That was the setup on KUOW's "The Works" show last night, where I appeared along with some other guy who writes about Microsoft. KUOW posted a podcast and MP3 replays that will probably work on a Zune.

The show was sort of a farewell to "The Works" host John Moe, who is giving up the show and leaving KUOW on Friday to become a senior reporter with Weekend America.

To help fill the gaping maw left in KUOW's tech coverage, Glenn Fleishman is going to step up his appearances on the station.

On the show, I referenced a Jack Schofield report in the Guardian that pegged the total cost of iPhone ownership at around $3,000. It has interesting comments vetting the estimate.

Schofield's report played off John Markoff's skeptical piece comparing the iPhone with the Mac.

It's interesting how quickly the iPhone hype is being replaced by thoughtful stories raising serious questions about a device that won't even go on sale for another five months.

The hype reminds me of Microsoft's overhyped Origami project, which overshadowed the European equivalent of CES last year. Then the devices turned out to be too big and expensive to take off, at least in their first iteration.