How nice of Mr J of 1 Infinite Loop to treat us to a whole new lineup of his music players. We were really excited because, lets face it, we’re talking about updates to the coolest music jukebox on the planet. Shame then, that with the exception of the touchy-feely one, they all look a bit horrible. We had a fettle of the new nano and classic last night and first impressions? Mmmm. Definitely not A grade.

Now that the good man Nokia is pumping out some killer handys (as our Deutchlander friends might say) and will pretty soon follow that up with some killer tunes, he’s most certainly taking the fight to the chaps in Cupertino. Last night’s display is evidence surely that someone out west is starting to feel the heat. Don’t get us wrong. We’re as big a fan as any man of the wonders of Cupertino, but last night has left a bit of a bad taste in our mouths. Of course everyone is sitting on the sidelines waiting for big Steve to slip up. Could this be the time?

Has Golden Delicious jumped the shark? Is the latest slew of pocket-fillers a step too far? It certainly seems the big green one has lost its design mojo. But what of the touch? Lovely interactive functionality? Touchy-feely interface? All good, but in reality it’s an iBlower without any Blow. A ringer that doesn’t ring. Feel a bit cheated? Thought so. Step on over where the air is cleaner, the grass greener and the future a hell of a lot more rosy.

And what of the fabled iBlower? Steve said by the end of this month they hope to have sold 1-million blowers. Target at the launch was 10-million in the first 12 months. That gives them nine months to sell nine million. If we assume half of the blowers sold so far were bought in the first week (a fair assumption) that means they’re currently selling at a rate of about 200k a month. Surely not enough to make the target in the first year. Maybe dropping a huge chunk off the price might help. But will it save it? Time will tell.

Meanwhile, if your share portfolio includes any fruit companies, sell up now. We would.