June 29, 2007: Apple releases its much-anticipated iPhone with a retail price set at $599. Sadly, I cannot afford one.

September 5, 2007: Apple discontinues the 4GB iPhone and cuts the price of the 8GB model to $399. I still remain unable to affford the price of entry.

July 11, 2008: Apple will release a new 3G model of the iPhone, with the price of the 8GB model dropped to $199. It would seem that with this new price point, your’s truly might actually get his hands on one. Paradoxically, this is not the case. Despite Apple’s announcement that the iPhone’s price is now $199, it has made a couple of other pricing changes with AT&T that are not so well-advertised: 1) the personal unlimited data plan will cost an aditional $10 per month, a price increase of $240 dollars over the course of the two year contract, and 2) the voice plan no longer includes 200 text messages per month, instead requiring a seperate $5 per month plan, a price increase of $120 over the course of the contract. With these changes, it can easily be argued that the new iPhone 3G is actually $120 more expensive than the first-generation iPhone. If you’ve been paying attention thus far, you probably already know that I, still, cannot afford one.

But Lo! Have I discovered the iPhone for me? I think I have– Behold, the iPhone Knit!