I was wrong.

I used to get a little catch in my throat when this message would appear, whenever certain persons' emails dropped into my welcoming inbox: Sent from my iPhone.

So innocuous, so banal, so friendly, so benign while jealousy inspiring.  With every email received, it burrowed its way into the core of my being, resulting in a carefully masked wannabe frenzy.  So thrillingly, painlessly, flawlessly clever.

I watched as owners fingers flew and colours exploded from their tiny screens while everyone who flashed one, spun virtual gold from their personal data.  But they'd  be moaning about battery life and given my propensity to forget to charge, I decided to wait it out.  I let the early innovators have their way, let them flood the market with free and minimally priced downloads to spare me from venturing down all those exhausting blind alleys and failed trials until I could have all the killer apps, at my fingertips.

And I waited.

But before the next generation iPhone was even released, the iPad was born.  A tablet no one even knew what we were gonna do with?!   And yet, from the moment of its anxiously awaited launch and on both sides of the pond, sales soared and continue to soar, ever higher.

Which is the reason I was wrong.  Because what are the most coveted 4 1/2 words in the English dictionary today? 

Sent from my iPad. 

-- Deborah Gale

Expatriate Living