With Apple's announcements coming in about two hours, I wanted to pitch in on the slim possibility of an iPhone.

The problem with the ROKR E1 was that it had too many cooks working at cross purposes, at least two of whom are used to getting their own ways in all things: Apple and the cellular carrier. Apple doesn't play well with others, as everyone should have learned from the pathetic tale of the HP iPod. So for there to be a successful iPhone, Apple will have to become a cellular carrier. Essentially, they'd private-label either Cingular or Verizon service. Apple already has a relationship with Cingular, and Verizon would otherwise be a good fit: they focus on quality irrespective of price, which sounds like Apple to me.

An iPhone would be great because it would advance the cause of phone/PC/home integration by several leaps at once. Presumably, it would sync with .Mac and iSync, run iTunes and maybe even have a full Web browser; I can't see Steve Jobs being satisfied with WAP. Any hundred-song limit would be ameliorated by truly breathtaking integration with the rest of the Mac ecosystem.

But this simply isn't going to happen. There hasn't been a peep out of the FCC or the Chinese device makers about an iPhone, and Motorola's announcement of iTunes on the new SLVR L7 promises a new era of mediocre compromises. Perhaps Apple will get moving when Verizon and Microsoft start eating their lunch with the new PlaysForSure phones on the V CAST Music service.