Do you really need an iPhone 3G? We give you 5 reasons it’s the world’s best cell phone—and 5 reasons to wait to buy one or just keep rocking your 2G iPhone.

We admit it—after hearing Steve Jobs’s keynote at the Worldwide Developers Conference on June 9, we all wanted an iPhone 3G. Badly. There’s plenty to like about the iPhone’s second coming, but we wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we didn’t show you both sides of Apple’s newest smartphone, the good and the bad. In fact, the original working title of this article was “10 Reasons You Need an iPhone Now,” but in researching the story, we couldn’t look past the device’s clear downsides.

So in the spirit of the proverbial angel and devil that sit on either shoulder when you’re weighing a decision, we present both the good and the bad news about the iPhone 3G, so you can you make the most informed choice possible.

The software has been updated to 2.0.1, giving us zippier performance and fewer bugs. Apple is ramping up production to keep pace with the public's rabid demands. So what's coming next for the iPhone 3G? Oh, lots.

The trains might run on time, but for those Germans who pre-ordered iPhone 3G’s, scheduled arrivals are way off.  Gizmodo translated a post on German website iphone-ticker.de which noted that after weeks of waiting for their precious new toys, these customers received a paper “build-it-yourself” iPhone template with the phrase (roughly translated) “As a small pastime/tinkering project” at the top.   

Funny, ja?  Nein!

No further details were given as far as when those customers would be receiving more sturdy iPhones that wouldn’t require bits of tape.

This news shouldn't surprise anyone who stood in line and/or anxiously waited for their back-ordered iPhone to arrive from AT&T.  iPhone 3G sales are nearly double that of last years launch of the OG iPhone.

AT&T shared that bit of news in their quarterly results. The figure is from sales of the iPhone 3G during the first 12 days of its release.

A quick check of Apple's iPhone 3G Availability page, shows exactly one store in the United States with available iPhones.

The Pleasanton Apple Store still has black 16GB iPhone 3G's in stock according to Apple.   

Readers have informed us that AT&T stores are giving 14 to 21 day wait times for deliveries of the device.

If you're looking for a black 16GB iPhone 3G, you might want to get down to Pleasanton real quick.

It’s been approximately 175 hours since opening day and the iPhone craze is still going strong. At the Apple Store in downtown San Francisco, eager patrons have lined up every morning this week, with long lines continuing to scale Stockton Street regardless of the store’s closing hours. (Above, a cell phone quality photo of the store’s front, taken by a discreet salonista on her way to work.)

We called several of the other high traffic Apple Stores here in the Bay Area to find out if they were experiencing the same kind of morning rush. At the Apple Stores in Burlingame, Santa Clara, and Stonestown Mall, no one answered the phone. At the Chestnut Street location in the Marina, a female employee answered the phone on the sixth ring and exasperatingly declared the line was up to two hours long. The Stanford Shopping Center location managed to keep their cool after all this time; A levelheaded Mac Genius informed us that the line was only half an hour long and added that only the 16GB model was available.

This presents quite a problem for existing customers who show up prepared to do the quick switcheroo between OG and 3G. Not to mention, new customers hoping to jump on the iPhone bandwagon. The long lines only emphasize the fact that AT&T didn't get the stock they needed and that the Apple Retail Stores are still getting hammered as demand for the iPhone doesn't seem to show signs of subsiding. The official page for iPhone availability nationwide also shows that stock is sold out at numerous retail locations. As a result, those anticipating a quick trip to the Apple Store for their iPhone will be faced with long lines, a number of overworked employees and may still walk away iPhone free.

It only took five days and the iPhone Dev team has already managed to jailbreak the new iPhone 3G, though there is no official release annoucement. Anyone with the OG iPhone, iPod touch, or iPhone 3G will be able to partake in the pwnage. Third party apps will still be accessible, as well as other cool hacks like video game emulators, video recording capabilities, and maybe someone, somewhere will figure out how to create a hack for cut and paste. Seriously.

Check out the video after the jump.