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ABC News writes another silly piece on what the iPhone 3G “really costs” based on iSuppli’s assinine estimates; which came out to $173 per iPhone.

First of all… (as Gruber points out) iSuppli doesn’t even have one to disassemble, to be sure of exactly the components inside the device.

Second of all, most of the price estimates ASSUME volume discounts on parts, and that assumption (while maybe within the realm of reality) is imagineered.

Third, their estimates don’t include (like ABC News mentioned) accessories included in the box, shipping, packaging, or software development (arguably the MOST important part of the device’s success) and ALSO don’t include Marketing, Support, ASSEMBLY, and very importantly, Research and Development (for hardware, software, online infrastructure, etc)

iSuppli has been doing this for long enough to know that the only way to get their name out there is essentially flame-baiting. It’s just sad to see ABC buy it hook-line and sinker.

That’s weird, as i was under the impression that 1.3GB was less than 33.8GB. Maybe i’m mistaken.

Now that i’ve rented several movies from the iTunes store, both on my computer and on my Apple TV, i have a few thoughts i’d like to discuss.

Obviously the 24-hour limit is not ideal. This has been discussed at length, and so i’ll try not get too far into it. I believe it’s a carry-over from the content owners’ similar contracts with cable companies (for their on-demand content). Like many have already pointed out, 24 hours is just too little to watch half a movie one night, and pick it up where you left off the next night art the same time. …even 26 hours would potentially resolve the issue, but i’m hoping to see something like 50 hours, which would be comparable to Blockbuster. 2 nights and a few extra hours.

The catalog needs to grow, and same-day-as-DVD availability. There’s already news on this front, but it is unclear if the new releases will be available for rent or only to purchase. It would also be nice to see a lot more catalog titles available.

What about TV show rentals? There are quite a few shows that have no shelf-life for me; once watched, i have no reason to watch them again. My iTunes library already has around 100 episodes of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report, about 2 or 3 of which i’ll ever watch again. I purchase them using a multi-pass, so each episode ends up being around 71 cents after tax, and storage is cheap, so renting may not really offer much of a benefit, but for shows that don’t offer a multipass, renting might be a decent option. I really don’t see this happening, but i suppose i enjoyed the thought exercise.

Are some movies be available to rent and not to purchase? …or the other way around? I’d like to see every single movie available both as a rental, and as a purchase. …if nothing else, just for the sake of simplicity.

HD Purchases? This is an interesting animal… current iPods can’t handle high definition content, and so allowing HD purchases may necessitate including a SD download, or risk confusing customers why their content doesn’t work. There’s also the possibility of the content owners demanding so-called “secure paths” to pacify their paranoia. (also called “plugging the analog hole”) I’m thinking HD purchases won’t exist until, at the least, all the current generation iPods can support HD content.

One of the major drawbacks i have when purchasing movies is that i’m paying just about DVD prices, and getting what they call “near-DVD quality” - but i’m only getting stereo audio. I have to rent the movie in HD to get 5.1 surround sound, so the value of a movie purchase to me is pretty weak compared to a DVD.

I’ll explore issues of HD purchases in a little more depth soon.

How about the cost of the rental being applied toward the purchase? I’m thinking of a sort of “Complete My Album” for movies. I think that’s pretty self-explanatory, so i’ll move on.

What about a Shopping Cart for rentals? …something like a Netflix Queue. I’ve already found myself wanting this missing feature as i come across a movie i’d like to watch, just not immediately. Maybe not even soon - but eventually. the iTunes store on my computer offers a shopping cart, which i use to hold “eventual purchases”. without that shopping cart, i’m sure that many purchases would never have happened as i’d have forgotten what i was thinking about buying. Being able to queue up movies i want to watch would probably make me rent far more often.

Those are my thoughts, i’d love to hear yours.

Here’s a quick prediction for future image sensor technology; the Megapixel war will rage on, but we’ll soon start seeing low-noise super high ISO sensors.

The Casio EX-F1, and the Nikon D3, are examples of this trend already starting to hit the market.

“When will i be able to get a phone with a REAL flash!?” is a complaint i hear often enough. Sufficiently High ISO ratings (with reasonably low noise) could de-necessitate a “real flash.” If we could get quick enough exposures with low enough grain, then low-light cameraphone images won’t need to be blurry and useless.

It’ll start at the top, in expensive Pro DSLRs and Prosumer cameras, but soon it will trickle down. I’m hoping we start seeing them in cameraphones within the next 2 years.

This same technology, along with higher megapixel counts, will also allow for high frame-rate video to start making its way into cameraphones.

We should institute a free-energy-claims-policy similar to Professional Baseball’s Crazy Fan Rule:

“You’ll never see one of these scenes on TV because there’s a rule that the broadcasters are not allowed to follow the drunk baseball fan onto the field. If they were to broadcast the drunk fan, the theory goes, that would just encourage more people to do it, meaning more delayed games, annoyed players, offended fans and busted streakers.”

Similarly, if someone claims to have a free energy device that will save all man kind, and promises to demo it in 3 weeks, i propose that blogs ignore ‘em. unless they’re ready to demo, or give concrete information about their supposed technology, give them no press.

As the theory goes, we’re just encouraging these people make silly claims they can’t/don’t/won’t back up, meaning more wasted time and annoyed readers.

This is essentially the streaking of the new media: claim you have a free-energy device that will save the world, and you’ll demo it in a week or two.

Get your 0.15 seconds of fame.

That’s no different that jumping down to the baseball field in your undies and running around: you just piss everyone off, and wasting their time, to get a little attention.