This is real simple and doesn’t require a long-winded explanation.
The iPhone is the floating car we imagined we’d be driving in the future.
The Jetsons, Star Wars, Blade Runner, Minority Report …the iPhone is that touchscreen gadget they all used (metaphorically speaking) to communicate with. As John Gruber points out (so obvious we all didn’t catch it), the iPhone is the first mobile device being promoted for its interface, not hardware.
… and like any good science fiction movie – it’s about the theatrics. The experience. The motion. The transitions. The atmosphere. What the iPhone does is as important as how it does it.