Do we get to vote on JOTW?

Apple folks are familiar with John Gruber’s regular feature JOTW.

Well I’d like to suggest Peter Sayer of IDG News Service for this week’s honor. In the mind-bogglingly stupid introduction to his article iPhone in the UK: Apple faces stiff competition, Sayer wrote:

When it arrives in the U.K. November 9, the iPhone will face stiffer competition in that market than it does in the U.S. That’s because prices for other smartphones are typically lower in Europe, where many operators subsidize the cost of new phones in order to attract customers.

Praytell me, kind sir, what are these “subsidies” of which you speak?!

(Sorry, I don’t know why, the bad accent just came on when writing about the UK.)

Oh, do you mean like where you can get a free Treo 680 (and still pay more than you would for an iPhone, btw) over the course of two years?

I don’t know jack squat about rate plans and all that in the U.K., but the notion that Apple is facing something new by going into a market where smartphones are heavily subsidized is pure poppycock.

That’s exactly the same thing that’s true of the market in the U.S. of A.

In fact, in the USA they will give you $50 to buy a Treo 680 (and you’ll still pay more than you would for an iPhone).

So tell me again how Apple faces stiffer competition in the U.K. than they do already?

Anyway, John, if you’re taking nominations, you’ve got mine.