Let the backlash begin: Now that the iPhone has been announced and praised, it’s time to have second thoughts. All before anyone has even properly reviewed one. Hooray for the media.

Chicago Sun-Times: ” User experience will be compromised with a mere five hours of talk time.” “Smudges, scratches and breakage are big issues. Let us hope we don’t have to spend more money and carry special cleaning lotion and buff cloth as accessories!”

New York Times: “Even if you are ready to pledge a lifetime commitment to the iPod as your only brand of portable music player or to the iPhone as your only cellphone once it is released, you may find that FairPlay copy protection will, sooner or later, cause you grief. You are always going to have to buy Apple stuff. Forever and ever. Because your iTunes will not play on anyone else’s hardware.”

Bloomberg: “Few products have been launched with such a blizzard of publicity as Apple Inc.’s iPhone,” Matthew Lynn writes for Bloomberg. “To its many fans, Apple is more of a religious cult than a company. An iToaster that downloads music while toasting bread would probably get the same kind of worldwide attention.,” Lynn writes.

Ohhh, fight! Fight! Let’s all just remember that first generation devices tend to suck, regardless of who makes them. And where can we get an iToaster, anyway?—MEGHANN MARCO

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