Five reasons to buy the Apple iPhone 3G

When the iPhone was introduced, I found it tempting ... very, very tempting. But just enough features and capabilities were missing from Apple's initial cell phone offering that I held off on buying one.

I wasn't alone in waiting, but that doesn't mean the first-generation iPhone didn't sell well. In fact, the iPhone moved 6 million units worldwide, well enough to make Apple extremely competitive in the smartphone market.

Regardless of whether you stood in line on launch day or chose to sit the first round out, Tuesday's announcement probably got your attention. It certainly has tongues wagging everywhere. Apple is once again in the spotlight, and that has everything to do with the iPhone 3G features the company revealed. Should you queue up when the iPhone 3G becomes available on July 11? Read on.

[ For all the news about the iPhone 3G's launch at WWDC, check out InfoWorld's special report. ]

1. Price

The original iPhone was innovative and groundbreaking. It also was an expensive toy. Sure, around the country, both technophiles and the masses lined up to procure the original iPhone, but at $599 and $699 for the 8GB and 16GB models, respectively, the audience remained somewhat limited. As time passed, as the models' prices dropped, and as the device's reputation spread, the iPhone picked up more steam. But even Jobs himself admitted that about 50 percent of people surveyed who didn't buy an iPhone said that they didn't because of price.

With Apple's iPhone price drop announced Monday, you pay significantly less money up front at the time of purchase: The 8GB iPhone will sell for $199, just one-third the price that the 4GB iPhone sold for at launch a year ago. The 16GB model will sell for $299.

Those prices put Apple's smartphone into the reach of more consumers than ever before. Only four handsets on our current Top 10 smartphones chart -- Palm's Centro ($100 with a Sprint contract, $200 with an AT&T contract), T-Mobile's Shadow ($200 with contract) and Dash ($150 with contract), and RIM's BlackBerry Pearl ($150 with a T-Mobile contract)--cost less than the least expensive iPhone. And the iPhone 3G, with its integrated audio and video player, Web browsing, and GPS, offers far more versatility than any of those competing phones.

2. 3G browsing speed

One of the biggest drawbacks of using a mobile phone for Web activities is the lag time. Much as point-and-shoot digital cameras frustrate their users with seemingly interminable shutter lag, cell phone users roll their eyes at how long it can take for a Web page to load.