Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

Should have known better. Should not have made the cardinal error of ordering an iPhone (16GB) from a former state monopoly. The result is no iPhone. Maybe next week. Maybe not. Perhaps the week after said the support drone. The only satisfaction (call it Schadenfreude) is that some of those who managed to get their hands on the object of desire have been snookered by network cock ups.

Gripes apart, the 3G iPhone appears to be fulfilling all the prophecies of its revolutionary capabilities. And then some. Read Write Web is calling it "The New Personal Computer" and predicts that everything is or will be available on the platform. TechCrunch has identified the "killer app" — Pandora (unavailable, alas, in our glorious EU), which is adding an astonishing new listener every two seconds. The killer app will kill radio says Jeff Jarvis, a proud and pleased new owner of an iPhone. In Cork city, Pat Phelan, thrilled to bits with his new iPhone, has figured out how to take screen shots with it. You get the picture. But not if you have anything to do with ex-monopolists.

Meanwhile, London ad agency Beattie McGuinness Bungay is cleverly leveraging Apple's App Store for its client, Carling. The game it created, which makes use of the phone's "accelerometer", is now one of most-downloaded free apps. Deduction: Every viral video maker will be producing for the iPhone as well as YouTube from now on. iPints of Carling all round, landlord!