The true cost of an iPhone: $17,670

Here is a funny take on the iPhone by a guy named Brett Arends.

A $599 iPhone comes with a minimum service plan of $60 a month for two years. Outlay: $2,039.

But if it's not a work expense, a customer in, say, the 25% tax bracket actually had to earn $2,720 to pay the bill.

Take an iPhone customer who's 30 years old and is not maxing out contributions to his or her 401(k) retirement plan (few are).

In that case, the $2,720 could have been invested tax free. Earning a pretty reasonable 5.5% after inflation over the next 35 years, it would have grown to ... $17,670.

Then again, you could say the same thing as a car or a hamburger or a shoelace.