iPhones: repeating Apple story again?

I shared some time last month that more than a quarter iPhones sold in 2007 have been unlocked and in fact, many of those came to China.
I have been one of the people who really want to have it... however, I did not get one because i am really pretty bad at keeping a phone in good shape. i drop phones pretty often and I am so afraid of getting one and damaging it... anyway, it's all excuse... maybe what's really true about me not getting one is that I don't like touch-pad for phones. it's so irritating to me. I used to have an O2 PAD phone and it was touch screen and i did not really enjoy using it.
Which is very different from why I did not buy Wii - a. i did not have enough energy (time and cash) to get one last year b. the stock went out too fast for me to respond...
Fortunately, I have played a lot times already... I really enjoy it and want to have one...

okay. back to the Apple story.
my friend commented that
" nothing new here for us about the rampant black mkt for iphones..

but its a sign of history repeating.. apple still has not learnt from the PC vs MAC wars of the last century and is repeating their closed-wall approach for their phone project.."

Apple did not die from the personal computer war... it survived and fought its own niche in the market. Like what I learned from John's class, Apple is branding it very much... it gives people the cool and prestigious emotional connection. Using Mac is cool - the experience is great!
using iPod is young and cool - it is just so simple and usable... look at its peripheral accessories around iPod... people made entire business value chain around it....
now iPhone.... it is another one... in China it is really fast. People are already making business out of it... this is far greater than letting iPhone unlocked and let Apple drive the next generation of iPhones...
You've gotta think of the market adoption... how long does a cool technology come out of the same company? it takes at least 2 years... 1 year to develop and 1 year to perfect it. Personally, I think if Apple did let iPhone go unlocked and break the entire US wireless market rule, everyone could afford to buy one and have fun with it.... where would the buzz come ?

I could believe that the buzz generated would not be as great as what it is today. I think Apple knows consumer psychology and behaviors very well. The less the quantity, the more valuable.

is the success only determined by the market share and total profits for a product... maybe for very money-minded people... if Mac story in the last century was indeed a failure to Steve, I don't think he would be stupid enough to repeat if over and over again. Just because the pattern for many Apple product, if not all, that really makes me think what's the true values of such actions taken... it is not only to have a cook and breakthrough technology, but also to let such technology to change the world and make its impact... maybe what Steve sees is the big big picture that drives him and makes Apple. maybe you and I have not figured it out or understood it.

Nevertheless, I believe that Changing the world is not an easy job and it takes a long time... Steve Jobs has been doing it... what makes him really great about it is not only what he has done but also his ability to pace things!

Thanks to his excellence and brilliance!

Good read: Smugglers Return iPhones to China