If you haven’t heard, Apple’s new iPhone 4 goes on sale Thursday, June 24th. If this is anything like the last few iPhone releases, and there’s no reason why it won’t be, there will be throngs of tech-minded people lined up outside of Apple and AT&T stores across the country just waiting to get a hold of the latest, coolest gadget from Apple. Some of them will even be putting aside their social awkwardness to talk to those around them about this new iPhone. Its lure is just that powerful.

Now for those who are not interested in this most excellent device, there’s something you should know. On June 24th, there will be very little actual work done by those of us in the tech industry.

You see, when you’re into devices like the iPhone, and a new model with new features is released, it’s like you’re 7 years old at Christmas all over again. All you want to do all day when you get the iPhone is play with it. First you’ll spend a good 10 minutes just looking at it. If you’re a designer like me, you’ll be admiring the new buttons, steel band and glass front and back. Then you’ll want to test out its cool new features like the higher resolution screen, multitasking, HD video recording, folders, and the new 5-megapixel camera with LED flash. I alone expect to waste at least half an hour on FaceTime, the app that lets you video chat with other iPhone 4 users over WiFi. Of course this means I’ll be wasting others’ time too, but they won’t mind. They’ll be doing the same thing.

Now I’m not necessarily proud of this Apple gadget obsession I’ve been roped in to. I’ve been on Macs for over 20 years, but I’ve had my iPhone 3G for just 2 years and I can honestly say I can’t imagine going back. Among other things, it’s my phone (obviously), email client, GPS, restaurant finder, weather report, and Scrabble opponent. I actually didn’t think I was overt about it until a recent email exchange with my father where he said, and I quote, “You are a captive of Apple. As a parent I feel it is time for an intervention. If 11 people show up at your house please cooperate!” (What am I, Jason Chen?)

So for the rest of you out there who don’t understand this particular electronics disease, please understand this one thing. If you email your web developer on June 24th, don’t expect to hear back from them right away. If you call technical support and they are treating you like your children sometimes do when they don’t really want to talk to you, don’t take it personally. If your IT-badge-wearing significant other disappears at 6 a.m. to be one of the first in line at the Apple store, just roll with it. If you can, and we hope you can, accept the fact that for that day, there is a small, inanimate object that will have 95% of their focus.

Correction; a small, very cool inanimate object.