Value is in the mind of the beholder. Price is a fickle thing.

Ironic beauty?

The first I-Phones were worth all of the $599 subjective value to anyone who bought one. These buyers were each first on their block to own a flashy new gadget. They paid the appropriate price for what they coveted or they would not have bought it.

The subjective value of the I-Phone today is $399 or less. Price can change according to markets or the calculated whims of the market. The consumer surprise was in how quickly the price tag changed. Yet, worth is still in personal usefulness of a product. So where's the beef?

To be first on your block, the subject of buyer envy, is temporarily worth more than the inital price of the product to those who shell out the cash. In the psychology of capitalistic purchase, you believe that exclusivity and price is a status symbol. Oops, the phone is no longer quite so exclusive.

Not much different than buying a pig in a rhinestone studded poke. If you need the pork, if you can eat the pork, you're happy. If you think rhinestones on the package are diamonds you're bound to be dissapointed.

Worth, like beauty, is in the deep utility of the thing according to its merit. False worth, like fake beauty, can be obscured by price. Let the buyer beware of his own mindset.

Worth and Value? Capitalism is a whole 'nother thing altogether, only marginally related. Sometimes the sudden recognitionn of that truth by a public outing, in this case by no less than the "god" of Apple - Steve Jobs, brings wails and collective knashing of teeth.

Regardless of Price, the I-Phone is still a beautiful gadget. I want one.