It seems to me that Safari, QuickTime, etc., updates always include bug-fixes to software that was *already* on the Mac - vs these new iPod touch apps which were not. Note that Apple is protecting the perceived value of their IP much like the music labels used to try to protect digital downloads -- tho that might not buy this argument much chase with your readers. No one gave the modders permission to distribute the iPhone mail app, and just cause someone posts it on a peer-sharing network doesn't make a a public domain property. If this "January Update" was post-SDK, and a third party created it -- with mail, maps, notes, custom screen -- would you pay $20?

Is anyone else reminded of the old Sony Sports brand?

Particularly interesting is that this visioning technology is being used on a jet with stealth technology to allow pilots to be able to see "as if the plane was not there". In other words, the plane is invisible to both the folks on the ground and the pilot!

One wonders at what point we'll even need to have pilots in the plane, and this really does become a video game.

Just wanted to concur with you guys that Palm likes chubby. Went to the local Cingular store and got play with the Trteo 680 for a while. Liked it. The chubbiness is, IMHO the result of have a great 320x320 touch-screen -- so that the "organizer" functions stay at the level of any other Palm device. I think that's Palm's strength: it's a great organizer. I tried very hard to use my current phone's calendar, note taking and other functions, but I can't see things in any way that is useful on the tiny tiny screen; inputting with the alpha-numeric keys is awful. Similarly, I've tried using those fuctions on my iPod (tho I cannot, of course input), and that's barely useful, too. So I can now eliminate by old phone and Palm combo with a 680. Got the educational pricing on an unlocked 680 and a free music package ( w/ 1GB card) for $350 -- which seems pretty reasonable. Do I wish it were thinner? Sure, but I get to eliminate two other devices from my bag -- and it makes that less chubby.

I hope everyone keeps in mind: for MS, this was not an engineering project -- it was a marketing project. They took some spare parts bin components and added them to an already existing DAP and tried to make a software experience that pulled it all toghter. So: no need to wonder why the Zune experience is all faux-cool, slogan-laden, manufactured hipness. That's what this project was all about.