The charging pins on my BlackBerry Pearl went south a couple of days ago, and instead of spending $79 to replace and upgrade that, I spent $399 for an iPhone. Whoever is doing the marketing over there… So now I’ve had it about 24 hours, and to be honest, I’m not sure how much I love it. It sure is pretty and fun to poke at, but there are a lot of things missing. Of course, it’s specifically designed to be crippled for Windows users, and that’s part of the issue, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to replace my PC with a Mac as well, just to get the complete iPhone experience…

“Also setting the new model aside from its existing counterparts, those same people say, may be the conspicuous absence of an optical disc drive.”

Steve must have finally read my letter! Full article on AppleInsider here.

I’m sure I’m not the first to say this, but it seems certain that the forthcoming launch of Microsoft’s latest non-release will drive folks looking for a *real* upgrade to Max OS X and the Apple platform. It just seems so pathetic! Another lame reskinning with no real features, and the same old bass-ackwards take on usability. If these are the “11 reasons to give Vista a chance“, MS should be embarrassed. In fact, it seems like they’re already scrambling to get out a follow-up release - although I don’t see how this could really be much more promising.

NAND-based MacBooks just around the corner? Maybe Steve did get my memo after all…

MacBook “Pro”? Feh. I like the, um, magnetic power cord. But I still won’t buy one until Apple catches up with 21st century laptop design: 12-13″ widescreen display, < =3lbs (1kg should be the target), no _useless_ optical disc drive (Flash memory, USB, FireWire -- hello???!?). I would pay a premium for an Apple-designed machine of this spec, but in the meantime will stick with the multitude of WinTel options such as the Thinkpad X40, Dell X1, Sony TX (which manages to squeeze a CD/DVD into <3lbs), etc.

C’mon Apple, get with the program.