But the Apple shtick has always been only which has the imprimature of The Steve is worthy. Apps, peripherals etc for imac, iphone, ipad, itunes, iRack, blah blah only avaialble through Apple. Only Apple geniuses fit to change a battery. Internet content only valid if it is somehow fed through the Apple Filter ( flv - are you kidding ??? ) Brilliant from the point of view of Apple. Requires a lot of Faith on the part of the Believers to get them to buy "apps" that give them stuff the internet gives them for free.

Charles, generally, I share your view on Apple and "The Steve". The iPhone has had plenty of quality issues. iTunes can be a pain (I don't hate it as much as others do, but it's certainly slow and kludgy) The iPod is anything but a top choice for an audiophile (to this day, it still sounds tinny) and there are plenty of PMPs that are better. There are plenty of vendors that make better products.

BUT....I put the iPad in a different category. To me, it is an amazing, amazing product. They "got it right", IMO. Of course, if Apple does something incredibly brain-dead, like suddenly block the Kindle app and Kindle books, I'll be furious.