(Column) - I have to ask one question from Apple, if I may. What’s up with the sheer arrogance in regards to iPhone? Yeah, you know what I’m talking about. The lack of presence at last week’s CTIA tradeshow was purely disgusting and an insult to the entire industry. Sure, I guess I can understand the magical feel you are going for, Steve Jobs style, but to barely showoff the iPhone at the wireless industry’s largest tradeshow was downright pathetic.

As I said, I can understand the mystique factor behind the iPhone. That’s Jobs’ style. It has worked for him and Apple in the past, and I’m willing to admit that you may have earned this arrogant attitude with the release of the world’s most popular digital media platform (iTV, iTunes and iPod). But seriously though, give us all a break.

It’s great that you are quite possibly the only company to pull off something like this successfully, but it doesn’t make it any less annoying. Not to mention, Jobs, didn’t your PR people recommend you to show off the iPhone at CTIA? Personally, I wouldn’t be too arrogant at this point, especially considering the fact that the iPhone is going to be nothing more than a temporary novelty that will eventually wear off. Now, if this was a second generation of iPhone, with the assumption that the first generation was successful, I could let you slide by, but not now, I wouldn’t fly too high.

iPhone: The REAL iPod Killer

Then again, maybe that shows your insecurity about the iPhone and further proves my point. Had you let the industry (press, analysts and competitors) experience the iPhone throughout CTIA, maybe you may have realized the idiocy behind the $599 price tag, and the phone’s lack of usefulness. Clearly, it’s not designed for business users, and very few average consumers, mainly teenagers (the seemingly obvious target market of the iPhone), will have the budget to invest in a ludicrously priced cell phone. I hope, for your sake, that you aren’t following Sony’s PS3 price positioning strategies, as they haven’t exactly worked that well.

So, Apple, it’s not that I have anything against you… well, you may beg to differ after reading this column, but let’s be a little more humble, show some humility and launch a respectably priced product. Is that such a difficult concept to comprehend?

Check out the latest prices on Apple products at Apple.com!