If you haven't heard, Apple is launching a new phone. Probably you have heard, because the media blitz and subsequent fawning from the press is out ouf control.
Apple is awesome at marketing. They have entire stores filled with product lines that no price-motivated computer user will buy. They have funny commercials. They cultivate an image that is both trendy and counter-culture, which is funny because Apple is at least as ruthless in their business as Dell or Gateway. They have to be, because their products cost more without doing more. That's where the marketing genius comes in. The ipod is neat, but the sound quality is mediocre and the gimmicky "accessories" all have one thing in common: they are expensive without being better.
If new features make you all hot and bothered, you can get a helio phone for a lot less money that does more. The iphone is nothing special. It's shiny and expensive and Cingular (sorry, AT&T) sucks so your service will be shite.* Cellphone features are evolving so rapidly that it won't be long before this minor innovation is out-done by some new device. Verizon passed on the iphone when Apple offered them a deal, so it's a safe bet they've got a supplier that's working on something even shinier and more costly.
For a more on this ridiculous gadget and the press coverage, see Slate.com.
*Before they rolled into ATT, Cingular had more customer complaints nationwide than all the other carriers combined. niiiiiiiice.
