If you follow this sort of Web rumor (and I do), you’ll know that speculation about an Apple-designed “iPhone” has been circulating for some time on the Web, and that lately it has reached a fever pitch, with at least one analyst predicting its release in the first quarter of 2007, and the guy who predicted the Nano describing the phone in some detail.

Why are people so excited about this? There are many phone models that play music, and even one that integrates with iTunes (the Rokr, widely seen as a dud). I think even a lot of the people who are intensely interested don’t really understand the reason: they just want a phone that works right.

People have gotten so used to bad phone interfaces, they think they’re excited about an iPod/phone hybrid. But they really just want a phone that is easy and pleasant to use.

Given the number of companies manufacturing mobile phones, I have been in a years-long state of surprise that no one seems to have done even the most basic thinking about how people use these devices. My phone leaves me a “notification” that I have a text message, then I have to follow a link to get on the data service, and the actual message itself appears in its own menu, next to the notifications menu. Why can’t I just see the message from the beginning? Why does the phone play an extremely loud little jingle when you turn it off, at presumably the exact point you want it to be quiet?

Everyone I know has similar complaints about their phones. Engineers want to show off every capability, and give you a bunch of ways to do it, while regular people just want to do what they need to do.

People see the iPod–a simple, cool, device that does what it’s supposed to do–and want the same from their phones. I do too. I really don’t care if it plays music or not. I’m just happy if you design it to fit the way I use it, rather than trying to make me use it the way you designed it.