V. Important iPhone update

Just had a bite to eat with someone more in the know than self. Said person is proud owner of iPhone so definitely contender for my unrelenting iPhone envy. He was kind enough to share his views on all matters iPhone related (that I asked about anyway).

I'm not saying any of these facts will be news to you, but they were to me so just in case I am will share.

• Currently 7000 people on the Optus Network, in Australia have gone to the trouble of importing an iPhone, decoding it (having broken I don't know how many laws!). I imagine that extending this figure out across major Telc'os we'd be talking at minimum 20,000 devices in the country. And I thought I was an early adopter!
• It is definitely a matter of months until they go on sale in Australia
  
• After learning from o/s mistakes, Apple will be going to market here across multiple providers (woopee, I am an Optus customer and I am quietly confident I'll be aok)
• The current model does not support email (ie Blackberry). Not such good news, may have to be laggard and wait :(

The bigger story of course is the pressure delivery will put on the market to drop packet data costs. With any luck, as a result the mobile web is about to take off in a big way. And I think we've all agreed in the past that the opportunities available on this platform are going to be quite revolutionary. I am excited!