If they still make "insanely great" products, I'll be fine with that ;)

I guess I could always buy a Zune instead :p

Different strokes, baby. I don't think anyone can deny that Apple brings an aesthetic to the industry that no one else does. Whether you think that is worthy of the price of admission is up to the individual...

At least then you could squirt stuff around, yes?

Best,

Kurt

Why but a Zune when your church offers that "apple-TV" dog? . . .er, I mean "insanely great" product. :cool:

i don't own an apple-tv. Guess I didn't drink enough kool-aid ;)

Actually, I bet there is some sort of agreement between AT&T and Apple where if the iPhone doesn't sell some minimum by some date, then Apple owes them some money, or doesn't get it's revenue sharing. The real "money" here is AT&T, not the price of the phone.

But this also shows that Apple had too much margin in the iPhone to start. Knocking 33% off the sell price is huge. You just can't get there the way Jobs said: reducing manufacturing costs.

jeepers... you really are diggin' deep sometimes.

what will happen? maybe nothing. maybe a lot of something. who cares??
maye if/when they displace ms and become big, they forget how they got there and start making crap that looks like a dell. and then people will stop buying and the scheme will fall apart. really, is there anything worthwhile to ponder here?

people like good looking items and want aesthetics in their life so they buy. the fact that the products work as advertised is simply a bonus.

i'm not a zealot and don't want/own an ipod but will get the phone. as cool as they are, with all the docks and cradles and extras, i just don't need tunes with me 24/7 everywhere i go. so i don't have an ipod. phone will actually be useful so i will get it and i'm sure i'll rave about how cool a product apple made. if it was made by sony i'd feel exactly the same way ab it. cool and want it. no zealotry, just a fun gadget.

really? how is it counter-intuitive?

And sorry Wayne, but you're not a "typical" user...neither am I.

Interesting - and correct. I dropped off the Apple radar as far as "a fan" went, when the Hollywood industry became so enamored with them. You know, it was sacrilegious to write a screenplay with anything other than a Mac, particularly if you were in a Starbucks.

I have a new Mac laptop, and it is a nice machine. But not for the doo-dads, widgets, etc. I like the machine because the keyboard feels good, it's portable and has reasonable graphics.

As to being cult-like, I'd feel sorry for anyone shallow enough to feel unending dedication to what is basically a two-year appliance. Like (the new) VW-made Porsches, Taiwanese-made rip offs of Italian racing bikes, and Harleys that have long since lost their allure, the shelf life with these items is short and ultimately, forgettable.

Now, to want a real cult-like or purely cult following in electronics/computers, one only need look at Linux/Unix users.