I live in a small town in Missouri. My cell phone provider is one that many people probably haven’t even heard of. I use it mostly because I have used it for years, I don’t pay TOO much for coverage, and because I’m too cheap to get out of my contract.

I would consider buying out of my contract if I could get an iPhone though. But as Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal says in his review of the iPhone, Apple has made an exclusive deal with AT&T. So, even though my home phone company is through AT&T (because they own everything), I can’t get an iPhone. Which is too bad, because Mossberg also says the phone is pretty freaking fabulous.

Have you figured out yet that I’m a gadget girl? I resisted getting an iPod for years, because I didn’t think I had enough music to justify it. Then, my dad bought a new car and got a mini-iPod and sent it to me. Suddenly, I didn’t have to heft around a ton of CDs with me when I traveled. I could vary music as I got tired when I was running. It was like a little revelation in a shiny little package.

But part of the appeal of gadgets is, for me, aesthetic. I like how they feel, how they look. The look of the iPhone is tremendously appealing to me, especially compared to my clunky Blackberry. (Follow-up: My Blackberry continued to break, so I took it back to the cell phone store. They gave me information to file a claim with my insurance. For a small deductible, they are sending me a new one. So, that answers that.) But even I must admit that there is nothing practical about an iPhone, nothing that I need. Mossberg even reported that the most important feature for a small business owner like myself (the phone! The sound of the phone!) is just okay. So, I am lusting after a device that would probably just waste more of my time, when I could be saving it.

None of that stops me from liking the idea of having one. And I know I’m not the only one. I am aware that as with the iPod, it will probably be years before I get my hands on an iPhone. But that won’t stop me from stalking it on the Internet, like a ring from Tiffany’s, a Picasso, a Mexican vacation, or an Italian villa. ‘Cause a girl’s gotta dream.

Here’s Mossberg’s review-- what do you think?