Not to rain on anybodies parade or anything Stewart and Clason #8 above, here might be some of the reason that Apple stock went down and in my opinion after trying the iphone it should plummet and not just drop.

You see I was so excited to be able to get the iPhone and could hardly wait, as I don't really treat myself all that much to high tech toys, mostly due to the high cost of them in the first place and certainly the iPhone fits in that catagory, wouldn't you agree?

Well, last Oct/Nov I finally decided to do it, to buy an iPhone since AT&T in my local area, unbelievably had the 3G network in place, so I made the plunge, bought the phone, paid the AT&T monthly fees, and then got some extras, as you always need some extras to go with your iPhone, right?

Well, in December I was in FL and all of a sudden the phone just won't turn on. I tried everything I could think of, but nothing and just to make a note here, I was there on business and not for fun, so there was no swimming, no beach, no boats, no water sports period and it wasn't dropped in any water anywhere either.

Since I was busy, I put it off and finally a couple of weeks ago I got the time to take it to the AT&T Corporate store where I purchased the phone and signed up for AT&T iPhone service and told them that I had charged the phone for two days and nothing was happening, so the gal at the counter asked if she could try and charge it for a while to see if she could get anything to happen, all the while, continously asking me the same basic questions over and over in varing ways to see if I had dropped the phone in "liquid" as she put it.

Now, I was getting a little bit put off, as I was feeling a little bit like I was being villianized here, as if I had done something to cause the phone to stop working, but just to give you an example, I have had my old trusty MOTO phone for about 4-5 years and it has never been dropped or gotten in "liquid" and neither had the iPhone, but the questions just kept coming, then after about a half hour, I finally went up to her and asked what was happening.

Well, she said, I was just trying to make sure it had enought charge, so I could test it and again I reiterated that I had charged it for 2 days already and nothing, so she calls Apple and talks to them, then, while doing nothing, gives me the number to Apple to call them myself to get it resolved, so I leave and go home, about 25-30 miles each way, I might add.

Once home, I called Apple right away and got a man that treated me like I was dirt, then transfered me to another man who did the same, only worse, if I might say so, then finally says he will give me a number to take along with the phone to UPS and UPS will know what to do with it, as long as I have the number he is giving me.

Now, I questioned him on this, as I had never heard of such a thing, but drove the 20 miles or so to UPS which I might add is only open from 4pm to 6-6:30 pm and gave them the number the Apple Support Employee gave me and she looked at me like I was crazy or something. So I retold her the story and she again gave me the funny look and said that she didn't have a clue as to what I was talking about.

Now, I was not just upset, I was mad.

The Apple employee had requested my email address so that I could work exclusively with him and when I got home, he had sent me an email okay and I shot one back to him to, letting him know that I was calling back and requesting to talk to a supervisor about the situation, then simply called back Apple support.

Told the lady that I got this time the story and she was shocked that I had taken the phone to UPS and gave me another number, which she said, was just a case number and that my phone was under warranty, but was going to send me a box to ship the phone back in for repair or replacement.

When the box comes, wouldn't you know it, it was shipping via Fedex and not UPS at all.

Boxed the iPhone up and a couple of days later here it is back with a note stating and I quote:

"A diagnostic evaluation has determined that the iPhone has internal damage related to a liquid spill or submersion, evident by the activation of one or more of the Liquid Submersion Indicators. The liquid indicators are located inside the dock and/or audio connectors."

Well, that was a real supprise, especially since the phone had never been in any kind of liquid period.

So now I am out the $500 or so for the phone, the service, the cost of some other items and nothing to show for it except a broken phone.

If you do a check on the net, you will find numerous stories related to problems with the iPhone, like liquid probems, broken glass problems and the costs to repair or replace is in the hundreds of dollars not small change.

So I guess what I am saying is that the company is not on the up and up from what I can tell, as they must have known about these possible problems when they started selling the phones, as from what I have read, there are 5-6 liquid spill indicators located within the phone and the stories go that if you are around even a misty night, it will set them off.

With the new iPad having a much larger glass screen than the iPhone and the one for the iPhone costing $200 or better, just how much is the one for the iPad going to cost and if you live anywhere near the beach, a lake, a river, in a foggy area, or go out into a misty night be perpared for your 'liquid indicators" to crack or whatever they do and you will simply be out all the money you spent on your iPad or your iPhone.

Yes, I am angry, wouldn't you be?

I told my sons to sell their Apple stock and it was at $214 and some change at the time and they are pretty happy now, as I told them that Apple must have some problems or are going to have some problems if this is the kind of service they give to someone who pays full price for their already, in my opinion, high priced products.

Okay, I am done for now, but unless you have money to throw away, I would, in my opinion stay as far away from the iPad as I could.