I would actually prefer buying tickets through the iTMS. I know I'm an oddball, but I appreciate having very few Ivory Towers (Amazon, Apple) know my credit information. It allows me to quickly update few places if I lose a card, or when I get them re-issued (seems to happen every two years, they never get a chance to expire)

...buy hey, that's me.

Besides, I'd rather pay "convenience fees" (ie "fees to let us not hire staff") to Apple than theatres -- they already charge a bit too much for degrading content-quality

This phone sells in Thailand (I saw one in Patong, in Phuket province). It's really weak on the UI, and tends to need a pointer to make precise enough taps on the screen for the weaker touchscreen to understand. It has EVERY codec known to mankind, but hard to get content onto the device. It always starts in the local language (Thai in this case) despite changing it to English before turning off. The UI is quite confusing. If it didn't vaguely look like iPhone, there would be similarities.

Labour groups such as Unions only work if there is a competing union offering similar work at a different set of costs.

A Union (a single non-redundant source of resource, that resource being effort/work/productivity) violates the need for redundancy for an ISO-9000-series certified workplace. It puts a single point of failure in the labour boss, and the sheep who follow. ...because, hell, if I got paid that much, I'd follow...

Reiterate Jacob's comment: you forget subsidy. Unless the device is sold "unlocked" (or is sold in a more free economy, such as China), then it has the synthetic subsidy-lock applied, meaning the carrier gives a part of the periodic costs (monthly fees, for example) to the manufacturer. The only case I've seen of subsidy-lock without subsidy is the $600 iPhone.

It used to be simple: pop a disc in, hit the power, the game starts.

NXE pops up an extra layer -- is that as an opportunity to throw ads at me, or just to delay that pop-start-enjoyment cycle?

Some of us purchased game consoles so we could GAME. I doubt any geniuses of the XBOX team are reading this, but it damages their core goal (GAMING) even though it's not the core business motivation (DLC and Ads).

NXE is a serious waste of time.

@tooki: resistance. Before digital, there was analog, but the ADC used to decode it is more recent. It's the same trick used to identify whether you've plugged in a charger or a headset in that mini-B USB connector.

Hey, I missed reminding you that JUIX IS STILL DEAD. Confirm with your moto-sources again, and ask them what the two-letter abbrev might be for the OS. ...but that would be like doing your homework. Also, what's the ROKR E7?

Hi Pablo. First: your question: it actually runs on the iPhone, but needs some support from your host in order to get the software there. You may need to Google for ways to jailbreak your iPhone and get custom binaries installed and runable.

Second, the care and attention you include in your posts (Caps-yelling, spelling, etc) translates to both respect for the readers, and the amount you're trolling for arguments rather than solutions. We don't know if you are indeed trolling, looking for some fun in abusive responses, and merely providing what you're looking for :). Just as "easier to attract flies to honey than vinegar", easier to attract better signal/noise ratio on responses if you take a second look at what you post, and remove the obvious targets. Of course, I'm merely repeating many onlines guides in writing this, thereby lowering the SNR of the forum.

(~Allan, in Beijing, needing China Mobile GSM service)

Seems my URL was dropped. Let me try again: http://wp.chickenandporn.com/2007-05-06/react-differently-ipod-trains-us-to-make-iphone-a-success/

I kinda posted this in May, but my blog is a bit too boring to be noticed :( I worked at a Smartphone manufacturer then, and received very little interest when I commented this.