If there is one thing that Apple Computers does better than make computer products, it’s building hype for them.

Their newest gadget, the iPhone, has already sold over one million units. While that does not make it as ubiquitous as the iPod, it has already won the approval of a technologically savvy group of consumers.

But to be frank, that approval is getting out of hand.

Time Magazine recently names the iPhone as the invention of the year. Writer Lev Grossman gives such reasons as, “The iPhone is pretty,” and “It’s touchy-feely.” Somehow people have been stupefied by this feat of design and marketing.

But it can’t be that great.

It’s one of, if not the only cell phone that doesn’t have a removable battery. Like the iPod, if the battery dies, it can be replaced through some form of hoop-jumping, or one could just buy the brand new model that just came out!

This is not meant to sound hypocritical. This writer has owned his fair share of iPods. But notice the plural form. For all its ingenuity, Apple products are not that durable. Sadly, that means when it breaks, it’s better just to buy a new one instead of fixing it.

Of course, the whole glamour behind the iPhone is that it is more than a mere cellular device. One of Grossman’s other praises for it was that “It’s not a phone, it’s a platform.”

Meaning that it’s essentially a portable computer and iPod as well as a trendy looking phone with a touchy-feely screen.

Never mind that the Blackberry and the Palm Pilot came out before Time’s invention of the year. Lord knows that Apple did not come out with the very first MP3 player, they just came out with the most easily identifiable one.

This is not to discredit Apple’s ingenuity, but, for some reason, whenever Apple decides to release something, there is a wave of pre-emptive praise. By golly, they’re revolutionizing technology!

Apple already has the sales and the hype behind them. Do they really need respected news organizations like Time Magazine falling over themselves with praise?

Especially since many of the inventions, “The Best of the Rest,” ,featured in the same issue of TIME, have a wider reach of potential.

One of these inventions is a hybrid steam engine in which, “water is sprayed into a traditional gasoline powered cylinder.” This thing produces enough energy to travel 40% farther than on a gallon of gas.

How is this not above the iPhone? It is not pretty or touchy-feely enough? Is Time saying that the a phone/iPod/portable computer is more important than weaning cars off of gasoline?

The fascination behind Apple products belie the more important technological advances society actually needs. For example, instead of focusing on devices that are more efficient and environmentally friendly, Time put a trendy gadget on the cover, a gadget they say will probably become obsolete in a few years, like a first generation iPod.