In article <486f83d2$0$7347$607ed4bc@cv.net>,
"Carl" <crothman@NOSPAMoptonline.net> wrote:

> Well, while it's hard to deny these days that Apple's products are perhaps
> "great", let us not forget that Apple was on the verge of bankruptcy perhaps
> 5 years ago. Macs weren't selling and few people were interested. I believe
> it was Microsoft who bailed them out (I'm open to correction on the
> specifics) because they would have been left as a "monopoly", a bad thing
> with government regulation. Then the iPod came along and Apple's fortunes
> changed, almost overnight.

apple was never close to bankruptcy, if you remember... on their darkest
day, they had $1.1 billion in cash and no long term debt. but yes, they
did go through a several year period of slowing sales some 12 years ago.

the iMac turned everything around, not the iPod. and no, Microsoft had
to pay Apple for software thefts in 1997, but it was a small amount,
something like $150 million.

> While I love gadgets, and really want to own an iPhone just because I'm a
> gadget nut, I still find them to be more hype than substance when it comes
> to business use. Apple is still up to its old tricks of limiting what the
> device is allowed to do. Its failure to sync completely, easily, and
> INEXPENSIVELY with Outlook on a PC, for example, is a major drawback for me.
> The fact that software "fixes" for a problem like that add significant
> additional cost to the device is arrogant to me, and, I think, is what did
> Apple in in the first place. And those "fixes" are not even complete fixes,
> which makes it even worse.

but all that changes July 11th, everyone can now build apps for the
iPhone, you can get started here:

http://developer.apple.com/iphone/

> Explain to me why my Blackberry Curve (on Verizon) isn't a "better" device
> than the iPhone for practical use?

it has a tiny screen, poor keyboard, no multitouch, no UNIX OS, no
significant developer base.

> It's a great phone, plays all my mp3s
> and iTunes, has a good camera with a flash, and a video recorder, is more
> compact, does email very well (though not all attachments), syncs 100% with
> MS Outlook on a PC for FREE, has very usable, and fast internet access,
> albeit not with all that pinch and slide techno-gimmickry. Tell me, who's
> really going to sit on their iPhone and do internet access all day? No
> matter how cool the iPhone appears to do it, the device is still too small
> for the kind of comfort you get from a laptop or desktop for long-term
> browsing.
>
> I wonder if the iPhone is really going to take over and change the cell
> phone industry or whether it will crash and burn with time as most consumers
> will find they really don't want or need to do the stuff the iPhone offers?
> And that is not to diminish my admittedly own personal fascination with the
> device while it's relatively new. Time will tell.

The Blackberry is fading quickly now that all the development is
centered on the iPhone. They had a good 6 year run, but they are dead
starting July 11th. The iPhone apps alone will be just too compelling.

The iPhone is the next iPod, and there is no way to change that fact.

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