Just over a year ago, right after I quit my job, I bought an iPhone 3GS off Craigslist for development. I was going to be working on a project that did barcode scanning, so the iPhone simulator wouldn’t cut it. I had a feeling that a new iPhone was coming out, but it was either work a month and earn money or save the $325 and make excuses to why I couldn’t test the app; the choice was pretty easy. When the iPhone 4 came out, I bought one and kept my iPhone 3GS running iOS 3.1.3 for a testing device.
I made the mistake of letting my son (3 years old at the time) play with it and he quickly learned to use it to play music, see pictures, take pictures, and check the weather. He now calls it “his” iPhone and loves to listen to music on it (yes, I did set the volume limiter and selected appropriate music for him). The phone is amazingly durable and my son now listens to it with headphones when we’re in the car which is a huge improvement from us having to listen to his music on the stereo!
At least I didn’t actually lose my iPhone, but I doubt I’ll be able to get it back from my son anytime soon!