Can you not activate AT&T service?

Question

Please forgive a question from a non-iPhone user trying to make a purchase decision.
I was really hoping to buy an iPod Touch, thinking it was intended to be an iPhone without the phone; now that I know that's not the case, I'm a little lost. Talking to other iPod users about my disappointment, I've been repeatedly told I should just get an iPhone if it has the feature set I want.
The iPhone sounds like a great phone, but I simply don't need a phone right now, I don't want to buy a phone I don't need, and I really don't want to pay AT&T (what is it, $2,000+ over the life of the contract?) so I can own a phone I don't need or want. (I mean no offense intended to folks who love their iPhones -- if I were in the market for a phone right now, and price were no object, it would probably be at the top of my list.)
So here, at last, is my question (thanks again for your patience): Is it even possible to buy an iPhone and use it without activating service through AT&T? And if it is, what features are available without AT&T activation?

Answer 1

Allan Sampson wrote:
You are asking about purchasing a product called an iPhone which is a phone (first and foremost), an iPod and an internet device but you don't want to use the phone feature of the iPhone which is one third of the device's big three categories and an important 3rd.
Well, yeah, I'm looking to buy something, and as I said in my original post I'm specifically not looking to buy a phone, iPhone or otherwise. I'd thought the iPod Touch was what I wanted, but without PIM features (not even a Notes feature, like on my ancient 3G iPod!), I don't think it is.
Allan Sampson wrote:
This is what the iTouch is for.
From everything I've read, which is a sizeable but not overwhelming amount, the iPod Touch was designed to be an iPhone without the Phone. I've seen Touch screenshots in which it generates warnings calling itself an iPhone, and apparently, when you connect it to your Mac, it's identified as a USB imaging device exactly as the iPhone is (even without a camera!). So it sounds like you're right, the iPod Touch is intended to be the iPhone without the phone.
But frankly, if it doesn't have the iPhone's fully functional Calendar, if it doesn't have Mail, etc., etc., I'm probably not going to buy.
(Frankly, I'm posting here because the more time I spend in the iPod Touch threads asking about PIM/PDA features, the more I hear from iPod users who say I should just buy an iPhone. I can't ignore the irony in hearing iPhone users who say I should just buy an iPod Touch! )