Should the FCC Kill the Goose that Laid the Golden iPhone?
Since the Apple iPhone first went on sale in June, 2007, the company has sold at least 5.4 million of the high-end devices and hopes to reach the 10 million mark later this year.1 These impressive sales figures testify to the demand that has been building for years for a smart phone that offers a truly “converged” media experience: rich Internet browsing, music and video together with email and voice telephony. Yet few remember that the iPhone’s success follows the failure of Apple’s first attempt to bring iTunes to the mobile phone: the Motorola ROKR™, launched in September 2005. It was ROKR’s failure to meet Apple’s expectations that caused the trendsetting company to realize that, if they wanted to build a phone worthy of iTunes, iPod, and Apple’s highly polished brand of innovation, they’d just have to do it themselves. Nearly eighteen months and $150 million later, the iPhone was born.2 Today, as millions more Americans eagerly await the release of the 3G high- speed, second-gener
