The iPhone 4, still the device of my life

There are tons of great new devices out there, and there are even more rumors of greater devices to come.  Despite the revolutionary form and function of the iPad 2 and the siren-like draw of Siri’s voice, something about the “all in the palm of my hand” functionality of my iPhone 4 and the dreams of greater things to come has kept me using the same device for over a year and kept my upgrade money, so far, in my wallet.

Although I think that it is totally fun to tell Siri that you love her, or to ask her silly questions and  laugh at the answers, I don’t actually see a lot of utility in talking to my phone as an interface, especially since I don’t do much driving.  Outside of Siri, I feel like my iPhone 4 can do everything that the 4S can do, and for that matter everything that I need a mobile device to do.  I get my business and personal email all in one place, while the handy grouping of apps puts all of my social media into one small corner of my screen.  I can read all types of documents, handle all my faxing business, and can even hop on the command line of a web server.  And if you don’t have one yet, I believe you can get one for a lot less cash then the S model.

My wife has a 1st gen iPad, and I really like it.  However, the main thing that I feel it does better than my iPhone 4 is playing “NBA Jam”.  The larger screen is great for games, movies, and eBooks; but with that said, it doesn’t lend itself to increased mobile productivity for me in the things that I do when compared to the iPhone. In fact, the iPhone does all the same stuff and still fits in my pocket.

I’m definitely enthusiastic about upcoming product launches.  Part of the reason for that is that the current new product rumors are really enticing.  Just the other day, I heard about a new tablet that runs linux, I heard about the iPad 3’s retina display, and I’m salivating at the wonders that will be the iPhone 5.  I also heard about Macbook Pros that will have the same form factor as the Macbook Air: an Ultrabook Pro.  These kinds of ideas help me keep my ducats in my bank account as I dream of more and newer features on flashy new devices.

All great things must come to an end though, and I know that time will come when I finally upgrade.  I wonder if it will be this year, if I can hold out for iPhone 5 and iPad 3?  If I do, will I be able to get Apple with 4G LTE?

When do you know that it’s time to bite the bullet and make your upgrades?  Let us know in the comments.