I, phone?

The media is heralding the arrival of the iphone on Friday, March  14 – St Patrick’s Weekend - yet our patron saint must be turning in his grave at the prospect of his beloved people being ripped off by selfish money grabbers who’re flying in the face of his Christian principals and teachings.

St Patrick as we all know was kidnapped from his home across the water and brought to Ireland as a slave, so maybe there is some sort of retribution in launching the iphone on his weekend with the intention of making anyone who is foolish enough to sign up to it slaves to 02 for the rest of their natural lives!

So who is the fool the seller or the buyer? The latter I would suggest and yet I predict that people will be queuing up like lambs to the slaughter to part with their hard earned cash just to be seen with the latest “must have” accessory – the newest and bestest toys for boys (and girls) for 2008. 

The retail cost of €399 or €499 depending on the model won’t deter anyone either because we are used to being ripped off in Ireland, but what many people may not realise is that there are no roaming data agreements in Europe so if you want to send photographs home to the mammy of your holidays on the Costa del Sol you may find it cheaper to fly mammy out to see the lovely beaches for herself. 

I kid you not, download data at your peril and don’t come crying to me when your bill of €2,000 comes through your letter box...

So what do we do about it? If we had any sense we would do to the iphone what St Patrick did to the snakes and banish it from these shores, at least until such time as the grasping white collar robbers at 02 decide to level the playing pitch and give us the same deal that the Brits and the Yanks are getting.