First they insult early iPhone adopters with a US$200 price reduction without so much as, at least initially, a "sorry 'bout that" 'tude. Of course, they did offer a $100 gift credit so you could buy more Apple stuff, but that's obviously in the company's best interest, as well. Now they [url=http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=10896]"fry" people’s iPhones if they run the latest updater on an unlocked iPhone[/url]. I can see them refusing warranty on an unlocked phone, but to ruin a customer's phone intentionally (or so it seems to me) so they have to buy another one, is an act of extreme cheekiness.

Apple's efforts to [url=http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=10871]cripple hacked iPhones[/url] have been criticized by analysts who say iPhone owners may now fear installing the company's patches. Last Thursday's iPhone Update 1.1.1 included not only new features and functionality -- including access to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store -- but plugged holes in the device's built-in Safari browser, email software and Bluetooth implementation.

I could go on (and don't get me started on iMovie '08), but Macworld editor Chris Breen has summed Apple's other questionable moves up brilliantly in a post called [url=http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/editors/2007/10/applecriticism/index.php]"Is Apple on the wrong path?"[/url]. It's a must-read, though I don't agree with every single point.

Let's hope that Apple's continued successes don't, as my mother would say, "go to their heads." No company is so successful that it can afford to treat its loyal users with disdain. After all, as Spider-man found out, "with great power comes great responsibility."

(By the way, check out this [url=http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/400/threadless-the-store-is-the-product]Red Sweater Blog[/url] about the Threadless retail store in Chicago and their use of Macs.)