This week on 43 Folders, Merlin Mann is documenting his war on clutter, a topic near and dear to my heart. We’ve made considerable progress at home, but this bit in Merlin’s blog was very much on point to me:

I start seeing things that I hadn’t ever noticed. Like the phone cords and SCSI cables.

You see, yesterday I was moving our new computer into the space formerly occupied by the old computer; while the space was vacant, I took the opportunity to neaten up the wiring and reduce the number of plug strips necessary. During that neatening, I found an old parallel cable that hadn’t been connected to anything for years — and so I wrapped it up and put it in my Drawer of Cables, along with yet another RJ-11, making at least 6 in that drawer. I did think about getting rid of the parallel cable instead of stowing it, but….

Time for a rethink.

Our travels today took us to Valley Fair (err, “Westfield Shoppingtown Valley Fair”), and I decided it was worth wandering over to the Apple store to see if I could look at an iPhone. There was a crowd by the entrance looking at an official demo, but I wandered around the store and found a salesperson with an iPhone and no one talking to him, so I filled the gap.

I did a tiny bit of web surfing (slow, even using the store’s WiFi network), and played a bit with the text keyboard and iTunes. I didn’t make any phone calls.

I’ve hit the point where I’m ready to replace my existing phone, a Motorola 551 — its audio, never great to begin with, is showing signs of wear and tear, and I’ve never liked some of the features. But even though the iPhone is very cool indeed, I don’t think it’s the right answer for my needs, and so I handed back the phone and went on my way.