You have articulated many of the issues I had with the price drop. I really truly believe that Apple is suffering from the same hubris that killed Apple 1.0. I think many conceived that Apple 2.0 would be different- they were wrong.

What gets me is just how short sighted the move by Mr. Jobs was. Certainly that large of a price drop would mean exponentially higher sales, but at the cost of your core base? Certainly the apologists were out in droves, many of which you quoted in your own article…one of the many instances when their bias becomes painfully apparent. The individuals that were hurt in this debacle were the core Apple fanatics, their most loyal supporters, and the ones with enough expendable income to afford the premium Apple places on many of their products! It seems to me like a terribly myopic strategic decision…unless Apple is really trading in their fans to hit the mainstream.

Many of the aforementioned apologists gloat at the success of Apple, and the ever increasing market share…yet they don’t think about the repercussions of Apple’s ever increasing popularity within the mainstream.

I was not so much angry that I paid more than others for the iPhone, but angrier that they, with one fell swoop, within approximately 2 months of release, devalued my iPhone sitting in my hand by an egregious amount. I am not talking about devaluing the novelty of the phone, novelty was lost to me 3 replaced iPhones ago trying to correct issues with reception and stability…I am directly referring to the resale value, and equity of the handset itself.

Certainly, the assertion that many are making regarding the contractual obligations of Apple to do anything, that it doesn’t exist, is spot on…but what about another contract? The contract of good will that has been reciprocated between Apple and its core fan base? Apple has taken care of us, while we have taken care of them. No TJ, the future doesn’t seem bright, regardless of Mr. Jobs’ response…because the very fact that it took an uproar to get any kind of response from Mr. Jobs predicates the future of a company that is no longer based on that reciprocal good will. Apple has become the titan that many individuals, of the likes of Mr. Gruber, loath.

Apple has just upgraded to Apple 3.0. Apple has just become the next Microsoft.