Thanks for the reply burntrealty! I knew I could pay to download ringtones through iTunes, but I didn't realize that I could create my own. I want to use audio clips of songs and sounds from my own CDs.
As for the MMS, I asked my dealer last week if I was reading the info on Apple's website correctly - that the 3.0 update applies to the first generation iPhone, but not all features will work for older iPhones. He confirmed and MMS is one feature that was not made available to 1st generation phones.
I will update for the features I can use for now and check on when my warranty runs out to see if jailbreaking is a consideration for me. It just makes no sense and is such poor customer service for Apple to have the technology in the phone, have the software update that can make it available and make customers SO HAPPY, but not provide it. Surely they don't think we can afford to replace our "older" iPhones for new ones just for MMS. Anyway, thanks again for the info!