Racing to buy an iPhone? The caution flag has been raised.

Consumerist just posted the story of "Jonathan" who has had nothing but trouble with his iPhone. This happens with 1st generation devices, and unless it's the Xbox 360 (which I think has a failure rate of 30% or more) it is usually a small percentage.

However, the concerning aspect of this is not the failure rate but Apple's "rental policy" for when you need another iPhone while yours is getting repaired. $29 plus a $500 deposit? Isn't the purchase of your first iPhone deposit enough?

I have always had great luck with Applecare and Apple support in general, and this seems surprising. Hopefully it's an anomoly. But it is a cautionary flag to the fact that if your iPhone goes down, it takes a whole lot of your life with it.