Matt Whitlock's blog

We're but mere days away from our turkey feasts, and that can only mean one thing - Black Friday, the kickoff of the holiday buying season and craziest retail shopping day of the year, is almost upon us.

Given the current economy, it couldn't come quicker. If your budget for Christmas gifts has shrunk along with your 401k, then it may be a good idea to take advantage of the deep discounts and great in-store sales while you can. 

If you're looking to shop the door busters on Black Friday, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of your local newspaper tomorrow and Thursday to get all the store fliers. Start circling the products you're interested in and planning your strategy.

Apple's business model is built on strict control of their products, both hardware and software based. It's the reason why the iPod is so tightly integrated to iTunes, and why you can't install their OS on whatever computer platform you wish (though there's a company called Psystar that's pushing those limits right now).

However, Apple's rediculous, unfair actions against Podcaster is making me wonder why they bothered opening up the iPhone to developers in the first place. 

I understand the reasoning behind the Feds decision to breakup the AT&T monopoly, and on January 1st of 1984, AT&T's local operations split into seven independent Regional Bell Operating Companies (you've heard the term 'baby bell' right?).

Since then, the telecom industry has slowly been playing a game of renaming, mergers, partnerships, and takeovers. In fact, what was left of AT&T after the breakup and a failed business segway into computer systems, ended up getting purchased by one of their own spin-offs.