[0wza]

"For the last few months, iPhone users have enjoyed an unusual environment..."

Am I the only one who finds that humourous? An "unusual" environment? What exactly is "normal" about tracking people's movements in the name of convincing advertisers to pay you?

This briefly enjoyed environment should not be unusual. It is the one we've lived in for hundreds of years. It should be the norm. iAd should be _opt-in_ not opt-out. There are no valid arguments to the contrary that are not motivated out of just a tad bit too much greed, the unhealthy kind.

(Why do I say the greed is excessive and unhealthy? Because Apple has already sold a highly marked up device composed of cheap electronics and booked that revenue. But this is apparently not enough. The casualty of this greed is the consumer's basic notions of privacy. That price is arguably far too high for anyone to pay to any company in return for "helpful suggestions" of products and services they _might_ want, based on seller guesswork. Apple made a fortune selling iPods. They didn't need to track users' listening preferences to do it. There are limits to what is reasonable.)