I believe the phrase is "put up or shut up".
ohbw, this is not a way to conduct a conversation. As far as I can see, you're the only one leveling insults in this discussion.
It's not a conversation, Silverado, it's a crowd of goatherders screeching about how wonderful it is to make love to a goat. And I think things like "you sound faaaaaabulous" qualify as insulting. But I don't remember ever agreeing not to insult stupidity. I stopped in a couple of days ago to marvel at the fact that people were carrying on so about a product that (a) had only been out for 36 hours, (b) most of them hadn't used. Most of what I've heard here is so deeply moronic it's astonishing.
Those who've actually used the iPhone have some intelligent things to say -- "I can't cut and paste", "I can't attach a photo to an email I'm replying to" -- useful information for you and me as users and Apple as a company who wants to perfect a product.
Those who haven't are screeching about how f*cked up Apple is because it didn't set up a one-button sync for someone with 2TB of data on multiple computers (!), or because the product is elegant, or because it doesn't run on a 3G network that isn't fully up to speed in the marketplace yet. You have people going bonkers because somebody somewhere -- an infinitesimal minority of the half million people who bought one in two days -- couldn't activate his iPhone instantly. How many people spent
weeks, as I did, trying to debug the battery issues on a 680? Roughly every single person who bought one, that's how many. Go back and read the forums.
You have people reciting reviews as gospel when they haven't touched an iPhone. What's the point of that? It's meaningless information. Did Mossberg, Pogue, Levy, or Baig say "friggin' email don't work!" No, someone blogged it on engadget, and now we should nuke Cupertino.
You can't explain calculus to a monkey, and you can't interest goatherders in rosy pink women. I have been vividly reminded of that here, and I hereby retire.
But before I go: I made the offer to Surur, and I'll extend it to anyone who wants to take me up on it: "Let's do this: let's both deposit $100,000 in an escrow account with a legal agreement attached to it. I'll bet you that in five years, assuming the absence of a nuclear war or worldwide depression, Apple's stock will have increased 500% from where it is today -- as a direct result of massive cell phone sales and the attendant increase in sales of Macs and all other things Apple. If it is, I'll take the money. If it isn't, you take the money."
Then I richened it, and I'll extend that as well to anyone who wants to take me up on it: "Want an alternate bet? Palm in bankruptcy, acquired for its tax value as a massive loss, or non-existent in five years. Afraid of that one, too? How about relative market share of OSX and Windows in five years? Find one you like, and put your money where your mouth is."
Apple's market share of cell phones relative to every one else in five years? Modify it any way you like. If people are going to hold something in their hands and interact with it all day long, ease of use, stable software, intuitive software, and pleasing design will rule the day. It's a very tiny percentage of people who need to be able to fly an F-22 remotely from their cel phones (roughly the same number as men who prefer goats to rosy pink women.) You don't sell 100,000,000 iPods because people think it's chi-chi. You sell them because it works reliably and people love using it.
Anyone who wants to sign an escrow agreement can reach me via email if you'd like to do something more than screech. Until then,
appr?ciez vos ch?vres (et le coin), guys.