While Apple has a "virtual monopoly" on IPhones (to stretch the definition out of shape), they don't have anything close to a monopoly on phones, or even PDAs that act like phones.

You seem to have a very strange idea of what a working market is supposed to look like--something that never has peaks, valleys, or excursions.

Apple knew damn well they'd sell a huge number of phones for a high price to suckers...er...customers. Does this make them evil? Nobody went out into the street, grabbed somebody, stepped on their Motorola, and dragged them into the Apple Store.

Microsoft owns most of the computer operating system industry, yet for some reason, they don't charge two thousand dollars for a copy of Windows. Why not? In your linear view of markets, they should be doing just that.

In reality, there are very few natural monopolies. There are just too many alternatives to almost anything. You'd be surprised at how ingenious humans can do end-runs around something. Look at the Post Office. I can't even think of any big ones off hand. Even Microsoft is running all the time to stay ahead--they almost whiffed the whole browser thing. Anybody here using something other than IE? Windows? How should that be possible?

I always have a difficult time explaining this kind of thing. There seems to be a pervasive mindset that I can't get past, about Somebody sitting in the middle of the machine pulling all the levers. It's like trying to explain how evolution REALLY works, all by itself, to a creationist.