I'm aware of all that. I love my iPhone and all the things it does/represents.
But if they stopped making them tomorrow, I wouldn't die or freak out. I went the bulk of my life (~75%) without one, and could do so again. I use it, not the other way around (like
so many people I've known).
It isn't my oxygen or anything. If I can't get a good cellular or wifi signal, I don't start looking for a high bridge or wrist-slitting material.
I've got friends and others in my orbit who absolutely
lose their shit, in public and in full view of their peers/friends/co-workers over stuff like that.
It's embarrassing!
I use my iPhone every day. I do love it. In my case it's kind of a private, inward tool. Not being on social media and living/sharing my life (pics, videos, selfies, etc.) beyond anywhere but here,, I do kinda see it more like that...a communicator, really complete/up-to-date encyclopedia/reference tool, flashlight, calculator, alarm clock, atlas/roadmap, entertainment viewer, guitar tuner, camera, meteorologist, Scrabble partner, endless Post-Its, etc.. I might feel more strongly about it all if I were an "influencer" (or one of these chicks with 11,000 selfies in my Instagram feed). But I'm not, so I don't.
It's just a cool phone that does way more than my last one ever could, and I try to get a new one every 3-5 years if it makes sense to do so. But that's about the extent of my passion/need for this stuff at this point. I could go to the AT&T store this afternoon and get an iPhone 12 mini, or even a second-gen SE. I just don't really want/need to.
I'm probably weird in that I only have six third-party apps installed (AT&T, ADT Pulse, Ring, Scrabble, Weather Channel and YouTube). The Weather Channel will likely get ditched with the new built-in Apple weather app hits in iOS 15. I can't tell you the last time I launched the ADT or Ring ones. Scrabble and YouTube are really the only two that get daily, consistent use (and it's the old, "real" Scrabble vs. that infuriating, a-box-of-crayons-threw-up-on-itself, hunk-of-shit Scrabble GO, they replaced it with. I knew better than to delete the real one after messing with its replacement!
