Esoteric Liberica

No, I am not am Apple hater and neither am I someone that buys a gadget or anything just because it is the flavor of the month. Even since the iPhone launch in this country, I have seen that many people flicking and sliding their fingers on their shiny new toy…. um, ok communication, entertainment and productivity device.

But I am quite disappointed with Apple’s refusal to not have the “proper” iTunes Music Store available in the country I am residing in.

What do most people here do? They rip music, movies and everything else in between for their iPods. Legit and otherwise. Apple already knows that content is king. And I know that there are a lot of legalities when it comes to the distribution of music from country to country. Bureaucratic red tape bullsh*t more like it if you ask me.

By teaming up with a local telco and not freeing the iPhone as a regular electronic consumer device that can be sold in legit Apple Stores and Resellers again restricts viability for those who are still tied to a plan with the other telco. We want the iPhone. We want to be liberated like your 1984 ad promises. But we do not want to be held hostage by some big ass company who bleeds us dry every time a data connection is made.

With just these two points in mind, ignore the 3G connectivity issues, the poor battery life and the meager 2 megapixel camera. There are folks out there who would still want to own the iPhone. And buying from the black market or parallel importers seems like the only way for now.

Wake up Apple. Nokia’s Xpress 5800 aka The Tube is here and it is looking mighty tempting especially now that the Nokia’s Music Store is is or will be available in most countries that Nokia has a presence in. So the Symbian experience is not as good as the iPhone but give them time and the dice can roll to their favor.

I can probably buy the 5800 off a phone retailer and with a price point that is way way lower than an iPhone, the temptation of getting one suddenly becomes that much higher. So the audio is not as good as the iPhone and there is no App store equivalent but I still believe that if Nokia is serious on taking Apple head-on, they can and they will. And the first step to the take down is coming up with Mac compatibility to their PC Suite, wireless updating and better connectivity to all Macs and I am sure there will be a bunch of us who would not mind going over to the other side for awhile.

I haven’t even begun with Google’s Android and I won’t for now but reports have come in and even though it may not be a game changer as yet give it till the next version, I am sure it will raise a few eyebrows by then.

Apple needs to realize that their days of loyal, die-hard mac fanboys and fanatics who will pledge their very lives and souls to the company are over. People have more choices now. People cannot afford to pay for tech as much as they would like to anymore.

Do something. Selling millions of iPhones is not a good indicator of success if better alternatives come along. And they will.