Apple and its products - When Supply and Demand twain can meet

Winter lingered so long in the lap of Spring, that it occasioned a great deal of talk

Bill Nye, Spring

It seems everyone is upset at the end of the State of Emergency as stated in the article “Army, police regret end of State pf Emergency”, published Sunday July 25^th 2010, by Alesia Edwards , Sunday Observer Staff Reporter, The Jamaica Observer and as stated in the article “US J'cans upset over end of State of Emergency”, published Sunday July 25^th 2010, By Harold Bailey, Sunday Observer Writer, The Jamaica Observer.

People are also alarmed at the rise in crime as stated in the article “State of Emergency”, published Sunday July 25^th 2010 by Gary Spaulding, The Sunday Gleaner, despite the positive economic indicators of an increasingly stable interest rate and inflation rate, now trending into single digit territory.

John Public is aware that a State of Emergency is an experiment whose aim is to demonstrate the fact that all that is needed is a coordinated effort between the Police and the Jamaican Military as well as the relevant Crime Legislation to give them the necessary powers to effectively go after criminal gang elements.

But as far as John Public is concerned, the brouhaha being created by the politicians is no more than another storm in a teacup with the aim to gain political mileage, which is as obvious as the chocolate dribbling on my nose (I am a messy chocolate eating person!!) as already the PNP (People’s National Party) has already begun cranking up the Election Campaign rhetoric.

Making the average Jamaican realize that with the statements coming out of the political parties, most of the political representatives from either Party have no interest in a continued State of Emergency! Jostling as they are for the affections of the people, preparing for yet another election year come 2011.

Even the Emergency Meeting of the Cabinet today as stated in the Midday News, aired Monday July 26^th 2010 by Simone Clarke Cooper, Television Jamaica is of little interest, as unless it is another 30-day State of Emergency, the rate of crime will continue to spiral. In the words of Dancehall Artiste Assassin, “Same ting again”.

Thus again John Public turns to the other storm in a teacup in a galaxy far, far away in Silicon Valley, the land of the Venture Capitalists and Technology Mavens, specifically the issue relating to smart phones and tablets, namely the Apple iPhone 4.0 and the Apple iPad, which seem to be selling, as the Americans would say, like “gangbusters”

This there are now serious component shortages since Apple debut the Apple iPad on the weekend of Saturday April 3^rd and Sunday April 4^th 2010 and the Apple iPhone 4.0 on Thursday June 24^th 2010 and Tuesday June 29^th 2010 as stated in the article “White iPhone 4 faces manufacturing woes; iPad too”, published Friday July 24 2010 by  Ben Patterson, Technology Writer, Yahoo! News.

Ditto in the article “LG overwhelmed by iPad display orders”, published by July 23, 2010 9:56 AM PDT by Erica Ogg, CNET News - Circuit Breaker.

Component shortages are even affecting the competition as stated in the article “The summer of the smart phone shortage”, published July 13, 2010 4:00 AM PDT by Marguerite Reardon, CNET News - Signal Strength and confirmed by the article “HTC Evo 4G, Incredible Shortages make Room for Droid X”, published Monday July 12 2010 by Jared Newman, Yahoo! News.

These potential Apple iPhone killers all have designs having the same large hand sized 4” screen form factor that John Public had suggested along with a meatier 8.0 Megapixel camera:

1. HTC Evo 4G on Telecom Provider Sprint 4G Wireless Broadband Network
2. HTC Droid Incredible 4G on Telecom Provider Verizon 4G Wireless Broadband Network
3. Motorola Droid and its cousin the renamed Motorola Droid X on Telecom Provider Verizon 4G Wireless Broadband Network.

International Smart phone shipment for the second quarter of 2010 have jumped globally by 43% compared to the corresponding period for the same period from 2009, according to research strategy firm Strategy Analytics as stated in the article “Smartphone shipments jump 43 percent”, published July 22, 2010 12:34 PM PDT by Lance Whitney, CNET News- Wireless.

With nearly sixty million (60,000,000) smart phones being sold and not surprisingly Nokia is leading the charge with nearly 40% of the smart phone market, leaving second and third place respectively to RIM and Apple, with Google Android nowhere on the scene.

Locally, Telecom Provider Digicel  has now begun hyping the Motorola Droid rechristened as the Motorola Milestone (not Mainstream as previously opined) as announced by one of Digicel ’s Brand Managers on Smile Jamaica TVJ on Friday July 9^th 2010, Television Jamaica after the launch of their Jus Buss Promotion on Thursday July 1^st 2010 and confirmed by the article “Digicel launches the new Motorola Milestone, published Sunday”, July 18, 2010, The Jamaica Observer.

Surprisingly, Telecom Provider Digicel , based on a report from a friend of mine, is also carrying the HTC Google Nexus One, Google’s answer to the Apple iPhone running their custom Google Android 2.1 OS, which one assumes is upgradeable to Google Android 2.2 or Froyo via over-the-air updates, albeit the article speaks nothing of the phones support for Digicel WiMax 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d) Broadband Network.

Something tells me that this support for 3G phones on a network soon to launch WiMax 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d) is a jab at Telecom Provider CLARO, which so far has failed to increase the sales of its Apple iPhone and is yet to announce support for the Apple iPhone 4.0.

Much less the Apple iPhone 3GS now severely discounted in the United States of America and available on a US$99 two (2) year contract as stated in the article “Get a new 16GB iPhone 3GS for $97”, published May 25, 2010 5:18 AM PDT by Rick Broida CNET News - The Cheapskate.

Even Telecom Provider LIME is in on the touch screen craze, opting for support of long-time partner RIM and its newly minted BlackBerry Storm 2, retailing for JA$24,000.00 and even carrying the Apple iPad as a prize in it 100 Days of Summer Promotion, also launched on the Thursday July 1^st 2010.

Interestingly, India, king of Reverse Engineering and redesigning First World Gadget for a third World Market, such as the 100,000 rupee (US$2,127) Tata Nano and the world’s cheapest car and Open Heart surgery for US$2000.

Throw in a commercial strength water purifier made of coal and carbon dust for 749 rupees (US$16) and now a US$35 Tablet built from one circuit board with integrated processor, memory and cameras and using a SD Memory Card as a Hard-Drive, and you have a surefire Apple iPad killer on the basis of cost alone as stated in the article “India unveils prototype of $35 Tablet computer”, published Friday July 23 2010 by ERIKA KINETZ, AP Business Writer, Yahoo! News.

Albeit not a game changer, it will make Nicholas Negroponte principal founder of the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology's) Media Lab (2005) which he introduced the One Laptop Per Child Program to get children in Third World Countries access to computers, think a bit more innovatively and cost effectively as to how he fabricates his next project.

Which ironically, is a Tablet PC, as already he has competition from India, which has set its sights on making the Tablet PC drop to even dizzying lows of US$10!

Surprisingly, it was the overpriced US$100 laptops under the One Laptop per Child Program that eventually morphed into the popular Netbooks that drove the adoption of 3G internet on Telecom Provider AT&T 3G Broadband Network.

The recent development of the Apple iPad, now seen as a game changer and predicted to kill of the Netbooks as stated in the article  “ iPad, tablets expected to dampen Netbook sales”, published April 6, 2010 8:17 AM PDT by Lance Whitney CNET News – Crave and “Netbook Sales Sag as the iPad Arrives” published April 7, 2010, 12:27AM EST By Cliff Edwards, CNET News – COMPUTERS event which is now coming to fruition stated in the article “Apple ponders iPad cannibalization of PC's”, published July 20, 2010 8:43 PM PDT, by Brooke Crothers, CNET News Nanotech - The Circuits Blog.

Speculation about the Apple iPad beating out the Amazon Kindle were killed from early when it became apparent that the Apple iPad was the first device of its kind, basically a Tablet PC and its less ambitious aim of beating out the Amazon Kindle is a bit over hyped.

The Amazon Kindle was and still is aimed at the eReader market and is part of Amazon’s strategy to encourage and build-up its book purchasing base by making a device that made books more portable, a strategy that has worked thus far as their book sales as stated in the article “Wasn't the Kindle supposed to be firewood?”, published July 22, 2010 2:45 PM PDT by Caroline McCarthy, CNET News - The Social.

Plus, books cannot be read in the sunlight using the Apple iPad as stated in the article “Users say the iPad, sun don't mix”, published Tuesday April 6^th 2010, 2:18 pm ET, Yahoo! News.

One thing is for certain, however, the demand for these smart phones and Tablet gadgets is increasing beyond the wildest imaginations of its creators and John Public, the originator of all of these design suggestions, sent in via email, as it is now a case of supply exceeding demand

Analysts are now ramping up their numbers exponentially as the feeding frenzy for these pricy gadgets continues unabated, making one wonder, if this continues till Christmas of 2010, what other Gadgets, aside from the Apple iPhone 4GS and All-Electric Vehicles will be awaiting us in the Spring of 2011?

Will Winter still be in Spring arms, keeping up it’s technology conversation till 2011AD? Stay tuned………