Believe it or not, there are actually people out there that have an iPhone, but don’t want anyone to know!!! Amazing, right? I mean, sure, you wouldn’t want to let just ANY stranger know what you’ve got - if you want to keep it - but these folks are keeping the wondrous iPhone secret from friends and family and...dare I say it... loved ones! (Won’t someone think of those that are loved??  wait...)

If they’re careless enough to leave the receipt in the trash or keep the box in the bedroom closet, then finding it is just one inordinate bit of snooping away. If they’re exceedingly secretive though, you’re going to have your work cut out for you. Fortunately, there’s something about having an iPhone, some emotional reaction that most won’t be able to keep under wraps. Oh, they’ll try to come up with alternate reasons for some of the items below, but if you find more than 5 to be true, it may be time for an iPhone intervention (so you can play with CoverFlow, too!)

1) They suddenly want your correct address -

They know where you live, they can get there with their eyes closed! But, once finding out that typing on the iPhone’s actually kinda easy, they need practice entering info.

2) They want a picture of you -

While in the past, “Why do I need a picture, I know what you look like” was the excuse, a gentle prodding for an image means they want to use it on their iPhone. When you call, your visage will let them know it’s you. The space is there for one, why not use it!

3) They’ve an uncanny knowledge of wireless cellular data speeds -

They may have owned a cellular phone before, but maybe data  just wasn’t as important then. Now, just mentioning “3G” may incite a well reasoned response to how EDGE is fast enough.

4) They prefer email to text messaging when sending an image from their phone -

This is mainly because currently, you can send images via email but, since the iPhone doesn’t support MMS, you can’t send an image that way.

5) They know all of the restaurants nearby, and can call them at will -

With the Google Maps feature, a user merely has to center in an area, then search for “restaurant” and ten locations will be highlighted. One touch, and they’ve got access to the telephone number and one more touch and it’s in their contacts.

6) They used to speak about the poor quality of YouTube, now they’ve sent you a few links -

First, it was just a passing interest to “see if all the features work”. Now they find themselves actually watching YouTube videos for the first time and wanting to share. The one touch ease of creating an email with the link makes it irresistible!

7) They instantly know the time and weather in places they normally wouldn’t -

Some people like to know these things, some don’t. Since you can set up many time zones and weather locations on the iPhone quickly and easily, that information’s always available. An interesting corollary, if you stay more than 7 time zones apart, they never call at the “wrong” time anymore.

8) Navigating to places they’ve never been is now possible -

Again, Google Maps goes a long way to helping anyone get from anywhere to anywhere AND it’s better than Uncle Bob’s directions...

9) When talking to you, situations come up where they NEED to conference someone else in -

They won’t do it with 5 other people, because that’d be a dead giveaway. BUT, conferencing two other people is so simple... it’s like a 4 way chat on iChat... you want to do it just because you CAN!

10) Almost anytime you call, they seem a little irritated -

Since the iPhone doubles as an iPod, a lot of the time they may have just gotten to that part in the song that just begs for a drop-to-the-knees-air-guitar moment... and the music fades out. First, they’re panicking because they think they’ve accidentally paused it, then they hear the phone ring. So, not only did their theatrics get put on hold AND they thought they’d messed up the playback, NOW the reality hits that it’s just a phone call... and NOT from <insert their dream phone call here>.

11) Aside from breathing, obtaining album artwork for iTunes is of paramount importance -

This whole CoverFlow thing, while cool, just didn’t register on their radar... that is, until the iPhone. Now, it’s almost like a smack in the face to go flicking through their library and find that dreaded default iTunes note! If they’ve previously borrowed your CD’s and now want to scan the album art, then, yup, they probably have an iPhone.

12) Deleting a little spam every now and then isn’t so bad -

If most of the emails they get are actual emails from people they WANT to hear from, those get saved. However, when receiving SPAM, there’s a neat little stroke tap action that’s almost giddily fun. Once they’ve got the hang of it, deleting up to 10 or 12 junk emails a day is something they look forward to!

For those on the outside looking in, there’s one sure fire way to get your hands on an iPhone (that’s to head to an Apple Store or an AT&T Store as they’ve probably got one there for you to fool around with). BUT, if you want a closer and longer look at all the features, keep the above list in mind, and, gently but firmly, assert your suspicions.

Chances are, they’ll be glad you found them out! They’ve been dying to pinch for an audience!