In a move that nobody saw coming, Apple made a bid for MCI today. The bidding war between Verizon and Qwest just got much more interesting now that Apple has joined in the bidding. Apple’s offer of $9.5 billion is considerably better than Qwest’s, and better than Verizon’s offer of $7.65 billion in cash and stock. Steve Jobs was unavailable for comment, but it is thought that this is a continuation of Apple’s effort to brand itself as more than just a computer company. Rumors are already starting about a secret development of an iPhone. The amazing part of this story is that it comes just days after our site’s speculation about whether or not Apple would ever think about entering the telephone industry. Coming on the first day of April, this is really good news for designers.