Running Apple Means Never Having to Say Your Sorry....Until Today

I mentioned yesterday the sudden cut in pricing for the iPhone that left many early buyers kicking themselves at the $200 they wasted. Today, Steve Jobs ate some humble pie:

Steve Jobs said something unusual Thursday: "Sorry."

After a cataclysm of criticism from iPhone owners followed the unexpected price cut Wednesday of this summer's must-have gadget, the Apple CEO posted a letter on the company Web site announcing a $100 credit for every customer who felt cheated.

"We want to do the right thing for our valued iPhone customers," he wrote. "We apologize for disappointing some of you, and we are doing our best to live up to your high expectations of Apple."

The credits will be good toward anything in an Apple online or retail store.

Not eligible for them will be customers who bought iPhones in the past two weeks, who can get the $200 difference in Wednesday morning's and Wednesday afternoon's prices from the store where they bought their phones.

Well, they got it half right. $100 credit is a move in the right direction, but most of the people who bought those phones when they were brand new paid at least $200 more than the new price point. We'll see if that will be enough to make the masses happy.