The impact of the iPhone

Few products have been launched with such a blizzard of publicity as Apple's iPhone. To its many fa...

Few products have been launched with such a blizzard of publicity as Apple's iPhone. To its many fans, Apple is more of a religious cult than a company. An iToaster that downloads music while toasting bread would probably get the same kind of worldwide attention. Don't let that fool you into thinking that it matters. The big competitors in the mobile-phone industry, such as Nokia and Motorola, won't be whispering nervously into their clamshells over a new threat to their business. The iPhone is nothing more than a luxury bauble that will appeal to a few gadget freaks. In terms of its imp...