Much as this is also just anecdotal, my experience was the opposite. Most people thought the iPhone looked 'kinda cool' but 1) thought it was too expensive, and

Much as this is also just anecdotal, my experience was the opposite. Most people thought the iPhone looked 'kinda cool' but 1) thought it was too expensive, and 2) didn't see any reason to switch away from their dumb- or feature phone. I even remember being a bit embarrassed pulling out my iPhone (which was already the 3GS at that point) in public because it felt a bit 'geeky'. And then over night everyone was using them in public.