I am weak. Before my departure to Thailand I almost promised myself I would not buy the iPhone.

I got the (N810) developer discount from Nokia/Maemo and planned to buy it along with the shiny E51, so that I can make calls fast (I profoundly hate the E61i weird num keypad) and browse the real Web (Nokia’s browser is good, but I don’t find it satisfying enough). I needed a sexier phone, thin, pocketable and that looks pleasant, but still, I was a bit reluctant to carry my phone + the Internet Tablet + my iPod.

Back in France, buying the iPhone was a no-no: I would not accept buying the “official” version tied with Orange, and importing it from the US was definitely too expensive.

But unfortunately, the N810 hasn’t been available prior to my departure for Thailand (and still isn’t). That means: I left France with my E61i (only) and counted the times I said “I wish I had the N810 with me”. I can’t live without my Webapps, and sorry to say, but the E61i is bad at rendering them or force you to get the mobile versions. I’m not even talking about Tab browsing…

After arriving in Thailand, I had to do my pilgrimage to the MBK, and check the Thai price of the E51, the HTC Touch (double RAM), the iPhone, and some others. But after a few minutes talking with my favorite sellers, I knew they’d give me a good price for my E61i and sell me the iPhone for a price people would kill for.

Boom! The next day I had the iPhone.

Why I’m not you: the reasons that made me buy the iPhone

• I rely on Webapps extensively (Google Reader, Google Mail, Google Calendar -synched with my iCal-, Google Docs, Ta Da List, Meebo, Netvibes Twitter/PocketTweets, and many other), so the fact of not having third applications available out of the box doesn’t bother me
• The Webapps I use the most are iPhone-ready which make them look better on the iPhone than on any other handheld device
• The iPhone is the only phone that is able to provide me with quality Web browsing so far. For once, I feel like home: pages render the way they are meant to be and I’m able to tab-browse at will
• I believe Webapps are the present AND the future, so having a phone that can leverage them is just plain good
• In Thailand there are no 3G or HSDPA, so why bother? EDGE + Wifi are working fine for me
• In Thailand you don’t buy a carrier-locked phone. As for the iPhone, it’s widely available in MBK and every shop is ready to do the geek/hack magic for you (1.1.1 is the commonly sold model)
• On-the-go, I’m a media consumer, so I don’t need a 5M pixel camera nor video recording capabilities
• The iPhone is a phone I trust. I had numerous problems with my HTC Touch (becoming unreachable from time to time, having forced reboots and miss-calls to name a few), but so far, I did not experience any trouble with my iPhone. I have never dialed the wrong number or stopped a call because my cheek touched the screen. Everything just work as advertised
• I don’t have zillions of people in my address book, so I don’t need any search function for contacts
• The iPhone is an MP3 player I trust. It’s not some sort of 3rd party app taking all the available memory and/or making the phone freeze. It’s an iPod inside a phone, it’s exactly what I always wanted
• The virtual keyboard is a blessing and is really a non-issue. You CAN type fast with it
• The iPhone CAN be used single-handed (I’ve read many times on the net that you NEED both hands to operate it… which isn’t true), I do it everyday and it doesn’t require an incredible level of dexterity!
• Beyond the “Wow factor” of the iPhone, there really is a brilliant product. I have never seen any device with this level of quality (construction, UI, look-and-feel) and ease of use
• I can has Terminal for my 133t thingz (SSH) thanks to Installer.app (ok ok, it’s not out of the box)

So yes, I could have chosen the E51 + N810 (+iPod), but the iPhone does provide me the experience and tools I’m looking for. I also appreciate the fact that I only need to carry one single device instead of two.

But to be very honest, I would have stayed in France, I guess I’ll have taken the N810 along with my E61i, especially as I have the developer discount (N810 = 99€).