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the problem is the subsidizing. since att is subsidizing the iphone (which normally costs approx $500-600) they need the 24 month contract to make a profit. if they somehow changed the terms to a 12 month contract, we'd all be paying significantly more for the iphone each time around. i guess this is a better model to some, but maybe not all.
 
...for those of us who stood in line for hours in 2007 on launch day to get our hands on the first iPhone, and then a year later to get the 3G... it's a bit frustrating to be shut out this time around...

There's some good ideas in there. But, as far as standing in line last year, I don't really think AT&T cares. They're a corporation, not a good friend or a relative. It makes no difference if you bought your 3G on day 1 or day 99, money is money and yours is no different.
 
With that, I would propose to Apple, who will be losing countless amounts of money from those of us unwilling to upgrade our 3G's, to offer a version of the 3.0 update with some of the 3GS features built in.

And not for FREE, either.

I think there's a majority of us who would be willing to PAY for this version of the 3.0 update. I don't know what the fair price would be, but I would say somewhere between $20 to $50 dollars.

Not gonna happen, Apple isn't Microsoft and doesn't believe in offering multiple versions of the software.
 
There are no free lunches. If you buy a subsidized phone, don't expect to buy another for 18 months. Apple/ATT IS giving you a break by not making you pay full retail.

Yes, be glad they are giving us subs pricing at 18 months instead of waiting the entire 24 months. I hesitate to defend AT&T on this (considering they are screwing us over in multiple other ways).

And why is everyone letting Apple off the hook here? They are the ones who stand to make the money from the sales of hardware. They are the ones who are setting the original/unsubs price.
 
Not gonna happen, Apple isn't Microsoft and doesn't believe in offering multiple versions of the software.

Well, this isn't true.

Obviously the 3.0 software is different depending on whether you own the 3G or the 3G S.

Or, you know, perhaps it IS the same operating system, however, some features are locked on the 3G? In which case, it wouldn't be hard to offer those features to the 3G users, since they may already be built in.
 
Well, this isn't true.

Obviously the 3.0 software is different depending on whether you own the 3G or the 3G S.

Or, you know, perhaps it IS the same operating system, however, some features are locked on the 3G? In which case, it wouldn't be hard to offer those features to the 3G users, since they may already be built in.

You're right. And when we see firmware updates, there likely will be different ones for the 3G and 3Gs (just like different 10.5.x updates for different Macs).
 
I would have been willing to pay slightly more for the 3G last July and get a 12 month contract, knowing that I can either keep the 3G after the year is up or upgrade again. The days of having a cell phone for years and years are over, and Apple, of all companies, knows this.
Huh?

Right now, you can upgrade for "slightly more", ... "slightly more" being $200 more ($399/$499, which is slightly more than the $199/$299). Regardless, that's still cheaper than the full price, which is $599/$699.

If you really stood in line for hours for the original iPhone launch like you said, then you paid $599 for an 8GB iPhone 3G. That's because Apple knew that this carrier subsidy thing is confusing, ... so they sold their iPhones directly to consumers, bypassing the carriers and their subsidies. The price of an iPhone was $599, and that was that. You could buy as many as you wanted, and it didn't matter where you were in your contract. $599 and you're out the door. And guess what? Consumers told Apple to take their $599 price and shove it.

So I don't understand how you can say "Apple knows this". Not only do they know this, they tried to create a system where subsides weren't involved .. and everyone paid the same price, regardless of if they were a new customer or an existing customer.

So why are you balking at the chance to do an early upgrade for $399/$499? That's still cheaper than if Apple were selling them directly to you. You'd have to pay $599/$699 to upgrade if Apple still did its original method of selling.

It sounds like you think that $199/$299 is the normal price, and anyone who pays more is "being charged extra". It's the exact opposite way. The regular price for an iPhone is $599/$699. Anything below that is discounted.
 
I bought an unsubsidized original iPhone. I then didn't buy at 3G because I figured, what the hey, it's only a little faster, right?

So I waited. Now, because my contract is up and my iPhone is two years old, I'm getting a 3GS at the subsidized price. Do I like the contract terms? Of course not, BUT IT'S A CONTRACT, PEOPLE.

The iPhone can't run all the goodies on 3.0 that the 3G and 3GS can. Makes perfect sense to upgrade.

Go bitch about something worthwhile, please.

Seconded. I can't stand people who got a break on the pricing of the 3G, and don't want to fulfill their end of the bargain. No one is "shut out" from the 3GS, you can get one if you want, you just have to pay back the subsidy you got because you're breaking the contract you willingly signed last year.
 
I know what you mean but i think apple giving us 3.0 for free is pretty good, i couldnt see any other manufacturer doing that

Well, of course, other manufacturers usually don't HAVE to add video, bluetooth stacks, voice control, copy&paste, etc, two years later.

:)

Btw, most smarpthone makers (and/or their carriers) do give out free updates. Not sure why iPhone fans think they don't, unless it's because of the BS that Apple puts out. They're just not advertised as much or as easy to do.
 
Well, this isn't true.

Obviously the 3.0 software is different depending on whether you own the 3G or the 3G S.

Or, you know, perhaps it IS the same operating system, however, some features are locked on the 3G? In which case, it wouldn't be hard to offer those features to the 3G users, since they may already be built in.

The point is you're asking them to provide multiple versions of the software (based on price), one of which will "jailbreak" the features they've crippled. This is just not going to happen.
 
im just not understanding WHY you NEEEED apple to install voice control...we already established that there are several apps for this...
and the iphone 3g is not powerful enough for VOICE CONTROL...it might be powerful enough for an app that does it...but a system wide voice control that can read all your song/artist names...that takes a bit of resources
 
I think one discounted iPhone every 2 years is enough to ask from a company.

Really, you (average joe) do not need the new iPhone every year. Those of you that do "need" it, like me, will have to put up $500. Then next year u will get the subsidized price.

I have 2 phones a year apart. One for me and one for my girl. So every year I will buy 2 phones and get a discount on one of them. Then I will sell one of my old phones to try to cover the difference. (I like saving at least one of each model for sentimental reasons and as a backup piece)
 
I think there's a majority of us who would be willing to PAY for this version of the 3.0 update. I don't know what the fair price would be, but I would say somewhere between $20 to $50 dollars.

You're asking too low. Try the difference between the subsidized price and the unsubsidized price and you'll get the features you wanted.

Or jailbreak for free.
 
Huh?

Right now, you can upgrade for "slightly more", ... "slightly more" being $200 more ($399/$499, instead of $199/$299). Regardless, that's still cheaper than the full price, which is $599/$699.

If you really stood in line for hours for the original iPhone launch like you said, then you paid $599 for an 8GB iPhone 3G.

I did stand in line for the first iPhone, and I did upgrade to the 3G on the launch day too, but I didn't pay $599, I paid whatever the subsidized price was... ($199? $249? I can't remember)

Again, this whole thing isn't about getting the 3G S. It's really not. It's about features that you can already get on the 3G (with an app or if you jailbreak) that I would like to see available in the 3.0 update BUILT IN.

To pay $400 bucks to tell my phone to call someone is... well... stupid. Especially if I can buy an app for less than $10 bucks. So, again, if Apple offered the voice control to me, FOR A COST, for my 3G, I would jump at it.

Same to be said about video recording. Again, I'm not asking for all of the features available on the 3G S, but it's a proven fact that the 3G can record video, so why not let us 3G users in on that? AGAIN, I would gladly PAY for a version of the 3.0 software in order to do so.
 
Oh hai.

I waited two years for this very announcement so I could by a phone at a subsidized price.

Am I the only person in the world that understands how phone companies work?

Sure is starting to feel like it.
 
And so do you. Stop bitching.

I'm not bitching. I'm REALLY really not.

This is about choices. That's it.

I had the choice to upgrade to the 3G. I took it.

I have the choice to upgrade to the 3G S. I think I'll wait until next June for the 4th gen.

However. If given a choice to pay for a version of the 3.0 update with SOME, not ALL, of the features, then I would CHOOSE it.
 
I don't know why you are complaining to Apple! YOU bought the 3G iPhone for 199/299, now that you have to pay the 399/499 or 599/699 price for the new one you're mad with Apple. No one told you to buy a subsided phone last year. :rolleyes:

Stick with your SLOW 3G iPhone! LOL!

And most of the people who are complaining about the new iPhone saying it isn't much of a upgrade is craaaazy! Its wayyy faster and better in the inside. If you could pay 199/299, then you would get it. :rolleyes:
 
im just not understanding WHY you NEEEED apple to install voice control...we already established that there are several apps for this...
and the iphone 3g is not powerful enough for VOICE CONTROL...it might be powerful enough for an app that does it...but a system wide voice control that can read all your song/artist names...that takes a bit of resources

Honestly, I don't give a damn about voice control. I'd use it once or twice and never use it again (like most apps).

The video recording is the part that has me a bit frustrated, because even if the 3G hardware can't run the program to edit the video, it certainly can, at the very least, record it and upload to my MobileMe account. But I won't pay $400 dollars to do this.

Like I said... I'd like a choice. One that is less than $400 dollars but more than free. That's it.
 
I don't know why you are complaining to Apple! YOU bought the 3G iPhone for 199/299, now that you have to pay the 399/499 or 599/699 price for the new one you're mad with Apple. No one told you to buy a subsided phone last year. :rolleyes:

Stick with your SLOW 3G iPhone! LOL!

And most of the people who are complaining about the new iPhone saying it isn't much of a upgrade is craaaazy! Its wayyy faster and better in the inside. If you could pay 199/299, then you would get it. :rolleyes:

Is no one listening to me? This isn't about the phone, it's about the software. No one can tell me the 3G will be "slow" with the 3.0 software. If I'm REALLY concerned about reading the internet at the speed of that on my Macbook, I'm going to READ THE INTERNET ON MY MACBOOK. Speed and price of the phone are not the issue I'm trying to get across here.
 
Is no one listening to me? This isn't about the phone, it's about the software.

256 MB of Ram
600 MHZ processor
32 GB hard drive
3 MB camera with autofocus
7.2 MBits
Bluetooth 2.1
Video camera

Can you do all that with a jailbroken 3G iPhone?

And the video camera on the 3G will only get you around 15mps, compared to 30 on the new one.
 
And the video camera on the 3G will only get you around 15mps, compared to 30 on the new one.

But here's my question about the camera, it's 15 fps now, but couldn't that just be a 2.0 issue? Could the 3.0 upgrade could allow up to 24/30 fps maybe? Or is it just the actual specs of the camera that won't allow more than 15?

And you know, I'd still take 15 fps on my 3G. Better than nothing. I'm not planning on shooting a movie on the thing.
 
But here's my question about the camera, it's 15 fps now, but couldn't that just be a 2.0 issue? Could the 3.0 upgrade could allow up to 24/30 fps maybe? Or is it just the actual specs of the camera that won't allow more than 15?

And you know, I'd still take 15 fps on my 3G. Better than nothing. I'm not planning on shooting a movie on the thing.

fps* sry.

No, its a hardware problem, not software related. The improvements of the hardware allow the camera to be better.

Apple are perfectionists. I see why they didn't allow video recording on the 3G iPhone...b/c its much slower.
 
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