Okay. So, some creeps stole my iphone tonight. They are a sorry bunch of ******s, too, because it's not like they were some hungry homeless kid or a junkie out of his mind desperate for a fix, both of which have some significant mitigating circumstances, but a gaggle of entitled little suburbanite punks (and I don't mean in the Ramones/The Clash sense, but in the 'cmon punk, make my day' sense) who did it just for spite because they couldn't handle being told to stop playing with their ringtones and chasing each other round Starbucks' dedicated meeting/work area while I was trying to get some work done (nope, no libraries in my lousy town). So they stole my freakin' phone when I wasn't looking at it for the 3.2 seconds it took me to stash away my macbook in my pack 
So: my data's gone, probably in the punks' greedy hands (even having them paw through my underwear drawer would feel like less of a violation), I lost notes for countless projects because it's a busy time and I wasn't backing up as often as before + I was constantly adding into the phone, and to nicely top off this clusterfnck, I couldn't afford to keep on the mobileme account when it ran out a few months ago so I can't remote wipe the phone.
In this scenario of epic fail, the only thing I can do is try to get back to normal as soon as possible, because the more times I reach for my iphone only to remember it's gone, the more upset and bereft I feel when I remember what I've lost (and it ain't a bunch of buggy free game apps). It's like losing your planner iat Christmas, when it's full of important notes from the entire year, only worse because there's so many more types of information than a simple planner holds.
Now the buying guide says not to buy because an update is coming soon. But 'soon' seems to be June at the earliest, which is still over two months from now for a US release (and includes the time where I had planned on doing a long hike in early May, for which I am preparing). What's more, because I have the misfortune of being stuck in this total *****hole of a place (hey, it's my own country, so I'm allowed to diss it), the iphone won't show up here until early august - IF I am extremely lucky, AND find it in me to make the rounds between pretty much every branch of the provider's sorry little outlets because they will always bring only one or two phones in August, and they NEVER actually follow through on waitlists. Basically, August is just some test run and they only start carrying them properly well into September.
So, realistically, we're looking more at a September date. And that is looking worse by the minute, because going through the summer without means I can also kiss my summer plans goodbye: I was planning to rely heavily on the iphone because it keeps me flexible enough to change accommodation, transportation, and even the whole itinerary to best use my (pretty limited) resources, while still traveling light (which helps with said resources) - if I don't have it, the same holiday will be half the fun, twice the logistical hassle, and will cost me more to boot, so in current economic conditions, might as well scrap the whole thing. Which sucks big time, because with the breathtakingly craptastic winter I've had (think life-threatening illness in the family, a tooth abscess, and multiple bouts of virulent sinusitis) I could sure as heck use a break.
So, o Macrumors users, what would you do in my craptacular shoes? Would you
a) wait for iphone 5 (with the hopefully better antenna and a few other features - can't tell what else would be that much better compare to iphone 4 other than the antenna) using an old '04 entry level samsung to tide over (my previous phone)?
b) get a cheap, used iphone 3GS (like the one I had) or even iphone 4 if they sell cheap off of ebay to tide me over until September, but risk endless hassle from the provider because I got it used?
c) buy a new iphone 4 at the store and forget about iphone 5 altogether, then probably weep when I realize it works better than the 4 even though I paid the same amount (dump of a place, remember? they NEVER discount earlier models, of anything. The square ipod nano still sells for under $20 less than a brand-new nano wherever they have it)
Or, maybe some other solution? Please advise. If you have no idea but just want to offer sympathy/battle stories, believe me, it will be very much appreciated in its own right at this point
So: my data's gone, probably in the punks' greedy hands (even having them paw through my underwear drawer would feel like less of a violation), I lost notes for countless projects because it's a busy time and I wasn't backing up as often as before + I was constantly adding into the phone, and to nicely top off this clusterfnck, I couldn't afford to keep on the mobileme account when it ran out a few months ago so I can't remote wipe the phone.
In this scenario of epic fail, the only thing I can do is try to get back to normal as soon as possible, because the more times I reach for my iphone only to remember it's gone, the more upset and bereft I feel when I remember what I've lost (and it ain't a bunch of buggy free game apps). It's like losing your planner iat Christmas, when it's full of important notes from the entire year, only worse because there's so many more types of information than a simple planner holds.
Now the buying guide says not to buy because an update is coming soon. But 'soon' seems to be June at the earliest, which is still over two months from now for a US release (and includes the time where I had planned on doing a long hike in early May, for which I am preparing). What's more, because I have the misfortune of being stuck in this total *****hole of a place (hey, it's my own country, so I'm allowed to diss it), the iphone won't show up here until early august - IF I am extremely lucky, AND find it in me to make the rounds between pretty much every branch of the provider's sorry little outlets because they will always bring only one or two phones in August, and they NEVER actually follow through on waitlists. Basically, August is just some test run and they only start carrying them properly well into September.
So, realistically, we're looking more at a September date. And that is looking worse by the minute, because going through the summer without means I can also kiss my summer plans goodbye: I was planning to rely heavily on the iphone because it keeps me flexible enough to change accommodation, transportation, and even the whole itinerary to best use my (pretty limited) resources, while still traveling light (which helps with said resources) - if I don't have it, the same holiday will be half the fun, twice the logistical hassle, and will cost me more to boot, so in current economic conditions, might as well scrap the whole thing. Which sucks big time, because with the breathtakingly craptastic winter I've had (think life-threatening illness in the family, a tooth abscess, and multiple bouts of virulent sinusitis) I could sure as heck use a break.
So, o Macrumors users, what would you do in my craptacular shoes? Would you
a) wait for iphone 5 (with the hopefully better antenna and a few other features - can't tell what else would be that much better compare to iphone 4 other than the antenna) using an old '04 entry level samsung to tide over (my previous phone)?
b) get a cheap, used iphone 3GS (like the one I had) or even iphone 4 if they sell cheap off of ebay to tide me over until September, but risk endless hassle from the provider because I got it used?
c) buy a new iphone 4 at the store and forget about iphone 5 altogether, then probably weep when I realize it works better than the 4 even though I paid the same amount (dump of a place, remember? they NEVER discount earlier models, of anything. The square ipod nano still sells for under $20 less than a brand-new nano wherever they have it)
Or, maybe some other solution? Please advise. If you have no idea but just want to offer sympathy/battle stories, believe me, it will be very much appreciated in its own right at this point
