Apple has now not only stopped accepting cash for iPhones at its Apple stores, but has now also refused to honour gift cards for iPhone purchases. In my view, that is a questionable business move.

Let me get this off the table right away: I am not a fan of any particular tech company. I don't care if Microsoft releases a new version of Windows nor do I care if Apple is releasing a new Mac OS. As long as my existing software still works fine, then I'm happy. I have considered buying an iMac for video editing purposes, but nixed that idea after I picked up a quad-core Intel-based system recently, which was less money than an iMac. I played with the iPhone in an Apple store and found it awesome the first time, pretty cool the second, and boring the third. I'll stick with more traditional cell phones, but hats off to Apple for such an innovative design.

In my travels across the Internet, the most vocal supports of a device, system or trend are those in the minority. For example, the Mac OS got a huge push from its supporters and the Windows OS was blasted by many. I believe that this was the result of Microsoft being a large, dominating company and Apple being perceived as the "little guy" fighting for market share.

Now that Apple has essentially gained a large portion of the market share through it's iPhone and iPod products, it's become a much larger company. It challenges Microsoft in almost every area it enters and does a good job at fighting for market share with the guys from Redmond.

Before, Apple just wanted to make sales and was just so happy to see someone else using their product. Now they have gotten to the point where they know their product will sell and doesn't care about whom they may be alienating. In many ways, Apple has become what Microsoft is now: A large company that knows that demand for their product will remain steady and can dictate the rules.