Re:Maybe, but Motorola helped. (Score 1)

Making a Java/iTunes app shouldn't have taken as long as it did.

The time for the phone to come to market has nothing to do with the difficulty of developing the software and everything to do with the carriers being resistant to the product. The problem with the ROKR, and MP3 phones in general, is that there is no clear revenue stream for Cingular other than maybe getting some new customers. Getting them in the door is nice, but the number you always hear carriers crowing about is ARPU (average revenue per user). When the downloads are to your computer (no airtime) and downloaded over a cable (no airtime), there is no revenue generation there. Rumours around the March CTIA conference, when everyone was expecting the launch but instead got a no show, was that Motorola hadn't gotten the buy in from the carriers and that the product may not even launch.

Does the phone suck? I don't know, it sounds like a shuffle with better functionality and worse ergonomics. I doubt Apple tried to sabotage it though, I'm sure the product is the result of a number of different compromises between Apple, Motorola and the carriers, and when that many parties are involved, the end user will often get lost in the shuffle.