I'm curious as to what people think of the Ipad from both a financial success (700k units sold on first day from one report) as well as a media/political success (the media "apple-polishing").
There was a guy who is known at The Fake Steve Jobs just now on CNN (Reliable Sources) who was making the point that the media are in bed with Apple mainly for their own survival because they think that it will guide more eyeballs to their product. I think it's possible for that to happen especially since Apple is leading the charge away from web-based apps to their iTunes store model that allows for easier transactions but restricts the ability to share information with others (e.g. like blogs would do from nytimes.com). The Fake Steve Jobs (who apparently now works for Newsweek) also revealed that Apple passed on word that they were not happy that Newsweek were going to hire him and as such have not afforded him any access to Steve Jobs or the Ipad itself. Meanwhile Time has a cover story. So with Microsoft and RIM controlling the desktop market and Apple controlling the media, and Google still with some caché, how can Palm/WebOS survive much less thrive when it's sure to be undermined by everyone except maybe the most neutral of blog writers? Are we going to have to hope for Apple to misstep with it's power and for public opinion to be swayed against it? Or is that impossible in the age of PR-led-journalism?
