Greetings. Perhaps some observers will just consider this to be standard operating business practices for Apple, but you really gotta give Apple credit for raw guts.

Today, in conjunction with Steve "our customers love us so much that we can do pretty much whatever we want" Jobs' announcement of yet more iPod incarnations, Apple slashed the price of the top iPhone model by one-third, and discontinued the lower-rung unit.

If most any other technology firm tried to pull such a stunt only two months after a massive publicity campaign and related product introduction, there would likely be lynch mobs forming outside corporate headquarters.

But one suspects that most Apple acolytes may protesteth not, even after forking over six bills so recently (without any cellular carrier subsidies, either).

Will any early adopter iPhone customers complain that perhaps they were just a wee bit taken advantage of by the timing of these developments? Or will they just smile and stare blankly at the glossy face of their iPhones, while chanting an Apple-inspired version of the Maha Mantra?

I may be a bit old fashioned when it comes to consumerism, and maybe I'm out of touch in thinking that $200 is a significant amount of money, but it seems to me that a bunch of people just got screwed.

--Lauren--

Blog Update (September 5, 2007 1615 PDT): Apple Faithful React to Iphone Price Slash Concerns!