Watch her video on iTunes

It is one of the most sophisticated communications devices on the market, and yet the almost one million Americans who bought an iPhone since its launch in June are astonished by the weight of paper it generates.

Thanks to an archaic billing system one customer received a 300-page, double-sided invoice. The bill - which had twice as many pages as The Great Gatsby, and almost three times as many pages as the iPhone manual - chronicled in scientific detail every last bite of information uploaded or downloaded from her phone.

Justine Ezarik, 23, a blogger from Pittsburgh, videoed herself flipping through the $274 (£137) bill, page by page, to the music from Apple’s iPhone advertising campaign. Her video, posted on YouTube, has since been viewed three million times.

“It cost them almost $10 to send this bill,” said Ms Ezarik, who has admitted sending about 30,000 text messages a month. “It just doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

Other new iPhone customers have also complained that their bills from Apple’s phone company partner, AT&T Wireless, have page-counts more suited to novels than invoices.

“While many of us have had smart-phones for some time, we’ve never seen a bill like this,” wrote Ben Kuchera on the Ars Technica website yesterday. “AT&T itemises your data usage whenever you surf the internet, even if you’re signed-up for the unlimited data plan. I know that on July 27, at 3.21pm, I had some data-use that AT&T helpfully listed as ‘Data Transfer’. The type of file? ‘Data’. My total charge? ‘$0.00’.” He added that this “mind-numbing detail” went on for 52 double-sided pages.

Apple customers have long feared that AT&T Wireless would somehow turn the iPhone into a failure. AT&T Wireless moved quickly to put an end to its first big PR disaster, sending a text message to all iPhone users this week saying: “We are simplifying your paper bill, removing itemised detail.”

The company said that all new $499 iPhone customers would now automatically receive “summary bills” and would be able to switch to online billing. A spokesman said that customers could look forward to getting “decidedly thinner envelopes” in the near future.

None of this appears to have affected Apple’s share price, which has risen more than 13-fold since 2003. In only four years a $100,000 (£50,000) investment in Apple would now be worth about $1.3 million, thanks largely to the massive success of the iPod and iTunes music store. Last month Apple said that it expected to sell its one millionth iPhone before September.

Aside from the detailed bills and some teething problems with the touch-screen, customers appear to be largely content with their iPhones. “I made the video only to point out the comical aspect of my phone bill being delivered in a box,” wrote Ms Ezarik on her blog. “As for the iPhone? I love it. That goes without saying.”

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