as young as 14 years old, according to sales staff.

“We‘ve had a lot of interest from Apple (company) fans who are familiar with the brand. The younger age group are our biggest buyers,” said Naasig Seharnick, a Port Elizabeth cellphone salesman at Cellucity. “Parents come in and pay cash for the phone.”

As if a complete library of music or photo albums was not enough, the phone also gives frequent “Twitter updates” – short, SMS-like sentences stating what friends are up to throughout the day on the internet – as well as users‘ global positioning system (GPS) co-ordinates.

East London cellphone salesman Renier North said despite the option of other cellphones which could do “similar things”, the iPhone was still coming out tops, especially among Apple technology lovers.

George salesman Geovan Theron said his customers chose the handset over all the others available. “With the iPhone you are getting the raw product that you can download applications for, so you can choose what you want,” he said.

And although better-halves might be occupying second place to the shiny toy, they can feel treasured as its handy GPS positioning means they can check up on their loved ones day or night, with their current co-ordinates posted on the internet via Twitter.

But with the lightening release of new technology comes the quicker pace of replacements, with website giants Google on the cusp of releasing their answer to the iPhone, the G1, or Google phone, heading to South Africa next year.

Techno-junkies say it‘s bad news for Apple, but good news for consumers.

For those wanting to read a first-hand iPhone user‘s account, log onto Justin McCabe‘s blog at http://heraldtechnoir.wordpress.com and scroll down to the iPhone blog entry

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