A touch-screen interface. It’s the technology they were talking about back in the fifties when they all said we’d have flying cars by now. And while we’ve seen it almost everywhere else recently, we haven’t been able to access it from our cell phones. Sure, you can use one of those so-called smart phones and pull out the stylus, scratch the screen, lose the stylus, and generally struggle with it, but what’s the point? You can’t truly touch the screen and have the functions you want literally at your fingertips. Or can you?

Apple’s new iPhone gives you the first touch screen interface on a cellular device. You don’t have to worry about scratching the screen with your stylus. You don’t have to worry about dropping the stylus on the train and having to purchase a replacement. Just pick it up and touch it. In fact, while you’re at it, why don’t you do a little more touching?

A smooth glass screen. A cool aluminum case. Just your bare skin and this amazing machine. Feels nice, huh? A bit more substantial and elegant than it’s competitors? It’s certainly a device you’ll want to hang on to. In fact, don’t be surprised if others want to touch your new iPhone too.

But is the look and feel really worth standing in line and paying for it? Absolutely. You’re looking at something that has a full operating system, displays actual web pages, and has 8 GB of storage space for you to fill. Touch the glass when you’re looking at an image, and you can zoom in and zoom out as easily as if you were talking to the ship on Star Trek. Scroll up and down through your messages not by clicking on a tiny, unusable arrow, but by literally moving your finger up and down the screen.

The bottom line here is that the iPhone manages to simulate an actual object. Whether you’re using the keyboard to send a note or scrolling through your playlist, the touch screen will be the most sensitive part of you. Just one touch, and you’ll find out why thousands are flocking to the iPhone.