As my colleagues in The Sun newsroom learned that technology columnist Mike Himowitz had written a piece advising against rushing into buying Apple’s iPhone, several advised me to rebut his arguments. After reading his column, however, I must admit that I concur with much of what he says (did I really just say that?). Mike’s reasons for not buying an iPhone right away are rational and make perfect sense. I’m just not sure that rational thinking applies in this case. No matter how practical the reasons for not storming the Apple Stores on June 29, thousands of people will do it anyway.

Being one of the first to own an iPhone is simply not a rational decision. It’s more akin to the decision to buy a 50-inch HDTV or designer anything. Yes, you’ll pay through the nose. Do you really need it? No. Do you already have something not nearly as impressive that serves your purposes just fine? Probably. But the desire to have it overwhelms all other considerations. The uncontrollable urge to have an iPhone will seduce more than enough people to make the product an instant hit, no matter how irrational purchasing one now may seem.

One more thing: Mike implies in his column that the only folks lining up to buy the iPhone will be “breathless Apple fanatics.” First of all, most people who own Macs are not fanatics (yours truly excepted), but regular folk who just want a computer that works without a fuss. The true “Macolytes” probably make up less than half of Apple’s customer base (I know of no way to reliably measure this, but I’m basing it on the range of Mac users I’ve encountered over the years).

And remember, an entire category of Apple customers – the majority of those who own iPods –have never owned a Mac. The iPhone, like the iPod, is not a Mac, and Mac ownership is not required. The iPhone is a consumer electronics device that will appeal initially to a particular demographic of well-heeled, trendy early adopters – only some of whom regularly drink Jobs’ legendary Kool-Aid.