Apple: Our Ads Don't Lie, But You're a Fool if You Believe Them

some people are just stupid

It seems fairly cut-and-dry that something advertised as 'twice as fast' that is in fact not twice as fast could be easily construed as false advertising. Of course, Cap'n Crunch is a nutritious part of a balanced breakfast, also . . . I guess this just reinforces my theory that advertising is just lying with nice airbrushed tits to keep people watching.

You're reading too much into it. In a legal answer, you have to plead every defense you might ever want to make. If you don't plead it in the answer, you might not have a chance to do so later. Plus, defendants are allowed (read: encouraged) to plead defenses that might be contradictory. That's a problem with the legal system, not with Apple or it's lawyers.

I thought the add meant "(up to) twice as fast (assuming perfect conditions) for half the price"...

Seems pretty clear cut. The iPhone is barely faster (and slower at some tasks). And it is more expensive over the 2 year length of the required contract.

Apple is lying on both counts. Simple as can be.

There's an ad on this page right now for the Pulse Smartpen. It says "Never miss a word" but I'm sure it will at some point miss a word for someone. Can we sue them too or is this just a trademarked phrase?

Apple could come out and prove that their products are made out of dead kittens and their fans would jump to their defense claiming "So what, everyone makes stuff out of dead kittens."
Ironic that a company that projects and image of creating such 'unique' and 'fresh' and 'hip-lifestyle' products has a user base that are such a bunch of blind followers.

Stories like this make me happy I live in a country where frivolous lawsuits are considered just that.

"So what, everyone makes stuff out of dead kittens."

If this is about the legal answer thing, just fyi, I hate Apple and mock them every chance I get. However, I'm a bigger fan of understanding the legal process more than I am a fan of bashing Apple.

Bobby, it's telling you to never miss a word, not actually claiming that the pen itself will never miss a word. That's different.

Apple explicitly stated that the iPhone 3G was twice as fast, for half the price. If it's not, that's false advertising.

Also, even if the ad for the smartpen DID say that the pen would never miss a word, and it did in fact miss words, that wouldn't mean that Apple is right in making false claims, just that Livescribe is wrong in making false claims also.

Give me control over a country's communication infrastructure, and I care not about its laws...

So, Apple claims their ads are puffery and this gets reported as "you're a fool if you believe this"?

Score one for sensationalist journalism.

well it's simple

the iphone 3G is a lot faster than iphone edge

OF COURSE; twice is a good way to describe it

in ideal ads world.

take the numbers on wikipedia, yes, 3G can really do that speed, but not everywhere, not inside houses, not when you have many people on 3G in the neighborhood and so on

do you like my explanations ? is it nice for TV ads ?

is it a lie when you say it is twice the speed ? no, because it's true, but the ads is also a wonderful world, where products never broke and where people can pay everything

Cap'n Crunch is a nutritious part of a balanced breakfast yes, it's true, but is your breakfast balanced ? maybe no and the ads will not save you

should you eat cap'n crunch in all your breakfast ? no
the ad is a lie? the world is not wonderful like it was in the ad ?

and so on.

the real lie is "in my world, everything is GREAT, so my product can be perfect".

in reality, 3G is not so fast because the signal has many problems and your provider sucks, your iphone is loaded with many apps and one of them is dead in the attic and safari is crashing because the iphone has not enough memory to do all the webpages, the buggy jscript and the dead app in the background (and it should not be here).

-
ho and no, the main problem of the iphone is NOT the processor. the processor is fine, enough for what apple sold the device (to launch nice game and nice mini-desktop applications)

no, the iphone need MORE memory. Memory to allow applications to stay in memory between switches and to be allowed to open complex document without to be forced to crash.

me-mo-ry. the real need of a "better iphone" .

wendell - Cap'n Crunch is a 'PART of the balanced breakfast'. They never claim that the cereal is nutritious, nor that the complete breakfast is nutritious - only 'balanced'.

Most advertising fudges the truth with 'weasel statements' - my opinion is that marketers do this because there are too many things available.

But they almost never 'lie', legally speaking. If I spoke this way to a wife or girlfriend, I'd be 'guilty' of lying.. ;-)

In Apple's case - 2x speed is quantifiable, so I'd say they lied.

Just one reason why the internet exsists, you can research anything, even the iPhone. There's specs and blogs/comments on just about every product out there. I don't care too much for Apple products but if you buy a used car from a car sales person before driving it or researching it, YOU ARE A FOOL. This is just a new way a starting a lawsuit for hot coffee you poured on yourself. Give this guy his money back and see if he buys another iPhone.

Now it's time for another class-action suit for all the displays filling up with vertical lines just after the warranty expires.

wow, someone trying to make money they don't deserve!?

what a surprise!!!!!!

I hope the d-bag actually loses a significant money on all of this.

>>>>I don't care too much for Apple products but if you buy a used car from a car sales person before driving it or researching it, YOU ARE A FOOL. This is just a new way a starting a lawsuit for hot coffee you poured on yourself. Give this guy his money back and see if he buys another iPhone.<<<<<<

I to am no Apple fan, but unless the iPhone commercials said "up to 2x as fast," then they lied. I'm going to let them slide on the half the price claim, because most people in the U.S. are more interested in the up front cost.

why so many apple haters? In my opinion microsoft sux but I dont set out to dog everyone that uses a pc. The iphone was and still is an incredible device . what where they complaining about 2 years ago? now all the other phone makers are just catching up, people need to quit trying to make a quick buck and work for your money!!!

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This no more a "lie" than the lie of this misleading article headline. WHere did apple call anyone a fool?

You can achieve twice the speed of EDGe that doesn't mean you always will.

When you;re on EDGE or WiFi you always get variable speed too.

This is just dribble that won't be around long.

I have an iPhone and I use EVERY figure on my iPhone. I love everything about it, it IS fast and almost never stop being on 3G (though it did on my vacation when there was no service and in Target). I've never had a call dropped. Plus 3G is sooo not slow!
Hello? Go to Apple's website and they tell you exactly what you're in for. And it's an incredible phone for texting, emailing, having fun with games and such, surfing the internet, and talking on the phone! I love my iPhone and see no reason for lawsuits!!!

This isn't about being a fan or a hater, it's about being a smart consumer and there's no excuses anymore with the internet and customer service reps. You DO have to be in a 3G network area for the commercial statement to be true and YES it's true if you are. People need to quit blaming the companies on their neglegence to read the fine print or print in general. They can't physically force you to buy their products. I do believe Apple could have used a better word than "fool" , this 70 year old William guy should have PLENTY of fine print reading experience. This is a lot like trying to get a broadband ISP and only having dsl available. (yes i know some dsl can compete, most don't)

if anything else you got to Gewwgle that sheet ;)

When are people going to stop drinking the Apple Kool-aid and realize that Apple is just as evil if not more evil than Microsoft.

Way to go wired, another "could be great" article that wasent so great. Your missing the main point in all of this. This enitre stroy was about the twice as fast part. Which is in the most part true. The second half "half the price is what wrong. WHen you add att;s data plan to the Iphone it comes out to being somewhere along the lines of $150 more per yeat. Apple how can u tell me it's half the price when its $150 more a year. ANd wired it;s like you had an entire story to write about and only wrote half of it,You should have added the second part which would have made a much better overall article.

The proper term is "moved", not "motioned", to dismiss.

Apple's defense claim seems to be that the average, reasonable person would not believe, based on the ads, that they could double the speed of internet access at all times, in all circumstances with the phone.

I would have to agree with Apple that the average person should not expect doubled speeds all the times. Much like, back in the day, a 28.8k modem buyer could not expect a top speed of 28.8k/sec at all times.

The question then becomes whether the network, as the complaint stated, provided less than what a consumer should expect. The answer to that question should be compelling to all consumers, not just members of the class in this lawsuit.

Looks like Apple can't control everything. SNAP!

@ James it is half the price for the phone. The data network charge is more because you're using the newer 3G network which cell providers charge more for.

If you have an issue with the data plan charge take it up with AT &T.

I'm not condoning the advertising actions of Apple, but how many cars *actually* get 40 MPG as advertised?

All advertising is lies. Its up to the consumer to ensure what they are purchasing will meet their expectations.

Hey, look guys, sorry 'bout all that twice-as-fast crap. The marketing department pulled that one over my head; but the truth of the matter is, MY iPhone is ALWAYS twice as fast, and since I own the goddamn company that makes them, it's technically half the price. For me that is.

Anyway, just drop the damn lawsuit, it's bad PR.

Where can I get some airbrushed tits that are twice the size and half the price?

I have never bought another Apple product after purchasing an Apple Performa desktop in 1995.

One of the Performa's big selling points was lifetime support by telephone. But when I received a letter three years after my purchase stating that was going to end, I knew there would be a lawsuit.

Sure enough, there was and we won! No, we didn't our lifetime support back; Apple somehow convinced the court that it didn't have to honor its promise. We all got a coupon for $50 off any Apple software!

use google for the big tits.... half the price = $0 twice as big = PHOTOSHOP!!! (O. M. G.)

Just Like MCDonalds being sued for the Hot Coffee spill. Get a life.

Fanboys... take a bow.

"The iphone was and still is an incredible device . what where they complaining about 2 years ago? now all the other phone makers are just catching up,"

Don't kid yourself, dude. The iphone is just a modern PDA. Believe it or not, PPCs even had touchscreens a decade ago. There is nothing you can do on an iphone (aside from maybe novelty accelerometer tricks) that you couldn't do on any other smartphone released around the same time or shortly before.

Apple just jammed their branding into another market, and people bought it up as the original yet again. Remember the ipod? I guess no one ever made mp3 players before that came out, right?

I hear next they're coming out with these incredible devices that strap around your wrist, and at any moment can accurately tell you the time!! But the best part is that it's accompanied by a multi-million dollar advertising campaign and shiny white plastic! The world will never be the same.

Also to get on point here, this seems like a very clear cut case of false advertising. Enough examples have been provided by other posters. I'd love to hear what your definition of false advertising is if you think Apple is innocent here.

I don't think the issue here is whether or not Apple is stretching the truth with their speed and pricing claims. What I want to know is why is this being considered a legitimate lawsuit. If I felt Apple deceived me, then as a consumer I would return the equipment for a refund. Did this person do that? Only if Apple/ATT refused to refund the consumer should this person be entitled to sue Apple.

"if any of you are in the field of marketing, just kill yourself"

-bill hicks

get our new flyphone, a million times as fast as every other sportsphone + it doesn't cost a single dime, you'll even get a trip to europe (or a europe concert, based on preference) with your purchase. False advertising for those dreaming of a better planet, taste the freedom of thought.

So by "fast" are we talking network speed, clock speed, what? How is it Apple's fault that ATT 3G sucks? Still, though, the real test is whether Apple can make this claim in Europe. Judging by the UK standard, the answer is no. What about France?

"This is just a new way a starting a lawsuit for hot coffee you poured on yourself."

Regarding this statement: you must not know what that lawsuit was about. McDonalds back then would pour coffee that was at just-barely-not-boiling temperatures, rather than at safe-to-drink temperatures. When you hand someone a cup of boiling water without warning them "by the way, this is scalding, impossible to drink, and you'll need cosmetic surgery if a drop touches your skin"...that's not exactly responsible.

Apple have been forced to change the advert on UK Television due the the false representation of the speed of the product.

Crapple's mktg dept. receives WAY more funding than their R&D, and always has, which is why they can create such hype and loyalty for inferior products across the board in nearly every category no matter how you slice it. Their proprietary comp systems are truly the antithesis of everything their fantard customer base believes they follow Stalin Jobs for. Ipoods are overpriced, over-hyped, low-sound-quality POSs with forced Itard service to make them sorta work that sell only because they're trendy with pre-teen girls whose guilt ridden absent fathers want to monetarily spoil them in the hope they won't end up on GGW (they will). Why shouldn't the Iphone suck just as bad as everything else crapple makes? Oh yeah, Crapple sucks.

"Regarding this statement: you must not know what that lawsuit was about. McDonalds back then would pour coffee that was at just-barely-not-boiling temperatures, rather than at safe-to-drink temperatures. "

You know how coffee is made, don't you? Brewing temperature for coffee is just below boiling water temperature so it is obvious that when you are served a fresh cup of coffee is going to be at "just-barely-not-boiling temperatures".

This is so frigging hysterical I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Oh and blame the handset maker for network capacity. yay oh friggin yay. What ever it is that guy is smoking, he should cut it half.. Its the corporations dude. yeah man it is like you know ..

I just saw their new "green" laptop add that says it doesn't contain toxic metals "like mercury" -- but the real question is -- did they find a distracting way to lie about "lead"

@bkurilko

So true, man. Apple banks on being able to enter any market with enough of a twist on existing technology to sell itself as "unique." I'm an Apple power user simply because of the convenience of the entire software ecosystem (it is nice to be able to integrate phone, email, browsing, computing, documents, etc. more or less seamlessly), but I think that you have to be conscious of the fact that they're just reinventing, not paving new ground. Just because you create a product that is better than most or all of your competitors' doesn't mean that you have no need to improve it, or that you aren't responsible for the complaints of your customer base. This latter is the most frustrating thing about Apple's customer service: every time that I have a problem, I walk away convinced that it is me, not their software. My job involves heavy use of CAD and GIS, so I use a PC software ecosystem on the job (yeah, having an iPhone and a BlackBerry sucks...), and I have had a much better customer service experience with PC-based companies...

Apple is great in a lot of ways, but that doesn't mean that they can brush off their responsibility to the consumer.

Anyone who believes anything in any Apple ad is a moron, because they are all chock full of bullshit

someone asked "why this would be a lawsuit, i would just return the device" the reason this needs to be a lawsuit is because it keeps big companies truthful and from deceiving their customers. sure, maybe YOU notice the difference and return the phone, but some people might not. this is what class action lawsuits are for. they keep the big guys honest to protect the little guys.

I have a 3G iPhone and have found it to be finicky with making phone calls even though it shows full signal in a 3G area. It requires you to reboot the phone before it works properly. It is still 100 times better than my last phone so I am happy.

So, I guess people get so excited by new Apple products that they lose all reason? Did anyone bother to check the reputation of the service provider? Check Consumer Reports annual cell phone issue and you will find that AT&T places near or at the bottom in most major communications markets in the United States. I was surprised when I learned that you had to become an AT&T customer if you wanted Apple’s new phone. I understand a thing or two about cell phone networks and wouldn’t accept an iphone as a gift if it meant I had to try to use the AT&T cell system. People blame Apple, but a great deal of the frustration appears tied to the inability to make or complete phone calls, that is a cell service provider issue, NOT a cell phone provider issue!

Apple deserves all the scorn - and legal hassles - it's getting. When you claim the moral high ground - our competitors are Evil and do bad things, you better stay on the straight and narrow. I recall something about glass houses and stone throwing, but don't quote me.

The Apple cheerleaders seem to have forgotten the great Frank Lloyd Wright's statement that form follows function.

I think most law suits are ridiculous... as is this one. But it is absolutely hilarious to see Apple squirm, and the apologists making excuses. Keep it up fellas! ROFL

I've had my iPhone 3G since August, and have had no more than 3 dropped calls. Way much less than my prior Nokia handset. Even going through hills or tunnels my iPhone doesn't drop the call.

In my real experience 3G speeds are considerably faster (I would say more than twice) than Edge. And VERY rarely does it drop from 3G to Edge with me. I'm using TELCEL network (Mexico) It's not Apple's fault...it is AT&T.

Greetings to all.

The irony here is the possibility (however remote) that Apple foolishly believed AT&T's ads that they had the "fewest dropped calls." ;-)

Apple ads are deceptive?

What, you mean the Mac really can't speak to that sexy Japanese camera easier than the PC can?

You mean that Apple pointing out that Microsoft is sinking tons of money into Vista commercials, in yet another PC vs. Mac commerical, isn't clearly hypocritical?

Apple, the NEW Biggest Show On Earth. There is a sucker born every minute, and most of them today sit on a college campus watching An Inconvenient Truth on their MacBook that was carved from a single hunk of aluminum or listening to music on their highly disposable iPod - while Al Gore and Jobs sit back and laugh about stock post-dating scandals on their private jets.

Next marketing campaign : Lie different

so if i see a iphone 3g on sale for 1/3 the price of the original iphone i can sue apple too right?

it's common sense, you must pay attention to the most common side effects. The rest is up to you, not the company.

Hey Fanboiz, you're right...3G is faster. That's why when I got a 3G phone 2 years ago. It was called the Helio Ocean. P.S. Service was great, no dropped calls, great open source apps (Shout out to Heliocity, love you guys!) Opera Mini 4.1 (in Landscape mode!), full Qwerty keyboard (which means I type twice as fast as you chumps, with no typos), plenty of expandable flash memory, integrated YouTube and other media, and a screen that was only a smidgen smaller than an iPhone. It also came with IMAP support (Hello, Exchange users), and a universal mailbox that let me easily access MSN, Yahoo, Gmail, AOL, and as many POP email accounts as I felt like setting up (oh, and of course, the IM clients that went along with those). In fact, the only thing it didn't have was the touch factor.

Did I mention that was two years ago? How is it again that you guys are convinced that Apple is somehow cutting edge?

Well, I'm off to upgrade now. My Ocean has served me well, but I hear it's going to be another six months before the Ocean 2 comes out, and this one's about ready to retire. I do believe the HTC Touch Pro will be my next purchase. iPhone 3G has nothing on that display.

does it really matter?
it is indeed overpriced, you do pay more for it in the long run, and it is marginally faster than the previous one.
but then again, if you are reading this site, you would have known that before you went out and bought one.

right????

Remember when computers first began to become popular?
Back then, the Mac was good for playing silly, brightly coloured, proprietary games, and that's about it. Every other PC, with DOS, and eventually windows could do so much more. That's why Apple floundered and almost went under. Their hardware and software just F'in blew. Apple's stuff was made for little kids, while the rest of the intelligent world used PC's for their endless possibilities, apps, etc. Nothing has changed. It's still children using Apple products, while the rest of the world, that wants results and capabilities moves on and uses real products. hAhA.

it's funny that apple thinks people are asses to believe their adverts; shows you what they think of their customers. ha, I laugh at you applefanboyz who can't stop eating the wormed out apple. apple things you're a dumbass for buying their products. and in truth you must be a dumbass for actually buying their product. ha, I laugh at you again.

so when I am in the computer lab at school on my vista pc, and all the macs are stuttering and crashing trying to run a simple 3d application apple is lying when they say it just works?

What I find totally hilarious about these responses is that all your whining still won't stop the next million iPhones from being sold. They are popular and that's what you hate. Apple has made no more outrageous claims than any other corporation in the same position, and in fact they are still a long way from Nike's, "lying in ads is free speech," canard. Enjoy choking on your jealousy and hate. The rest of us will just not buy products we feel aren't worth it.

Hey, do you want to buy a mortgage. Are you dirt poor. No problem. Just fill out the form and you will be on your way to moving into a house that you can't afford.

Buyer beware!

And that's the gadget you Wired guys tell us it is supposed to replace the rest of the stuff in our lives?
I think I'll keep my wristwatch a little longer.

Can I sue motorola because I don't get good service from verizon in some areas?

Lawyers and people scamming to make a buck seem to be the problem here. We can't sue an airline for canceling a flight but we can sue Apple because the network doesn't support the phone???? Crazy stuff.

Perhaps another of their ads was also misleading.

Advertising. Advertising. Advertising. Fix the speed issue. Advertising. Advertising. Advertising. Fix the speed issue. Advertising.

ok i've posted on here a few times now. What bothers me the most is people complaining about modern technology and what sucks and what doesnt. Be happy we live in a world with amazing technology options. Just because you own or dont own something doesnt make it the best or the worst. Whether you buy Apple or microsoft doesnt make you stupid. You are what you eat not what you buy. This guy trying to sue should be happy he lived long enough to see smartphones. Maybe he'd be happier with no computer technology at all, I'm sure he did ok without it before wireless. Embrace your technology options people ;) Technology doesnt make us better, we make the technology better ;) ;) be happy :)

@ Eric C.: Yeah, like they are not lying in court, but you are a fool if you believe them...

iPhone users should just do a search for "unlocked i9" on ebay. The Chinese clones are usually around 30% of the price of a real iPhone, and are actually MORE capable while supporting the same iPhone features that you like.

(disclosure: I purchased a few on ebay a couple days ago)

Jeez people, talk about getting lost in your personal taste for Apple.

Is the phone twice as fast? Yes, it is capable of being twice as fast. When a car company says, "Top speed of 120mph", this means the car is capable of such speeds. However if the wind is blowing hard enough, or a cylinder misfires because of mechanical issues, etc.. you may not be able to achieve the cars capacity.

Is the iphone half the price? Yes, look at the price. The phone itself costs half the price, the AT&T surcharges are what bring the cost of ownership up.

Do Apples commercials try and paint their products in the best possible light? Do they rely on top end specs (that are verifiable)? Ofcourse. That is what you do when you are trying to sell a product. Go look for a new job and on your resume try listing not all the things you are capable of doing, but instead your abilities on a bad or less than ideal day. Do tell a girl you want to date what you are like when you are in a bad mood. Go shoot yourself in the foot.

I really believe that the policy of "you buy it first, then we'll see what we can do for you" the American consumer is expected to operate under without question has gone too far here.

Telecoms companies are advertising speeds they can't deliver to anyone, and the reason why is that they over-sell services and CREATE a situation where they can't. This is what you call "criminal."

not to many comments on this one I see

Apple made a mistake.
.
Period.
.
"twice as fast for half the price" is a simple, concrete and easily verifiable claim. There is no legal out for this. Apple mislead customers and should be held to compensate those who made purchases based on this simple statement of concrete performance. Puffery is any statement obscure or vague enough not to constitute a claim of performance. "twice as fast for half the price" is NOT puffery.
.
If Listerine got nailed for promising to make the common cold go away faster, Apple can be held accountable for claiming their phone is twice as fast.

In UK The 3G I-Phone is just late, what they were claiming was old news
Most areas of England (less in Upland Wales, Scottish Highlands and Isles, dunno about NI), 3G cover has been the norm for 4 years, overloaded and patchy depending on the area's cell density, better all the time.

Locally, I-Phones seem to be rare because the're worse than what most people can get for free on even a modest contract, I have seen Proud New owner outclassed on same network by my modest 2yr old handset

Waaay late with this silly little addendum ...

Cap'n Crunch et al. say very explicitly:

"A [delicious|fun|tasty|etc] part of THIS nutritious breakfast"
(photo of nutritious breakfast + bowl of Cap'n Crunch)

If Apple had said, "THIS 3G iPhone is twice as fast and costs half as much as THIS original" (photo of 3G iPhone duct taped to 3G tower next to an original handset duct taped to a fish), then they would be in the clear.

EXTREMELY misleading article. You need to get someone who knows about law to report on legal stories.

Apple's answer includes affirmative defenses that must be pled. Every affirmative defense available to the causes of action pled in the complaint must be asserted in the answer or they are waived. That the representations in the ad were not reasonably interpretable as alleged in the complaint is a basic affirmative for all varieties of false advertising.

Bad journalism, Wired.

Why do I hear so many axes being ground? Oh yeah, it's the article itself. Maybe Brian should look up the term "yellow journalism" - hint: that's NOT a racist comment!

Nice! so who´s responsable now who are we to blame, everyone trying to wash their hands off. we dont need the lies we need the facts. forget marketing that should be illegal the way they boost up volumes on tv comercials, make cd´s louder come on. we could never achieve anything with this but road rage and killings in school! im tired of typing forget this!

Wow. Calling people fools is not cool, Apple. What an asshole.

The anti-Apple elitism that permeates our culture is astounding. I wonder if these same people also say "White people do everything just as well as black people, so black people are crap, they're "colorful" so they are crap, there's less of them so they are crap, black = evil, any who's black is just stupid." I wouldn't be surprised.

Caveat emptor - The key word here is outright. Always read the fine print!
puffing n. the exaggeration of the good points of a product, a business, real property, and the prospects for future rise in value, profits and growth. Since a certain amount of "puffing" can be expected of any salesman, it cannot be the basis of a lawsuit for fraud or breach of contract unless the exaggeration exceeds the reality. However, if the puffery includes outright lies or has no basis in fact a legal action for rescission of the contract or for fraud against the seller is possible.

laas

great equate pc users with rascist white people and macs with (hip) black people.

thats a really tenable,smart move

I hope the marketers that came up with that ad find jobs again. You could tell a bigger lie than this. I live in an area that isn't covered by 3G, so when I first saw that commercial on TV, I thought there shouldn't be a chance in Hell that they should be able get away with saying that. There is no way that the iPhone 3G will ever be able to be faster than the first iPhone.

Of course, I wasn't dumb enough to fall for Apple's lies, nor can I see how anyone else can fall for it. I still think Apple should have to pay for its lies, just in a criminal case instead of a civil lawsuit.

Give me a break. It was clear toannyone with half a brain that they were saying the upfront cost of the phone was half what it was before. Yes, you still have to pay for the phone plan.

It was also clear that the twice as fast was a reference to network speed with being able to access 3g vs the 2g only.

1/2 the brain to see it any other way.

What annoys me is AT&T charging me for 3g when I only get edge and in some areas don't have anything...but all in all I love it.

I had a win mobile device and have used palm and blackberry...,I would take the iPhone any day of the week.

I don't know what you can find around the world....but in the us...I think the iPhone is the only phone where it is worth paying for the data plan.

And....no I do not believe anything else has the multi touch controls the iPhone has...that is a key piece of their product. Resize with a pinch. Rotate with a twirl...sure everyone can do a tap...but not the twist of spin...

Somewhat off topic (or is it?):

I'm still waiting for someone to sue 'MicroSoft' over the size of their software...
(keeping tongue firmly in cheek)

Actually, I was was equating anti-Mac bigots (not Windows users) with racists and black people with black people. I didn't equate the Mac (or Apple) with anything.

There was a time when truth in advertising was the law. Today, companies take it too far. Unless something is said in a whimsical or humorous way, communicating features of a product is a promise you are delivering to consumers - and they should expect to be able to rely on it.

Otherwise Windows could come out and say - 'Less vulnerable than the Mac, runs all the same programs and never crashes - ever.'

Which would be untrue on every count.

Making life easier one app at a time?! It's more like getting pecked to death by ducks. Apple is making you pay for what should be open and web based applications. Their fascist DRM and abject denial of fair use is exactly what is most contemptable about Apple. Shame on Jobs. I don't really care if a few Objective C nerds are making 250K from their apps. This doesn't make up for the negative effects of Apple's business strategy.

There are many adjectives that can be used to describe AT&T and reliable is not one of them. They have the worst reception indoors and when I spent some time in Wolfboro, New Hampshire all the AT&T phones in our group of friends had zero bars while all of the Verizon phones had full reception. Both companies are guilty of misleading advertising. But I suppose they have found fitting company in each other.