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You forget about Dish and DirecTV. If you don't like your local cable company, you have those two options. If you are in select (and growing) cities, you also have AT&T UVerse. I don't hear Steve bellyaching about them being proprietary systems. Nor is Steve talking about innovation using OTA ATSC broadcasting STBs integrating his Apple TV system.

No, he's looking at the juicy monthy revenue streams that Cable companies take in each month, and is sad that he can't get them all for himself and his iUniverse.

If you want to spend northwards of $600 for a crippled netbook without a keyboard, bully for you and the other 1,999,999 people. I don't have a beef with Steve making a product that people are willing to buy. And as Steve has proved over and over again, if you make a product that is as much status symbol as it is a functional tool, you'll sell to a small but very loyal market.

However, Steve is very big into his walled gardens. Look at the iTunes updates that did nothing but break the ability of non-iPods from syncing with iTunes. What was the purpose? To cripple any non-Steve innovation.

Look at the EULA for the Apple OS prohibiting it from being run on non-Apple hardware. What is the purpose? to cripple any non-Steve innovation.

And this is all Steve is complaining about. His inability to build a shiny box with the Apple logo that he can sell at a premium, and will force people to come to him for all television content.

Look at the iTunes updates that did nothing but break the ability of non-iPods from syncing with iTunes.

So, in your world, Apple has to pick up the technical support of their competition? Does this mean that HP has to fix my Dell laptop? Ford has to fix my Toyota? Nope.

Apple created the iTunes application so service THEIR iPod. Creative used Rhapsody, and other compeitors used their proprietary software to get songs into their units. Having purchased the iRiver and Creative Nomad (which were junk), and having fought buggy software, non-functional MP3 burning capabilities - I glady threw my old mp3 players in the trash and ponied up to the iPod.

So, why do you think Apple (ie "Stevie") owes it to the world to support his competition? Or, is your angst (which sounds an awful lot like sour grapes) directed soley at Apple for doing a job too well? You have obviously never touched, seen or played with the very products you lambast; your ignorance is showing. Here's a clue: 1 GHz processors in 2 machines. 1 machine sports an OS that is 6.8 GB big, utilizes a minimum of 1 Gig of DRAM and requires another 1 Gig minimum of Page File; the other machine has an OS that consumes 308 MB. Which device do you suppose is 'fast' and 'spunky'?

Part B. One device has a custom designed hardware acceleration device that ONLY plays a few selections of video. These video selections were chosen to encompass most internet content; however Flash is not supported. This device gives documented battery life of 10-12 hrs of actual use; in a package that weighs 1.5 lbs. The other device runs Win7, loaded with Flash and weighs 3.5-6 lbs and has a battery life of 2-6hrs (depending upon Flash usage). Which device fits the LEISURE market?