I've always felt that much of the negative hyperbole surrounding Apple involved the fact so many people seem to believe they have some sort of personal relationship with Apple and Steve Jobs. Well Steve Jobs is not your "bud." Steve Jobs is a businessman and a marketer, and Apple is a stock company. Why do we always hold Apple to some ridiculously different standard than other technology companies? When the Razr went from $300 to free with a contract did people take to the streets? Just about every new upscale cell phone is locked to a carrier, but there was no national outrage, no congressional hearings, until Apple was involved.

Anyone who hasn't been asleep for the past two decades knows that the price of technology tends to drop like a stone. Early adoptors ALWAYS foot the bill for research and development, while the folks who can wait get the benefit of economies of scale. Apple is now enjoying those economies (from using the same iPhone technology to produce the iPod Touch) and passing them on to the customer. Not an evil plot - basic economics. Now Apple is in a position to really stick it to its competitors for the holidays - what are they going to say now that they can't argue price?

I ran out and bought the first Intel iMac. Three months later Apple upgraded the processor and added stuff I had paid extra for, and left the price the same! This was effectively a price increase for me. Was I pissed off? Only a little disappointed that I didn't wait. But I realize had I waited, I'd have been disappointed again six months later when they did the same thing over again. To quote Mr. Jobs, "this is life in the technology lane." Every person who bought an iPhone that first month could easily have said, "I'll wait for the price to come down," with every expectation and confidence that the price WOULD soon come down. But you chose to dip into the kid's college fund, and this is what you got. That $200 dollars was not any more useful to you on September 5th than it was on June 29th. I belive those folks who say this doesn't have something to do with a perceived loss of exclusivity are lying to themselves. I also believe that rational adults should give themselves a little more credit. Instead of acting like the world is tossing you about like a rag doll, acknowledge that you made a decision to purchase a piece of technology at first release and live with that decision and all its attendant consequences.