Zach Bass

A Real iPhone Challenger - Barron's

Everyone is missing one critical point. Comparing features with the iPhone, and whether this OS has this or that OS has that, is a fools gambit. The iPhone cannot be compared to any other smart phone for one reason, and it has nothing to do with features. The reason is the ecosystem that Apple has built around the iPhone, iPod and iPod Touch. It's an industry unto itself. And there is no other smart phone or device that can come close to matching it now or into the foreseeable future.

Once Apple has world-wide distribution under its belt, the ecosphere will grow to unimaginable proportions. More and more developers will be coming on line, new products and businesses will emerge to serve the iPhone. And a new mobile platform, a transformative, disruptive paradigm in mobile computing will be born. And nothing will come close to matching it.

Apple's $199 iPhone Is a Game-Changer

It's a red herring. The subsidized cost will be included in the contract. What this does do is open up AT&T to introducing different pricing models, perhaps some that don't include unlimited bandwidth.

-zach bass
www.zachbass.com