Everyone seems convinced Steve Jobs will announce a new iPhone next week at WWDC and the speculation is wild as to what new features it will include: 3G cellular support, GPS, new design, etc. While I'll admit the evidence is strong that a new phone will be introduced -- one cannot ignore the low supply of the current model or indicators like AT&T's "no June/July vacations" memo to staff -- I am not convinced this new phone will be radically different from the current model.

As an iPhone user, the best thing about the iPhone is that it's a platform, and simply by installing new software I can get all kinds of new features. Apple already revealed some of the new features of "iPhone 2.0" at the SDK announcement a few months ago, and those features will be available to all current iPhone owners for free (iPod Touch owners will need to pay a small fee as software upgrades are not included for that device). That is awesome.

But if the new iPhone were to be radically different -- you'd have a lot of frustrated owners of the old model who aren't expecting their current model to be obsoleted so quickly (the iPhone is not a normal phone, after all, but a miniature Macintosh).

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