I love Apple. They make the best computer hardware and software, by far.

I hate Apple. Even when they’re fighting for their corporate lives (was it only a decade ago?) they’re the most arrogant company in technology.

People, watch out. The success of the iPod, followed by success in other consumer products (including what we call computers, maybe) is going to magnify Apple’s faults beyond your worst nightmares. Future complaints of scratch-prone nanos will be met with a remotely controlled killer laser robot instead of plain old “it’s your own damn fault” indifference.

When Apple buys Dell, dust out that old Y2K bomb shelter.

The best defense against this future is healthy competition. Unfortunately, most of the competition is shockingly inept. But every once in a while you get help from an unexpected source. Nokia has made something that I don’t think Apple would have surpassed if they hadn’t been too chicken to try. We’ve been asking for a Mac tablet since before there were tablets. Now, Nokia has made a WiFi browsing gadget that’s much smaller, lighter, and cooler than any dumb tablet PC.

And… it runs Linux. Who else is piggybacking on the open source movement? Oh, yeah, Apple.

Hey, kid, having fun with that clunky Powerbook?

It’s for browsing the web anywhere. What if you aren’t around Wi-Fi? You can connect to the Internet through a Bluetooth phone. (Another reason you’re crazy to buy from anything but the 1% of the cellphone market that’s capable.)

Thanks to annoying airport security procedures, I’ve been traveling with our 12-inch Powerbook less and less. But this little guy paired with a wireless keyboard goes through checkpoints without adding to the list of privates you must expose. And, you know, it’s a tenth the size and weight of a laptop. And how is it different from a PDA? In about 800×480 ways.

I can easily imagine this device bearing a white silhouetted pomme logo. Thanks Nokia, now I don’t have to.