Kikkoman

Tycho at penny arcade had a rant on the Zune I particularly like. ‘He turns some good phase.’

“It’s always the wrong time to buy an MP3 player, always, which is what kept me from seriously investing in one until 2006. But I didn’t just purchase the wrong one, at the wrong time: I purchased it virtually on the brink of its dissolution. I can hardly look at it now, it’s like holding a dead squirrel. On its 4:3 screen – the exact ratio of obsolescence – I can see destroyed futures. I don’t have to tell you that the iPhone is the future of that platform, as opposed to an aberration.”

“the exact ratio of obsolescence”, wow, good stuff.

Meanwhile … there is no denying the sexyness of the iPhone … tho for $500 / $600 dollars and a contract with the devil Cingular AT&T Wireless, it can bite my shiny metal ___. It has been the topic of many conversations over the past 2 days, sufficed to say I have mixed feelings. I think it great, and I am glad I own some Apple stock, but as it stands now, I won’t be getting one.

I have an iPod mini that works great for the two “times” i use it. 1. At the gym, where I specifically won’t want to be scrolling my music with sweaty palms and potentially drop/crush/lose my device that costs as much as a PS3. And 2. sometimes in my car to listen to the NPR MarketPlace podcast. And I certainly don’t need it to play “videos”.

Remove the iPod from the iPhone and drop the price $200 and we might have a deal. Depends if Apple opens up the “platform” to 3rd party development. Signs point to No, which leaves me with of an aftertaste of Betamax that is distinctly Apple. Simultaniously, fantastic, “innovative”, “open” & …. stupid, stubborn, and “closed”.

Its like Apple has a fear of success. Like if it actually made stuff that people really wanted and that was decently affordable, they might get too much marketshare and then have to deal with the unwashed masses.