andrew carter

Not a good PR week for Apple. Between the NBC split-up and now an unexpected $200 price drop on the iPhone, they are getting lots of negative press instead of attention to the new products.I’m not sure what to think. Of course, I’m feeling a little burned with a $200 price drop so soon. I knew the price would fall over time but not in 60 days. I do hope that Apple does something to appease the early adopters. They shouldn’t have to do it but they don’t need the ruckus. I don’t like my phone any less and I knew I was paying way too much to get it. My wife on the other hand is more than a little annoyed. Note to Apple - you really screwed the Wife Factor for future purchases big time. And make no mistake, that’s a big deal.The bigger question to me is why such a big drop in price? Looking at the lineup, the iPod and iPhone prices do make sense. None of them now seem outrageously expensive. There is a clearly a seat being kept warm for a 16 GB iPhone around $499. I tend to think that this is tightening up the story for selling into the last half of the year. But it could also mean that they are either aggressively trying to win market share with iPhone or they aren’t selling good enough.The new devices seem ok. I’m not blown away. I am happy that my iPhone is comparable to the iPod Touch. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything the iPod offers. The nano seems a little weird but I’ve never thought much of the nano anyway. I would like to have seen a 2GB shuffle. I actually use my first gen iPod shuffle more than my iPhone. It’s not sexy but it does the job very well.What I really was hoping for was iTunes HD. Apple better get HD downloads soon or they could find the video business in trouble. I have to wonder if this wasn’t part of the NBC issue. The AppleTV becomes a must have device as soon as you can feed the thing with HD content. Right now, it’s a nice music/photo player (and way overpriced). If they had HD downloads, they could start to displace DirecTV and cable companies. And I’m sure that scares plenty of companies in Hollywood.