Today is my last day here at Wayfinder (I’ll be gone by the time this is posted), which had me thinking about what advice I could leave behind to help someone out in the future. That is why I’m going to tell you about how I lost my iPhone over the weekend.

Losing an iPhone is almost as heartbreaking as losing a dog. I backtracked, woke people up at ungodly hours, overturned their couches, and left my name and contact information everywhere I went to that day. I almost thought about posting reward posters on telephone poles throughout SF.

I tried looking for another phone on craigslist, but I don’t have the patience and am not very trusting, so I gave up. I figured I’d just go to AT&T and pay $99 for another 3G. WRONG! The only reason I got that price was because I signed a 2-year contract. My contract wasn’t up until June of 2011. This meant I’d have to pay $499-$699 for a replacement. I refused.

Long story short, a good friend who works for Sprint hooked me up with an HTC Hero. It’s comparable, has a better camera, better sound quality than the iPhone, but isn’t as beautiful or cool, I’ll admit. The main pros though are that my monthly phone bill will be cut in half and Sprint offers me insurance so that I only pay a $100 deductible for a replacement.

Now, for the advice:

Throughout my ordeal, there were so many “woulda, coulda, shouldas.” Apple & AT&T know the iPhone is a thing of beauty, which is why they don’t care if you lose it. They don’t offer insurance because they know a lot of people will pay full price for another one. So here are some things you could do BEFORE you lose your iPhone:

1)    Get your iPhone insured. Be careful because most insurance companies won’t cover what most of us need them to, including theft, loss or accidental damage (like rain damage or dropping and cracking it). If you’re lucky enough to pin one down, the cost of the monthly fee combined with the deductible won’t even be worth it. You could end up paying the insurance company the same amount you would have to get a new iPhone.

2)    Download and subscribe to an application that will track your phone down. One of my sister’s bosses knows himself too well, so he subscribes to MobileMe ($99/year) which can pinpoint his iPhone’s location via satellite each time he loses it. It’s a good idea if, staying true to form, he drops it in the conference room and finds it a few hours later. I don’t recommend you use it to stalk and confront your thief, however.

3)    It may not be pretty, but make a wallpaper using Photoshop that gives your name and some way to contact you. If your screen locks, they won’t be able to go into your phone to find out who you are or call you, but at least they’ll be able to contact you because they still can see the wallpaper. Maybe add that you’re offering a reward. A $50-$100 reward is better than dropping another $499-$699 for a new iPhone.

If I knew what I know now, I might still be a proud owner of an iPhone. It was a lovely 8-month romance, but the high-cost replacement and large phone bill made it easier for me to walk away. Though, I’ll probably be back one day.