I’m tech competent, but not a first-adopter. I have a cell phone, but its the cheapest kind with the least features that I can find.
Unfortunately, I have discovered that I want an iPhone. Its just insinuated itself into my want/need zone. I really really shouldn’t get one, and I probably won’t. I suspect that Ms. Attack, (who is some kind of neo-luddite) would convince me that I don’t need one. That’s true, but I may still want one.
Just for interest’s sake, how much money am I talking about for say, a year, with
the phone
the plan
the extras
the secret hidden costs that I don’t know about?
Yes, I’m in Canada, but we can talk US and assume some parity.
And, while we’re at it, what makes the iPhone so unique and special that I might want to have it?
You must sign up for a two-year plan. The plans are, I believe, 69.99/mo + taxes, fees, etc., for 450 voice minutes, free nights and weekends, and unlimited data. There’s also, I believe, (I say “I believe” because I haven’t signed up yet) a $25 activation fee. The 8gb black phone is $199, the 16gb phone in black or white is $299 + applicable sales tax. 200 SMS messages /month is an additional $5 with additional messages being $0.20.
Damn…I had found ONE good article which clearly laid this out and not cannot find it again. There are many article on this but they are not concise, easy to understand what the bottom line is things.
In short the new iPhone will cost you MORE than the old iPhone over the course of 2 years. Apple reduced the sticker shock of a $500+ phone by halving the price and spreading the rest over a 2-year period which you MUST accept now. AT&T did not like people buying iPhones and signing up with different carriers.
Here is one such analysis. Of course all cell phones come with a re-occurring cost and plans are so different and cell phone abilities so different comparing apples-to-apples (no pun intended) is near impossible or at the least very difficult.
Near as I can tell an iPhone 3G will cost you about $2000/ 2 years including all initial purchase costs. There may be extra bells and whistles you can add on. That is the cheapest plan you can get away with (cite).
I’m typing this on my new iPhone. It’s worth it if you like really cool gadgets. Go to an AT&T or Apple store and try one for a while. Either you’ll instantly fall in love with it or you won’t.
Keep in mind that the $2000 cost figure includes normal monthly cell phone charges that you would incur anyway.
Heh…well there’s the rub. Only you can decide really.
The iPhone something more than a phone, something less than a PDA.
There is a lot of overlap in handheld devices and what does what. I have seen reviews that as a “phone” the iPhone is not all that great (i.e. making calls, features like voice dialing [which it does not have which gets you hands free dialing while driving and such] and so on).
But then the iPhone (finally) has lots and lots of apps. Also seems to be THE best handheld for internet surfing. But still a handheld so internet surfing is iffy anyway (the display is limited).
iPhone is also an iPod as a practical matter. Great! If you want to be owned by iTunes for all your music (presumably you can play other media files but in the end iTunes really owns you).
Then there is the fact that Apple seems to have a lock on sexy. An Apple laptop or iPhone will attract women in a way no other gadget I can think of can.
I have looked long and hard for an iPhone killer. It is shocking to me that in the whole world no one, and I mean NO ONE, can compete with the iPhone’s abilities. If you have unique requirements you may find better but overall the iPhone is the bomb. How/why other companies seem utterly incapable of producing the combination of style, usability and functionality of Apple I have yet to figure out. Apple has a monopoly on this in their realm.
And note I say this as an Apple HATER! The snobbery of Apple users grates. Further, for all their “hippy, we are cool and edgy and counter-culture” attitude they are one of the MOST restrictive and corporate “we want to control absolutely everything” companies I can think of.
It is a wonder they are so popular among the very people they sell to. It is that lot who you would think would rail against this but no…fashion trumps ideal I guess. :rolleyes:
Those normal monthly charges are increased with the iPhone in a significant fashion in order to ultimately get Apple their $500+ fee for the phone. They are just cost shifting a bit. Which is fine as such but of course they do not advertise that way.
You could get WAY less prices on a mediocre phone.
Not to turn this into an Apple argument or anything, but the part I bolded is actually a good thing when it comes to devices, equipment and software. Since they make and control everything (for the most part), it gives them an integration and a user experience unparalleled anywhere else. I’d rather sacrifice some customizability, for the consistency, dependability, elegance and integration I enjoy from Apple stuff… no snobbery, just a distaste for frankenstein gear that don’t necessarily play well with each other. It’s not as much about “just working” as it is “working together”.
Also, the iPhone isn’t as much about features as it is implementation, which really goes a LONG way, since a mobile device is trying to be so many things on such a small, portable scale.
I don’t have completely thought out and defensible positions on all the issues raised in this article, which are mostly corporate vs freeware / free platform issues. I note that some of the links in the article say that there are comparible alternatives, yet don’t mention what they are.
**cmyk ** also raises the point that a corporate overlord model can make for a more seamlessly working device. That has been my experience with macs. I wouldn’t particularly want a hotsy-totsy phone with the performance of a PC.
Apple for almost the whole first year of the iPhone refused to put out a SDK. People made stuff for it anyway. Apple would do updates to intentionally “break” that content. Today the SDK is out and a major selling point is that there is a pile of apps for the iPhone. Why did Apple block people for so long?
Then we get to your music. Steve Jobs once said he’d love to toss DRM. Well, the music companies want to toss DRM because they know they made a monster in the form of iTunes. Guess what…iTunes still holds on to DRM. They still constantly battle people who try to unleash themselves from iTunes restrictiveness. Yeah, iTunes now has some songs unleashed from DRM but most still are. This has zero to do with maintaining a consistent user experience.
And for all that Mac controls their product it is just as susceptible to end user frustration as the PC (I know many Mac users and have heard them scream and howl at various crashes and quirks…PC users do too but Mac users are in no way immune by virtue of this more “controlled” environment in my experience).
How is the iPhone from a purely physical standpoint? I have an older Nokia 6230 with a slightly rubberized housing that I swapped in. I toss it around, drop it in my cargo shorts, talk on it in the rain, and subject it to other indignities. How does the iPhone take it? Can you protect it without compromising the sleekness (an issue I’m still working on with my iPod)? Is there a problem with ear smear?
Umm no. Not exactly.
I am an ATT customer I do not have an iPhone.
Here are the costs for the various options on my phone
450 minutes $39.95 Same as the iPhone
Internet $15.00 (non 3G) vs $30 for the iPhone.
200 text messages/ mo $5.00 same as the iPhone.
So bottom line is the iPhone will cost you $15 more per month than a non-3G phone from the same carrier assuming that you have the exact same features activated.
So a proper comparison is you walk into an ATT store and compare two phones both with a 450 minute plan, with 200 text messages and internet. The iPhone will cost $360 dollars more spread over 24 months than the non 3G phone will. Plus the cost difference between the phones.
That number will be no where near $2000.