More Unnamed Phone Goodness

So in my attempt to find any shred of information that backs up my prediction on the lawsuit between Cisco and Apple, I’ve been reading coverage of the iPhone, or ApplePhone, or iMobile, or whatever the frak Jobs & Co. finally name the thing on product release. No real info about the lawsuit so far, but I’m vastly entertained by all the Apple fanbois.

Having looked at the hype, I’m forced to conclude there’s a lot of people out there who are reflexive Apple junkies. The phone is not the latest and greatest, doesn’t have enough memory, and lacks expansion capacity. The touchscreen, while pretty, is sub-optimal for a phone interface. Yet there’s a horde of people who have announced their fervent desire to own this product, even at the ridiculous price point. There’s also a legion of people pronouncing it a revolution in cell phones that will change the face of the industry.

Seriously, people, WTF are you smoking? It’s a phone. No more, no less. I counted exactly one “new” feature on the damned thing. I’m not terribly impressed, but as specs can change before release, I could be wrong. At this point, it seems like an overly expensive phone with a few serious issues.

The biggest issue is the one currently keeping me away from iPods and the Zune: DRM. Whatever you can do with an iPhone in terms of a convergence media device, you can bet your ass somebody is going to make money off of how you fill it with media. If you think Jobs is going to let you move your music around willy-nilly without making a buck, you have not been paying attention to the whole iTunes debacle.

I don’t have the time or the energy to waste downloading illegal copies of music so I can save a few bucks. I already have a considerable investment in digital music, to the tune of 700+ compact discs. I’m not wasting my time with any system that tries to make everything proprietary and subject to limitations. We’re using Cowon iAudios and FLAC, and J and I are quite happy with it. I don’t get all the bells and whistles in terms of third-party accessories, but I can do whatever I want with the music I already purchased legitimately without having to deal with anybody’s bullshit concessions to the record industry. Fair use exists as a matter of law, no matter how much the RIAA tries to dissemble and obfuscate the issue. Why on earth would I lock myself into a crippled version of a music player because Apple thinks it makes them more money?

These are all old tired issues, but somehow they keep popping up. Why? Consumers are stupid. Quit buying crippleware and the crippleware will stop coming.