While Apple bashing is always fun, let us remember that Apple is not the only FoxConn client. So while you may revel in this negative publicity of APPLE, would you be as thrilled to hear that your Xbox 360, your PS3, your Wii, and your Kindle are also built at those same FoxConn factories? Whatever dirt is uncovered will not only tarnish the fruit company but also plenty of other tech titans from HP to Microsoft. So does your umbrage only extend to Apple Inc? My guess is that you will not be metering your indignation equally.

THe only thing I'd add to this festival of Apple hate is that when the iPhone was first released, it was Samsung who sued first and wanted to ban the sale of the iPhone. I'm not going to pick sides, but if you really believe that Samsung or any Tech company is some open platform and free software angel that only exists to protect your privacy and sense of entitlement and not resort to dirty tricks then you are a very naive person. Yes, the patent system is a mess. Yes, companies abuse the system. Yes, customers suffer because of the actions of these companies. BUT; if you think only the companies you have a personal bias against are guilty of these actions, then you are mistaken and are also a pawn. If you want the system to change than you have to boycott it all. And if you are not prepared to drop all of your commercially sourced tech hardware and software then this talk of "action" is futile.

Can someone clarify WHAT the Fire is....I thought it was a media device designed specifically to channel Amazon content, and not a fully featured tablet, hence the low price point. Isn't it unreasonable to expect so much for a 199 dollar price?

Meh: You spend enough time reading message boards and trolls quickly become background noise. Maybe back in the early 90's a troll might have gotten a rise out of me, but by now I've read every ad hominem attack, meaningless rant, cheap shot, and overly provocative post that could possibly be authored. Frankly, if you really want to shock me or just really piss me off, present a truly cogent, fact based, and utterly logical point of view. It's the stuff that I can't easily dismiss as the ravings of an ass-hat that gets under my skin.

I'd be tempted to wait at least till RIM releases their "playbook". The CEO has been making some pretty big claims about the superiority of their new tablet and it might be worth the wait. Not to mention Nokia and Motorola both want a piece of the tablet pie and both have clearly stated they believe the ipad is inferior to their offerings. So given that 3 major vendors have significant announcements forthcoming, it seems like smart money to at least wait till summer. Good luck with your purchase.

Well this gives new meaning to the phrase "to contemplate one's navel."

Personally, I think everyone is being misdirected. It would seem, from a shareholder view, that MSFT loses a lot more money to piracy than to either Linux and Apple, at least going by the data provided by MSFT. So, in terms of bang for the buck, MSFT would be better off spending dollars on tightening its DRM or creating a new way to secure and consistently monetize its intellectual property. Certainly, that would be detrimental to users, but in this economy, it might be easier to try to clamp down on piracy than to having to go slog it out in the marketplace. I doubt MSFT will want to relinquish their current price points in order to try and entice a few customers who are used to "free" or relatively free software. No, I think they're more likely to put the squeeze on non payers and pirates than on the Linux set.

SAMMY570 SAID : "All this means is that NO, MS can't just go and download the SDK and code happily for the iPhone ever after. It must first go out and shell out (a lot of) cash for some Apple PC it didn't want in the first place." Weirdly enough, MSFT had no trouble with buying a boatload of MACS when they were developing for the XBOX360. http://www.michaelhanscom.com/eclecticism/2003/10/23/even-microsoft-wants-g5s/ or http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/8096/Xbox-360-Development-Kit-Spotted/ or http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/308/1030308/xbox-2--sdk-released-on-cool-apple-power-mac-g5s

I was an early adopter and had bought one of the first RIo's. It was expensive, poorly built, had a cruddy UI, and could hold at most 15 songs at 128 K. But it was small and allowed me to have music while mountain biking. My cousin, a sales manager for a domestic high end audio company back then told me that the MP3 player to wait for would be from SONY. After all, Sony was a world leader in audio and personal electronics. They had invented the walkman. They had years of acclaimed industrial design, a mature sales and distribution network, high customer awareness, efficient marketing, and even owned a record label that would certainly facilitate a media sales conduit. So what happened? When we talk about the Zune's inability to gain market traction, I believe there are lessons to be learned from Sony. If a world leader in portable audio electronics can't make a dent, then there might be more to this than some "cool" factor or "apple sucks" reasoning.

Frankly, a big box recipe may not work for discretionary items in a down economy. Your average circuit city is at least 30,000 sq. ft. That square footage needs to be heated,cooled, lit, stocked, insured and staffed. The real estate values of the stores have surely taken a hit just as our residential values have tanked. Even worse, many circuit city's are in less than desirable areas, or expanded heavily into newer space in the volatile exurbs (many of these areas are hit by heavy foreclosure) . Add to that, most of the customer visits are for smaller ticket items; dvds, memory cards, etc. While these may have a good margin built in, you have to move a LOT of them to cover your nut. Big ticket items are heavily advertised and many times have really LOW retailer margin. All those cheap home computers leave little profit for the OEM let alone the retailer. Add to that, no viable house brand for circuit city (a house brand can really help pad your margin since more of the revenue can be retained), and you have a really hard time making bank. Throw in an inexperienced and unknowledgeable staff and you have a failing business. The number to watch is the sales per square foot of retail space. Conversely, Apple stores are much smaller than their big box brethren. The average Apple store is about 1/5 the size, and usually in a very high traffic and high profile locations. Obviously their brand IS THE house band, so all extra revenue is gravy. All of their products have a healthy margin built in for both retailer and OEM. Add a dedicated staff and very smart merchandising and you have retail success. For the record, Apple Stores average $3000 of sales per sq ft. That exceeds Best Buy and Circuit City easily and even leaves luxury goods retailers like Tiffany's in the dust. Not every market needs a big box solution.