Hello World!
I don't know what's up with people who get new cameras. They always want to go up-close as much as they can to their subjects. Especially flowers. It seems like you can't begin a photography career without ever having taken a closeup shot of a glamourous periwinkle or two. I actually photographed a whole bunch of these flowers. Only a few of them turned alright enough to make it available publicly.
But then again, imitating others is a great way to learn. Perhaps not startlingly original, but a workable way nonetheless.
Kinda reminds me of the way people learn programming languages. You can't learn a language without starting off with the ubiquitous "hello world" script!
Sony has recently come out with their own digital SLR. I was lucky to catch a glimse of it this morning as a random photographer enthusiast walked past me. I've seen some pictures of it, and it looked okay. So if you're not going with a CyberShot, the DSLR would make an attractive, alebit expensive, alternative.