Over a laptop, it's smaller (pocket-sized) and has better battery life. (A netbook is also smaller than a laptop, but the iPhone is dramatically smaller). It's

Over a laptop, it's smaller (pocket-sized) and has better battery life. (A netbook is also smaller than a laptop, but the iPhone is dramatically smaller). It's also easier to start using (you just take it out of your pocker). This convenience means you can use it when you couldn't be bothered using a laptop. I don't know the reasons people prefer the iPhone over similar class of devices (blackberry, other phones), but they do. It reminds me of Alan Kay's "Of course, you can do all those things on the mainframe, but [the minicomputer/microcomputer] is for all the extra things you can do that you wouldn't think of doing on the mainframe." http://ecotopia.com/webpress/futures.htm http://ecotopia.com/webpress/futures.htm