Did you ever wonder why Apple didn't pick Verizon as the inaugural carrier for its groundbreaking iPhone all those years ago?

We know why. It's because a Verizon iPhone would've sucked, and Apple knew it, too. But don't shoot the messenger, here. There's no need to wonder whether our pithy snap judgment is actually true anymore. Finally, we'll be able put our very grounded hypothesis to the test — preorders for the Verizon iPhone begin Thursday (although subscribers won't have them in hand until Feb. 10).

We're pretty sure we can hear Verizon diehards rejoicing in the streets, but we don't think there's cause for celebration just yet. Sure, the Verizon iPhone excels at voice calling, and haughtily makes calls with ease from locations AT&T's iPhone could only dream of.

But so what? Who really uses the phone for phone calls anymore?

In this day and age, it's all about the data. And, as expected on Verizon's pathetically ancient CDMA technology, the Verizon iPhone fails to stay up to speed and even blockades 3G data access entirely during voice calls.

What does that mean to you? No multitasking during those boring phone calls with your long-winded relatives or workaholic boss — meaning no texting, no e-mailing, no surfing the web while you're on the phone. And truthfully, a world without multitasking might as well ship us straight back to the Stone Age.

So who's actually impressed by Verizon's new-to-them iPhone? Not many of us current iPhone owners, that's for sure. Verizon may be the biggest, but the playing field leveled by the introduction of the Verizon iPhone still leaves the question unanswered as to who is the best cyber steward of the iPhone's true excellence.

Will you be placing your pre-order for Verizon's new iPhone? Tell us why or why not in the comments.