apple ceo steve jobs is not doing justice

It is not just Apple, it is every company across the board. Any time that a new product comes out (especially in the technology market), the starting cost of the product is very high. Give it some time, and suddenly the price drops. Look at the video game industry. The X-Box came out at one very high price, then a year later, it drops down by more than 200 dollars. Any time a product is very advertised before coming out, you can guarantee this will happen. You can't blame it on any one company or person. It is just how they do it. So next time, wait a couple of months before making your purchase, the price will drop, it is pretty much a guarantee.

i think current ipods are way cheaper than the very first ipods. plus, making one isn't that cheap. apple spends at least $78 for each hard drive supplied by samsung or toshiba. add the rest of tha materials, they'd spend at least $127 on each ipod, plus packaging, labor, expenses. apple actually earns little on ipods. price also depends from every country as shipping costs and taxes are added.
source: www.itworld.com/Tech/5051...

iphone on the other hand, is a rip-off. imagine spending $400 on a phone with every feature requiring either itunes or network service.

Same things will iPod Shuffles. In some places it drops about 40% from four months ago. Just like other business, Apple wants to charge as much as possible for its products. Recently a lot of iPod imitations come to the market. So Apple responses with quick price slashing.

Also, Apple plans to make money on hardware and future services (i.e. downloading songs/videos from iTune). Lowering hardware prices will increase customers for service revenues.

The problem is, Apple cuts its prices too much and too fast (e.g. iPhone). That enrages its initial customers. Also, other potential buyers will hold back buying, waiting for future price cuts.

I think Apple should have some trade-in programs for customers who plan to upgrade their products.