iPhone In Ireland and Austria Gives Us Excuse to Talk Beer

The iPhone is now available in Ireland and Austria, for the usual 399 (8GB) and 499 euros (16GB.) Yes, that’s US$778 for the same 16GB version that is manufactured in Asia for exactly the same price (in the US, a 16GB iPhone will cost you US$519—tax included—in New York, a whopping US$259 difference.) Apple Europe keeps milking European consumers with extremely abusive pricing, citing “marketing and importing costs.” Whatever. European Union, it’s time to bust this daylight robbery. And now I need a Guinness (hey, it’s like black breakfast cereal). [TMobile and O2]