As a gadget freak and an Apple-lover, I feel almost sacrilege saying this, but…

I am so sick of the iPhone!

Sure, I oohed and aahed during the famous 2007 Macworld Keynote where it was announced. I grunted like a caveman (cavewoman?) and pointed to the screen, sputtering, “Me. Want.” I anxiously waited with the rest of the world of geeks for its release in June. I trekked over to the local Apple store and played with it obsessively. (“Oh, my pretty little pet, I love you. So I stoke it, and I pet it, and I massage it, hehe I love it, I love my little naughty pet, you’re naughty!”)

However, I resisted the urge to buy…because as any true geek knows, you should never buy the first generation release of a gadget/software. I vowed to wait for the 2nd gen, or at least until the 3G version is released.

The months passed, and despite its high price iPhone sales continued to soar. It used to be that whenever an early adopter began to use his iPhone in public, the masses around him would stare enviously and even strike up conversations regarding the highly coveted product.

Now, iPhones are so common that no one blinks an eye at the sight of one, while their users smugly display the $400 boxes as extensions of their manhood.

Last week, the media (and geek websites) started to report the shortage of iPhones at Apple Stores worldwide. Gizmodo reported a line 30 deep at the W 14th St Apple Store in NY. Wired Gadget Lab wrote that UK resellers have completely sold out of the iPhone. And finally, the news broke that the Apple online store has stopped selling iPhones completely, starting a flurry of guesses and speculations about the 3G iPhone.

It all snowballed from there. Now, I can’t read any tech site without a mention of the iPhone. Will it be released today? (Apple generally releases their new products on Tuesdays…we in the geek world call them “Apple Tuesdays.”) Or will we need to wait until June for the anticipated 3G version?

Perhaps my issue with the iPhone has to do with the fact that I hate unanimity. For example, I bought a 2nd generation iPod way back in the days…before iPods became popular. Yes the screen is black & white, and it still has buttons on top of the track wheel. But it still works, and I refuse to buy a new model because everyone else has them.

Then there’s the issue of Apple becoming a bit too elitist and big brother-ly for its own good.

The iPhone SDK was released early this year, but with Apple retaining such tight control over every application that is developed, third-party developers are rightfully angry. Sure, without such governance malware and crappy, subpar-to-Apple’s-expectations software might arise. But the truth of the matter is, Apple is stifling creativity and innovation.

Even if the 3G iPhone is released in the near future, I think I’ll stick with my trusted LG Voyager. Besides, Verizon still has the best network in the US and what good is a data-intensive internet phone if you don’t have the network to back it up?