Sorry, but I just don't see any of those things you cited as any sort of game-changer. They are just incremental, evolutionary developments, not radical ideas that will move or create entire markets and lifestyles the way the original iPhone or iPad did.

The entirely new MacPro... is a moderately powerful PC in an awkward form factor.

The Macbook retina... is a computer with a high-resolution display but only a small physical area.

The iPhone 5S including a shift to an entirely new CPU architecture... is a smart phone that can run some apps.

An new iOS operating system... is a disaster that looks like it was designed for use in kindergarten.

An entire web / mobile based office suite... is so significant that I hadn't even registered that it was available yet until you mentioned it, probably because the whole idea of running an office suite on a touch-based mobile device is daft.

So sorry again, but I stand by my previous comments. These things might be decent technology, at least in some cases, but they just aren't anything special, and it was the anything-specials of the Jobs era that made Apple what it is today. If your hardware is no longer a radical advance over what everyone else offered, you need something special in the software instead, but the App Store has... awkward ports of puzzle games with crazy expensive in-app purchases. Oh, and iFart apps.

If a business does not act in its own interest, who is going to act in their best interest for them. In fact, everyone acts in their own best interest. When people act in others best interest, it is because they believe it is in their best interest to do so.

Yes, when I see a new hardcover book, I make a mental note to check back in 6 months when it has gone to paperback. I just don't need to spend 50% more for the same content just because it is hardbound. In my experience, paperback books last at least as long as hardbound. Which is to say, I have yet to have a paperback book fail on me, and I have some that are over 50 years old. I've had a few hardbound ones fail, because they are generally heavier and less likely to be able to stand up to their own weight.

So in other words, better not to sell the book at all than sell the edition of the book which has a lower profit margin?

Yup. Someone at Amazon went to Econ 101. I'm kind of surprised that everyone is treating this as some sort of business epiphany.

That's an amusing but perhaps slightly ironic comment. One of the few places left in mobile app development where someone new could really win big would be releasing a killer business app. If you could do it on the BB platform as well then they would probably throw their substantial resources behind you, because it would be in their interests to rejuvenate their platform on the back of your success.

That's rather like judging the profitability of web development by how much money Facebook make. The total market value is vast, but extremely concentrated on the success stories and with massive variability.

This was entirely predictable as soon as Apple allowed user expectations to settle on buying any app, no matter how useful or entertaining, for almost no money. I'm actually a little surprised that it's taken so long for the exodus to really get going, but I guess as long as Apple's own fortunes were improving and thus the market for iOS apps was getting larger, a lot of developers held out hope that they hadn't really picked the wrong strategy.

Now that Apple's own iOS strategy is looking tired -- I can't remember any exciting new product since Jobs stood down, and iOS 7 seems to be competing with Windows Vista and Windows 8 for the "most unimpressed user base in recent computing history" award -- I suspect all but the bravest app developers or those who already won in the gold rush are checking where the exit is. And thus the vicious circle will strengthen, unless Apple can pull some sort of remarkable rabbit out of the hat to re-energise their once fanatically loyal customer base pretty soon.

Look at how many people drive into the ocean or off an offramp into a pit when their GPS says to do so.

Now multiply it by 65 mph fiery balls of doom.

Throw in a few bad weather conditions - floods (drowning), bridge failures (plummet to death), three cars all aiming for you at the same time - and you've got lifetime employment for every English Barrister.

This experiment will end when the first group of schoolkids dart into the road from all directions, and the resulting lawsuits end the "experiment".

slacker - in the old days we used S-100 bus computers and hand tuned them

On average, I make a new one every 2-3 years, and replace the monitor every 4-6 years.

Usually runs me $500 for a top of the line PC using Black Monday price deals.

There should be far fewer "apps". Any "app" that just displays content should be a web site. Once you get rid of the appcrap, there probably is no need for more apps than there were boxed software products.

It's easy to cheat at Missile Command- use a touch screen.

Become the sole developer for Blackberry app!

That's a nice result. It's in accord with theory. It doesn't match human intuition based on large-scale objects, but it's the way the universe really works. The theory in this area is well understood; Feynman's "QED" has a good overview.

Ever since the double-slit experiment, it's been clear that this stuff is real. Over the last few decades, more of the weirder predictions of quantum electrodynamic theory have been confirmed experimentally. This is another predicted event confirmed. Nice work.