iPhone may not be all I expected it to be; or is it?

Watching the commercials, I have been fancying the new Apple iPhone, but from what I hear, it may not be all that it's cracked up to be. I am mesmerized by the look and feel of Apple Inc.'s uber-sleek new phone that's a combination cell phone, iPod and Web-browsing gadget, and that touch screen navigantion; WOW!

But what I'm not understanding is that even though the iPhone has internet capabilities, you cannot download music directly from iTunes over your phone. You have to buy the music from your computer and then download it to your phone from there. Why exactly can't I buy and download music over the iPhone's wireless network?

The arrival of the iPhone on Friday has stoked optimism among many and I truely believe that this is a new wave of easier-to-use mobile music devices. Even though I will be limited to loading music onto my phone via my PC, or soon-to-be MAC, and blocked from buying music wirelessly. The whole idea of on-the-go instant gratification isn't there, but on the other hand this graphicly rich tool offers so much more than just music and iTunes downloads.

Which leads me to my next problem. Currently, Sprint and Verizon Wireless are the only wireless networks U.S. who directly sell full-track, over-the-air downloads for phones. Even with that feature they are behind iTunes in digital music sales. So does this "glitch" really matter? I never download music from my krazer, even though it has the capabilities. I barely download ringtones because I hate filing through the tiny screen and waiting for the next page to load. I imagine most of the people who'll buy the iPhone will be iPod users already. I know I don't have a preference for buying mobile music wirelessly, so what exactly am I fussing about? Options. I want the option and the capability to use the iPhone in a way that others can't or only dream of.

So I think I am going to take the plunge and buy this seemingly sophisticated piece of digital equipment, even though the iPhone has far less storage than many higher-end iPods or other standalone portable music players.

A 4-gigabyte version costs $499, while an 8-gigabyte model costs $599.

When I dig deep into my unemployed pocketbook, I will let you know how this new relationship fares.