Eat my dust

Has Steve Jobs totally lost it? The cool guy in the black turtleneck who knows better than most how to market hardware seems to have gone a bit bonkers.

On the release of excellent numbers today which showed Apple’s profit up 70 per cent on iPhone sales of 14.1 million in the quarter (compared with 12.1 million BlackBerrys) Apple’s CEO decided it wasn’t enough just to crow, he had to castigate.

But first, the condescending warm-up lecture. “They must move beyond their area of strength and comfort into the unfamiliar territory of trying to become a software platform company,” said Jobs of Research In Motion. “I think it’s going to be a challenge for them.” As for the future, RIM is finished. Anyone who buys RIM’s PlayBook will need sand paper to sharpen their fingers so they’ll fit the 7-inch screen. “The 10-inch screen size is the minimum required to have great tablet apps,” he oozed. “We haven’t pushed [the iPad] real hard … and it’s being grabbed out of our hands.”

Let’s give Jobs his 10-inch moment. But the Greeks had a word for it … hubris. Pride goeth before a fall.