Thu 15 Apr 2010
Fire! Brimstone! Hyperbole! An unpopular opinion! Apple is not really doomed. But they're in trouble. Yes, the iPad just came out, and the internet had a giant geistgasm. There's no denying, it's a sexy device.
Here's the problem – who wants it? Right now, Mac fanboys (and girls). Soon, a few others who will convert once it's on to v2 with some of the kinks ironed out, next OS version (multi-tasking!!), and the inevitable camera. Kids will love it. Ok, so that's kind of a crowd. Remember, people, this post is about hyperbole! God! You're all so dense!
So, Apple may expand its market a bit, and bring in a few converts who have a need that the iPad matches. But here's the problem. There are two reasons why Apple's introduction of the iPad is a big step backwards for the company:
- Apple has always been good at opening genres. They pick a niche – mobile music, smart phones, slates, and they knock v1.0 out of the park. That's what the Cupertino brand of perfectionism and attention to detail in user experience and hardware will get you. In the case of the iPad, they didn't just crack the door on a new genre, they kicked it wide open. And many, many, many others will come pouring through. Soon there will be lots of cheaper, faster, more feature-rich competitors that will run a wider variety of software. So some people will buy an iPad, but others will wait for the HP Slate, or whatever comes next. This was true for the iPhone too, but it took a *really* long time for anyone to rival the iPhone experience. But now we have Android, and soon we will have Windows 7 Phone. Whatever you think of those two OSs, take away the app. store (which is Apple's ace-in-the-hole), make this about devices and OS, and iPhone is not so clearly better. It won't take nearly as long for all the slates to make their way to market. Just a few months from now we'll see them hitting stores, and in a year we'll see what Apple has really gained.
- But here's the bigger issue. The ideological issue. Just like Kim Jong Il, Apple has a viciously tight ecosystem, built on secrecy, that has draconian and seemingly arbitrary policies that they enforce through code. Also like Kim Jong Il, they'll tell you it's all for your benefit, comrade user. It makes for a better experience, it allows Apple to make the perfect society… err, phone and keep it that way, free of the imperialist influences of free markets and free culture. That's all good and well, except… well, except that the biggest opportunity for the iPad to open a new market for Apple is in the education space, but those are the very people who will hate the North Korean strategy. Apple is locking out competitors and enforcing arbitrary limitations on free speech, and this is probably just the beginning. It's the Apple way, or the highway. Well, educators, educational activists, parents won't stand for that. Why would they? Oh, they could just join the enterprise developer program or what have you and circumvent Apple's process. But that will limit educational innovations to private, circumscribed groups. And why get involved with a company that might endanger your ability to teach what you want when you can get a cheaper, faster device that has none of those restrictions? Apple shot itself in the foot. It had a chance to release a groundbreaking device and capture a new market. But that chance is slipping away, further and further each time they do some crazy shit. Apple, you make me so crazy. If you'd only open your fist I would take your hand!!
Update: Wow! This post has generated some angry response (see below). A few responses:
- Note that the entire post is tongue-in-cheek hyperbole, which I admit and joke about in the very first sentences. Some people seem to have taken it very, very seriously!
- Yes, I compared Apple's policies to Kim Jong Il and Apple to North Korea (see #1). That's name calling. But while I said extreme things about Apple, many of these commenters are saying them about me. Guys, you don't know me. Control yourselves! I'm just a blogger than no one reads! Strange what the internet does sometimes. Grr! You criticize Apple! Me criticize YOU!
- Many folks seem to have missed the entire point of my post, which is: (1) the iPad will face serious competitors with equal or better hardware and OS much more quickly than they did with the iPhone, and (2) Apple had a chance to open a huge new market with the iPad, but is shooting itself in the foot with its draconian policies.
- Cool out, people. Writing these serious, angry diatribes makes you look a little silly, detracts from the good arguments you write.
Stupidest article i've ever read until now. Thank you!
You have too much time on your hands, and sorely in need of a valium. What an absolutely idiotic diatribe of nonsense!
Don't like Apple, don't buy Apple. No free speech lost there. What you seem to have missed is that Apple did not take away your right to CHOOSE for yourself. You seem to have convinced yourself that the sky is going to fall on your head, just cause Apple wants to do things its own way without listening to you or any of the other trendy Apple haters. Get a grip. The world doesn't revolve around you.
Your post is long on wind and short on wisdom.
Fortunately, you are wrong. The iPad is already a success and apps are pouring in at an amazing clip. The problem is that it's aimed at precisely the people who don't care about all the things you suggest. It makes computing easy for the regular folks and that's why it will win where others will fail by adding features and complexity. It's not about the form factor – it's only about the experience and how to keep it simple. Very simple.
The anger, name calling, resorting to general vitriol rather than arguing on the points is super interesting… Man, you guys are defensive!
It reminds me of Republican tactics responding to the President. Obama lays out an argument, which reasonable people can disagree about. But the conservative right skips the detailed logic part, jumps straight to stating general talking points, says he hates America, is a socialist.
Reasonable people can certainly disagree about the points I made. But those points are about Apple's strategy and ideology. So let's talk about that, shall we?
Funny read but let's put forward a few reasons why you are wrong:
- The iPad is not expensive. In contrast analysts were shocked when Apple released it for half the price they were expecting. Remember Tablet computers cost $2,000 before Apple dropped their bombshell and companies like Acer said they wouldn't be releasing a competitor as they couldn't see how they could compete at the price.
- the iPhone App store is closer to the ultimate expression of a capitalist Free market than you think. Any small dev can create something and get a guaranteed worldwide audience of over 80 million well-heeled iPhone OS users. Android has only fraction the number of users and even after 1.5 years and despite being available on multiple smartphones from multiple manufacturers on just about every carrier out there still only moves a quarter the volume of smartphones compared to Apple – and Apples numbers almost double when you add in the iPod Touch (not to mention the iPad).
I haven't heard of any millionaire Android, Symbian, WebOS, WinMo developers have you?
Gameloft pointed to the fact that they were deserting Android as they make 400 times as much from their iPhone products. How many top tier games are there for Android? *crickets*
Android's male geek clientele don't like paying for software so there goes a viable app market competitor.
The fragmentation of Android App stores amongst carriers, mobile manufacturers and Google themselves means far more discoverabity issues and developer pain compared to the one store to rule them all of the iPhone/iPod/iPad.
Sensible devs follow the money and the users.
Try developing for the Ninetendo DS or Wii or Sony PSP or Symbian and come back and tell me again with a straight face how bad Apple is.
I'm sorry but all the recent user surveys indicate that 30-40% of teenagers plan to buy an iPhone to add to the enormous number who already own iPhones and iPod Touches.
There. Are those enough arguments against your points? That's all I have time for right now.
-Mart
Can I undo click?
Is a generalist just not good at anything?
Lets see calling Mac Fanboys comarisons to North Korean Dictator. Who's doing the name calling?
This article is a vent not a well considered opinion, maybe you should specialise in something you actually know something about?
Or not.
So you argument is that Apple made a mistake introducing the ipad because:
(i) there will be competitors
(ii) educators et al will resent the limitations Apple puts on the device. This will offend their inherent desire for free speech.
Not strong arguments. There may be a snippet of content in (ii), except to say there is no more closed down space that the educational one. (Perhaps for good reason) Is your argument that Apple should enable kiddie porn in iTunes before competitors get there first? Or, perhaps more realistically, the educational space might find the ipad an effective way to distribute and use textbooks and such like.
I think you are stretching yourself by saying that Apple is taking a big step backward by introducing this new device. I suspect that reality will stomp on your brain. But I doubt we will see any difference in your cognitive abilities.
Actually, Apple doesn't always hit the 1.0 out of the park. If you look at the 3 major Apple product releases of the last 10 years, the iPod, iPhone and iPad, you'll see that the iPad is actually the most successful 1.0. The iPad sold 300,000 on its first day. Compare this to the original iPhone's 270,000 on its first weekend or the original iPod's 125,000 in its first month.
Now yes, there are potential competitors from the HP Slate, but tablet PCs have been around for a long time and they've all failed, simply because they rely on desktop operating systems. If the iPad had been a touch screen Mac it wouldn't have been anywhere near as good as it is.
As for the app store policies, as I always say to people who complain about them, complain with your money. If you truly, deeply believe they are wrong then go and use a competitor's device, it is how capitalism is supposed to work. Ultimately the market will decide how successful Apple's App Store policies will be.
WOW — I am sorry to say it but your article is very very misguided and what is amusing is that i can tell you fell into the very same intellectual pitfalls, or some of them anyway that others did when it came to apple, but that was 20 years ago. Ok first big issue: Secrecy, Say what you want but Apple secrecy is part of what has made Apple seem cool and now continues to feed that. Let me quote Bill Gates when he says, "No one knows how to get publicity and garner excitement like Steve." For anyone who is interested there are a few times but he says it in that WSJ interview of both them together at D5. As far as the secrecy harming the company's ability to innovate and execute all I will offer as evidence to the contrary is the products and software from third party developers themselves. All looking great. I think you are executing a bit of a category error by attributing ideas about how secrecy can hurt and hinder societies that are secret and autocratic by applying them to a commercial company with no gestapo and no human rights violations. And your point about Apple not being able to sell to the education market shows how little you have actually thought or researched your own opinion. Even in Apple's darkest days, Education was one of Apples more loyal market segments as it is today. Even with WIndows 7 which is very Mac like in a good way, Teachers of primary school children in particular strongly prefer apple. And the ipad s being able to immediately run the scheduling software that they already use on their main computers among many other compatibilities is going to continue to give them a big advantage. The nonsense you wrote about freedom of speech is again another category error. Anyone in a capitalist democracy accepts the right of a company to have trade secrets and make sure its inventions are not being mis-used. Will Apple become the New Windows in terms of huge market share? — the answer is unlikely but not for any reasons you have stated, but because Apple does not court big business with system integrators they way that HP, IBM, Dell, and others do. And they are perfectly at peace with that. I think you fail to see that Apple is pursuing from soup to nuts a totally different business model. They want to be able to say a vertically integrated diversifying solutions provider that acts as a benevolent dictator. Why? Because first the personality of the man and then of the market it serves. I have always owned both because of what i do, but I spend all of my own money and my business money when I can on Apple gear. Why ? Because by being a tightly integrated system I know my stuff is just going to work and also that I am now only going to pay a little bit more and in return I am going to get a far more durable and far more elegant and heck even the most green computing product line in the industry. I know that I get some top quality apps that just come with my computer that are phenomenal and the only reason that MS turned around and cloned some of their own. Which if you knew your history has been a repeating pattern for more than 2 decades. If Apple ever did say achieve a 80 percent market share in computing OS — then there would be huge grounds for breaking up the company's winning formula of being vertically integrated so that design and quality control and cohesiveness can be maintained through out the entire product line. I have not doubt that eventually there will be more pad computers out by other companies, and that they will be quicker to become more formidable. But you are kidding yourself if you Number One think that this is a problem for apple as Apple has still secured the first mover advantage in this area as unlike kindle, it is not a simple e-reader. Also you are mistaken if you think that now that google and the droid is here that the iphone is going to go away. Go look at the numbers sir. Remember last year when the Palm Pre was out and going to work with google and it was highly touted because it had some neat innovations with its web OS? well it is peaking and not doing as well as they had hoped and right now Palm is being shopped around every where. Should be interesting to see what happens to that one. And while I think Droid has a real chance and is likely to be a phone platform that is around in one way or another simply because google is becoming the Microsoft software maker for the Portable device market hardware designers. I still think that you and others underestimate just how hard it is to get the legion of details right that must be right for people to go gaga over a phone especially with a mature iphone right there as an alternative. So in short term future — lets assume the worst plausible scenario for the company. The ipad does well but in 3 years they are just one of the to 4 top ipad's and they are number 3 of 4. In the phone market and the iphone is great too but now the the Droid is really coming on, unlike now where it is getting interest but not as much as it could. So you have great portables that when leveraged by combining with any other Apple product increases in value immensely and is not crippled if you do not. That brings us to Apples online cloud. Which now is also in bed with all of the worlds book publishers and is also in bed with the magazine publishers too. Negotiations are under way but not being done publicly for how to allow the sales of adult mags on the Ipad as well but nothing is out or even rumored about as there are a number of image, marketing and technological issues to address before rolling any adult content like that out. In short Apple is selling apps that they get a piece of, music that they get a small piece of, movies and and TV that they get a small piece of and now e-books which they also get a very small piece of. Apple continues to strengthen their mobile cloud and their cloud versions of their software. Apple is soon to be upgrading the capabilities of their Ipad and a new operating system that will start to allow people who have ipad or iphone apps to use a mouse or touch sensitive monitors to run those apps on their Apple Laptops and Desktops. Speaking of The apple computer hardware Demand continues to run high for both the MAC pros, the IMacs that are not very gamer friendly, and their upgraded i7 quad-core laptops with beasties video cards and at least half a gig of ram. In short they continue to be they highest rated pre-made computers in both the low end mac minis for big time power at minimal money — the mac minis and the mid level with the imac (you should look at the most recent 27 imacs, they have been un-teathered and are burly as hell at good price point) and the new released mac-pros that will be more powerful that they can be bough pre-configured to kick the crap out of any custom made one. and all of them interoperate well as all the devices work on variations of OSX. So because of high demand Apple makes its which at the beginning of 2010 is already 23 percent of all consumer computers and 10 percent of all computers sold in the US. And is now at 7 percent of all computers world wide with its market share growth being at conservatively a 20 percent gain of all computers sold by quarter. And yet Apple because of how it is made and how it "keeps secret" certain chips and processes from clone makers is still hardly ever cloned in places like China and other big but frugal markets, because One there is a real "bling" effect to own a real one. Something you do not have associated with any PC hardware maker, and because the only places that can clone the macs were all based in Cali and have been litigated into the ground. Bottom line? Apple does not want to have a monopoly on people computers, They want to be a comfortable alternative to MicroSoft that is strong thriving and healthy and is innovating so that the whole industry benefits and Microsoft can continue to make the worlds GM of computing system and Apple will be the company that offers the Lexus of the computer industry and the American Sony of today electronic gadgets. at least smart phones, and Ipad s and apple TV and who know whats next – I love an apple. How is that competitive? well first Apple sets the standards for many many innovations and cooperates with MS and google and yahoo. They now get revenue for simply providing and extremely reliable market channel for all kinds of content that they make money off of and gives them amazing leverage with content and software providers which so far no on has railed against on the level that implies anything run amok. Heck if anything Apple is teaching those industries how to loose all the highly paid jerks and simply supply real talent making great media, whether its music or TV or movies or music videos. between the modest money that is made by being a very efficient channel for all those things and the fact that Apple is able to share revenue with AT&T and still sell their devices to folks with much higher margins than an PC provider while still staying very competitive. you are talking about a way for the company to slowly grow its way up to market share in all product categories, grow its online distribution and application channels and still have piles of cash to do something rather amazing . They are most highly valued company in the bay area. Even at their currently astronomical trading price they are fine. In short — you fail to see that apple does not have the same values, strategies, or goals as Microsoft. I can actually see Apple having 12 percent world market share OS wise in computer and good solid positions in smart phones TV set top boxes school and house hold media pads and lap tops with the market share in the US and japan and parts of europe as high as 20 percent and making money hand over fist, getting all the great software a platform could want and being able to take its sizable and valuable design sensibilities and influence its competitors and new start ups alike. And while all that is happening in the back ground that a huge pile of cash behind so that as the net mature and as certain applications become new opportunities and Apple will be able to also for the first time do some major buying as well without hurting its base. In short — I think you just do not get that apple has a different business model and that your observations about freedom of speech and locking out competitors are misguided. I think Apple has done an admirable job of trying to leave their app market along without allowing certain apps to be made that would either cheapen the product into some porno tool, or hacker tool, which by the way can still be done, just not without hacking your way out of Apple mainstream solution. And that is just the right way to do it If apple really wanted to say no they could go after them like the plague, but apple does not, They simply do not want their brand as the pervy portable let droid or who ever make those calls and if at some point its just an accepted fact of life that phones like to have the a travel porn aid then apple will in a low profile way allow it and boom its there. Bottom line because Apple is so strongly diversified and because there are some massive opportunities to partner with apple in ways that no on has yet because the biz world slow and stodgy as it is. Are only now really going wow they really ARE BACK, and if Steve's health rallies so that it is clear that he will stay at the helm another decade, well then if he keeps doing well while carefully crafting a nice succession set up then Apple could be in great shape. I would love to see Apple and amazon work a deal I truly would. In short i can tell that you are a generalist and you really need to do a lot more research on your ideas before you post them as you did this one or many folks will attack you. Mainly because your make such big statement with literally next to nothing other than some PC spouting about how they stifle free speech with cartoonist and some basic knowledge that there will be other pads. I could have told you there will be other pads, even if I could only go to your site and surf your posts, thats a no brainer. Pads are clearly a new form factor. and the fact that apple is going to be a first mover and unlike silly Microsoft they will set it up so that you can use it with A PC or any other flavor of OS that has an itunes for it. At the same time you can enjoy it even more if you do in fact add the pad to pre-existing Apple products. Apple is very good that way. It knows how to give people combined value when you use more than one of their products in concert and yet you do not feel like they are specially restricting functionality on say windows. I would love it we can get back to great interoperability all around that was the way to go and I applaud Apple for their terrific execution of a bold vision that has returned the company to financial riches and it rep to that of the Bay Areas Crown Jewel of innovation. its business practices being a great example on how to leverage more creativity from your partners. — I am sorry you do not see it this way.. But if it is just that you like Windows then do not worry — I like the new executive team at MS — the chief technical officer has the right idea of making things that just work and are interoperable and not so much on the whole proprietary model which has killed some really neat technological initiatives because the implications of how any partners were likely to be screwed by co-inovating with Microsoft. I mean you want tot talk about bad karma, you are looking at the wrong company my friend The executives that used to negotiate with all of the OEMs and the way they used to use APIs as a weapon to keep application competitors behind was totally lame, it only insured that the monopolist won. By rights, if MS did not play dirty with their APIs and with the deals they cut with the OEMs — I think that Borland may have won the office suite war. But for pushing distribution and for locking down that volume, Microsoft was friggin good at playing skillful and evil monopolist. you can only wonder if Ballmer left for some reason and other more cooperative tech folks came in to support the very mart Chief Technical Officer and some how people could be convinced that MS is no longer going to play the API embrace extreme and crush routine on their third partners then who knows. I sure hope that today and tomorrow's kids do remember that ownership of their media is everything and and giving up your hard drive andy our privacy are in deed very bad things. The whole reason why I think the PC has been so good for this country because it empowered and army of davids to borrow a book title. But it did that because the people had sense enough to recognize that they needed to do certain things and own others. these days the implicit trust on all things web scares me. I read a post of a kid saying how he was re-thinking just getting a music subscription and he talked about not having to borrow money to get a hard drive to hold his collection and so forth. — but I digress. besides disagreeing with you sir I did try to give you some useful ideas and facts to help you rethink your position. Please forgive me ahead of time. I wrote this whole thing drugged up on cold medicine with narcotics, so it may have some errors ins spelling and grammar. But I do know of what i speak. I even put in 200 grand back in 2005 when Jobs was back and the stalk had not split as was in in its low 30s — several splits and at 242 dollars a share, I would over 20 time my return on investment. Amazingly — the stock still has room for much more growth too.. that is what is so great when a mighty stock looses its brains and founders, but while it founders the brain gets time in the wilderness and it tempers his many faults of youth and then he comes back and leads the company to new heights. I know that he thinks that this current transition is likely the last big and important thing he will do and it might possibly be the most important thing he does so I wish him luck. Last but no least — though not many people are talking about it now — Apple invested in a very interesting Chip technologies team and I will be interested to see what apple does with them. Currently apple has used them to make the chip for their new ipad from — I personally am impressed. Evan after all these years apple still has a hand in some powerful new hardware contributions. I mean its amazing to think that firewire is still the best smart peripheral bus around today and it was perfected in the 70s and steve had the foresight to snag it up. Ok thus ended my drug opus. but come now — like your profile but think more before writing on a subject you know so little about.
OYE !!!! LOL my response is longer than the original post! sorry bud.
"The anger, name calling, resorting to general vitriol rather than arguing on the points is super interesting… Man, you guys are defensive!"
It would be good if you posted reasonable arguments.
1) All phones were locked with some form of app store until the iPhone arrived. Nobody cared.
2) So is the xBos etc. Nobody cared. There was no ideological issue.
3) Windows 7 will have a locked down app store and no multi-tasking.
B) The iPad is a huge success. Thats all we know. Other "slates" far from coming to market to destroy the Apple market are already out there. Apple owns this market.
With 150K applications nobody. except geeks and angry internet guys ( like yourself) care about the store not being open, as they dont care about the x-Box not being open.
Indie developers are flocking to the iPhone, and Android is not getting much if any traction with them ( or gaming devs). For a reason. The "free as in beer" crowd
"But the conservative right skips the detailed logic part, jumps straight to stating general talking points, says he hates America, is a socialist."
I thought apple was like Kim Il Song? Or is it republicans. You just accused Apple of being like commies – using the exact same tactics you decry ( effectively a mcCartyihe well poisoning) and the rest of your argument was nonsense.
You cant poison the well and expect rational responses.
Lastly if Apple is stallilng in sales in terms of market share it wont when the next generation of phones is released, most people buy electronic upgrades every two years. SO comparing Apple to an Adroind market share when the Droid was released was nonsense. And when the AT&T deal is done, Apple gets to 50%.
And the iPad is so successful it cant be sold in Europe.
Do keep up.
Third largest U.S. company by market cap. Over $40 billion in the bank. Moving product with tremendous success. Yeah, they're in trouble for sure. People like you act like Apple exists for you and your very specific needs and desires. Well, um, they don't. Apple is a business with the goal of making money. And right now they're making craploads of it.
Stop being so self-important.
Errr. You people are nuts! You also seem to be responding to a bunch of stuff I never said. I said the iPad was a sexy device. I said I thought there would be many people who will use it. I never said the iPhone or iPod wouldn't continue to be successful. Hell, I OWN AN IPOD TOUCH! And I love it!
Calm down.
yeah, what Judd said… you fanboys spend way too much time dissecting an obviously tongue-in-cheek post on a low-traffic blog. You'd spend your time keeping it low-brown rather than trying to make this into something big and serious (OMG!).
Judd is cool. You are not. Hmmmm bbq is good.
Judd, agreed that the fanboys here are responding pretty much knee jerk. Yeah, @rob, really, that was a long "comment"!
But Judd, I actually think there's reason to believe you may be wrong. I believe that for now, the app store provides lots of income to a select few, and a small amount to many. However, the future isn't the App Store. Apple is doing something interesting in promoting HTML 5 browser technology. Coupled with Android support for it, and hopefully soon other mobile devices, I'm hoping we'll see the focus of all these platforms shift from app stores to web apps. And high performance web apps, working on a variety of devices, is a win for everyone. Except those earning tons of money in the app store.
Oh Mano, there are LOTS of reasons to believe I may be wrong.
But actually, I completely agree with you on this one. I think the iPhone was a revolutionary device that paved the way for others. But now Android is reaching maturity, and Windows 7 Phone may be quite good. All inspired by the iPhone, for sure. The only thing Android and MS can't copy, though, is the app store. Apple had such a head start. If you're right about HTML 5, then that hurts Apple's competitive advantage even more. I think they want us to keep using apps., because it keeps us in the iBlank/iTunes eco-system. If it's an HTML 5 web app. then I can hop over to Android without a blip.
So, if the move is away from the App Store, then that should make it even harder for the iPad to dominate in the face of other comparable devices.
None of these comments do anything for interesting debate, and they demonstrate blinding allegiance for a brand (or "government) that many North Koreans demonstrate (unfortunately they have no option, mac fanboys do). Good analogy Judd! PS – I love my MacBook, but didn't mind Ubuntu or Windows, so what do I know, I guess I'm more of an EU or US person…
So anyway, I think the last statistic I heard was that out of 200K apps in the iPhone app store, only 10% were actually being used, and that doesn't even include which were actually being paid for, versus being free of charge. So just like these comments, there's a lot of crap out there.
And, I think Apple 1.0 products are a bunch of rubbish (been hanging out with too many Brits lately). My first iPod was the first generation IPod Photo. I had to have 3 replaces for malfunctions before they upgraded me to the iPod Video. In general, I wait for the 2nd or 3rd generation of an Apple Product Line before I purchase.
You Homos The ipad Truely Sucks……………………………
it cannot fit in your pocket ………..
its not gonna make your life any easier………..
it also a ridiculous idea for a link between a pac and a mobile……….
its expensive……………….
its Jus a bigger ipod!!!!!!!!??!?!?!?!?
How do you feel now? LOLOL.
And don't try to hide behind your tongue and cheek excuse, little non commitive weasel.
That's why Jobs makes the big bucks. VISION – in the face of blinders like you.
Challenge:
Name 1 product that Jobs created since his re-emergenvce in 1997 that did not turn to gold?
Adrian – actually I feel fine. I was just re-reading this post and having a laugh at all the nutters who responded to me.
Meanwhile, at least one thing I said has turned out to be true: the iPad has serious competitors, and they emerged more quickly than serious competitors to the iPhone did.