I could not care any less for the 3G announcement. The only thing that pissed me off about yesterday's keynote, was the announcement that 2.0 Firmware was pushed back to July.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Anybody else feel underwhelmed?
- Thread starter Michael CM1
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Well I can say now it has everything I want on it besides a decent camera. However I am underwhelmed at the AT&T side as they are just making things more difficult. I'm honestly not sure if I will buy it now..well I guess I probably will knowing myself, but I won't feel good about it.
Oh yeah and the whole July thing didn't exactly help either.
Oh yeah and the whole July thing didn't exactly help either.
Yea, I am absolutely underwhelmed. One of the things that upsets me is the way they tried to veil actually raising the price of the overall Iphone by transferring the burden to the plans. Of course for some reason this time around the Apple website doesn't list all the plans right there next to the 3G iphone hmmm I wonder why? I really hope people figure out that they are getting charged up the wazzoo every month and Apple and ATT do something to change their plans. Honestly the rate increase was a deal breaker for me I think ill just renew my sprint contract for a year to get a cheap phone while I wait this gen of the iphone out and see what the competitors produce.
Shoot, even that initial $600 phone is only $40 more over the course of 2 years than the new one.
With regard to hardware, I think the announcement was pretty sad too, but you probably shouldn't run with that conspiracy theory too much. First of all, making something sound less expensive than it actually is is Marketing 101. Suck it up.
Secondly, you're comparing apples (pardon the pun) and oranges. AT&T did not raise the cost of their service as much as they raised the cost of the service connected with an iPhone... which happens to now be a significantly better service.
EDGE is crap, $20 a month was fair. 3G is much better, and $30 a month is fair. You aren't paying for the subsidy or hidden costs to make up for supposed money lost by Apple/AT&T (when it will actually make them more in the long run), you're paying for an improved, newer technology. It's like flying a 2 passenger Cesna and upgrading to an F-22 Raptor, then pissing and moaning about fuel costs being more expensive.
Comparing the original iPhone to a Cesna and the "new" iPhone to a F-22 Raptor is quite a stretch!!! They are the exact same phone, save a few bells and whistles.
Will the iTunes store be available over the 3G network? That will be worth something to some customers.
Well, I was exaggerating the details to make a point and, more importantly, I wasn't comparing the iPhone with the iPhone 3G but EDGE to 3G. While the iPhone hasn't changed much the specific service whose cost was raised from $20 to $30 has changed significantly. EDGE to 3G is about 3 times faster and allows the user to have both voice and data going at the same time. Just trying to make it clear that the difference between EDGE and 3G is significant.
You can't logically or honestly say that AT&T has raised the cost their data plan because they haven't. The iPhone now uses a new means of wireless data and that new means costs more. You aren't paying more for Product A, you're paying more because now you're using Product B which is significantly better.
While I agree with you that the 3G network (where available) is faster than the EDGE network, it is also certainly true that the cost for owning an iPhone has increased because the cost to use the network (the only network you CAN use, if you purchase an iPhone) has also increased.
Dude, wake up. "They really didn't do much of an upgrade at all?" They did a HUGE MASSIVE upgrade with all the Enterprise functionality, but of course, that's not personally interesting to you, and so you conveniently forget about it, and give no credit for it.
FOOL.
I am pretty sure those with the 1st gen iPhone will get the HUGE MASSIVE upgrade with all the Enterprise functionality. So how is that an upgrade?
What the hell, I wait all this time for apple to release the new 3G iPhone and the 2.0 firmware to go with it for nothing. I distinctly remember apple saying that, oh not to worry iPhone owners we hear what you want your iPhone to do, and all this can EASILY be accomplished by software updates. I some how have a hard time believing that WANTING THE iPHONE TO SEND/RECEIVE MMS, AND RECORD VIDEO was not at the top of the request list. I mean hell practically every phone but the iPhone does that, and they didn't even throw that into the 2.0 firmware. COME ON APPLE!!! Now yes I know the work around with the MMS regarding picture messages, but still nothing is done with the video. I pray to god that someone develops an app that I can at least get through the app store, so that my iPhone can do these simple tasks. Fully disappointed with WWDC 2008!!!
Some of you keep acting as if AT&T just arbitrarily upped the price of their service from $20 to $30, and they're ripping you off. That's laughable! The truth is that you're now getting MUCH faster internet connect speeds for your extra $10 a month. AT&T is justified in recouping the cost of its 3G infrastructure, and it's giving you something valuable in return.
Look at it this way: it's as if you've been taking long trips by bus for $20 a ticket, and now the bus company upgrades the busses to *much* faster planes, and you insist that they're ripping you off! Again, wake up.
P.S. Have any of you whiners bothered to check the prices of 3G service on, say, Verizon? Please do so and let me know where AT&T stands in comparison.
Uh, so Apple creates this huge Enterprise upgrade in iPhone 2.0, along with the App store and some other helpful features (like full Office and iWork viewing, multiple deletes in mail, searching through Contacts, etc.) then gives it to all iPhone users for FREE, and you consider that not an upgrade?
Delivering those features took a huge amount of time and money. You're getting it all for free. And you don't understand why that's something to appreciate.
If that's not clueless, I don't know what is.
I got my upgrade to 10.5.3 for free, too. Does that mean I should send apple a check for my appreciation or something?
It is not an UPGRADE to purchase the 2nd generation 3G iphone, if the firmware 2.0 feature is what you consider an "upgrade." The first generation iPhone will run the new firmware just as well as the 3G iPhone will. The enterprise solutions, etc. will work just as well on the 1st generation iPhone as they will on the 3G iPhone. i.e. it is not an "upgrade" to purchase the new iPhone for the 2.0 firmware if you already own an iPhone.
The second generation 3G iPhone it set up to work on AT&T improved 3G network connection - which everyone agrees is a better, faster network - and the phone also includes GPS functionality. Those are the ONLY two differences between the original iPhone and the iPhone that comes out on July 11.
For some people, such as yourself, having the GPS functionality and the 3G network are HUGE improvements over the original iPhone. To get those improvements you have to pay a little bit more over the life of the iPhone and the contract. Again, for some, those improvements are worth the extra price. For others, like myself, they are nice improvements, but when compared with the current iPhone and the difference in price for the data/text plans, not enough to make me rush out and buy one on July 11.
Ugh... trolls. Look:
First of all, we're talking about being underwhelmed with the lack of hardware updates. No one here has knocked the software, but your argument is that the software rules. Stay on topic.
Secondly, since you don't know what clueless is, I'll let you know. Clueless is saying people should be excited about the iPhone 3G because of Enterprise, something that everyone gets, whether you're an iPhone 3G, iPhone (original) user or an iPod Touch user (the latter for $9.95).
Clueless is also screaming at people and calling them names saying that Enterprise is free... when it's not. The business package with AT&T so that you can use Enterprise is $45 a month in place of the $30. Yes, like the rest of the 2.0 FW, software and App Store, it's awesome, but it isn't free.
The fact that you're comparing a bug-fixing 10.5.x OS update with the iPhone 2.0 OS shows that your sense of logic and reality is out of whack.
How many new, bonafide features did 10.5.3 add over 10.5.2 or 10.5.1 or 10.5? How many? Count em for me!
Now, look at iPhone 2.0, and tell me how many new, bona-fide features have been added? The answer is A TON.
The fact that Apple makes that available for FREE to all iPhone users (not just 3G users) doesn't change the fact that it required a huge investment in time and dollars, and it also doesn't change the fact that the iPhone 3G hardware enjoys many benefits from that work (which sets it apart from other 3G phones out there)
Your problem (shared by others in this thread) is that you don't have a grasp of the concept of "limited resources" and the need to pick and choose your battles. Sure, Apple could have spent its time and money coding MMS and Copy and Paste and adding a higher resolution camera. But given a year's development time, that would mean something else would have to go: 3G, or hardware GPS, or best-of-breed 3G battery life, or the new low price, or Enterprise functionality, or the iPhone dev kit and the App store (which is going to bring HUGE benefits in even the short term), or the ability to do live over-the-air synching with .Mac accounts (Mobile Me), etc. etc.
My problem with this thread is that a number of people are whining about their personal preferences not being implemented, and saying "This is hardly an upgrade at all!". That's what offends me, because this is a HUGE upgrade. It's a record-breaking upgrade (name another mobile device that has added so many new features in only a year, and given them away for free? Can you even name one?!).
I'm fine with people expressing personal disappointment that their pet little feature (like MMS--the vast majority of cel phone users never use it!) isn't implemented, but don't try to write-off everything that Apple HAS delivered. Have the common sense and the sense of fairness to acknowledge it, because what Apple has delivered recently *IS* very significant.
Finally, I think some of you need to take a step back and compare the iPhone 3G to real-world alternatives out there...not to your fantasy dream phone, but to other phones on the market. The iPhone 3G has:
* 3G speeds (with, apparently, very impressive battery life)
* Built in WiFi
* Hardware GPS
* Game-changing multi-touch interface
* Huge 3.5" screen (which is far better for watching video or looking at photos than virtually any competitor on the market)
* Thoughtful Apple software and hardware design in terms of usability (isn't easy to measure on a spec sheet, but we all know it adds value)
* Very easy syncing of media to and from your computer (video, music, photos)
* 2MP camera
* Ability to sample and buy songs directly from the world's biggest and most popular online music store, with a couple easy clicks
* Ability to transfer and watch major TV shows, care of Apple store (how easy is that to do on a Blackberry? A Palm? A Nokia?)
* Ability to RENT and then download and watch major commercial movies starting at 99 cents (again, what other cel phone can do that?
* Superior development environment, and huge, enthusiastic developer community (which, I'm betting, will quickly out-pace anything seen on Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Palm, and Nokia platforms)
* Built in Application store, which allows you to buy and install apps with a couple easy clicks, directly from your phone
* Full (or nearly full) Enterprise functionality
* Instantaneous over-the-air syncing of personal data (contacts, schedule, photos, etc) to your other computers via MobileMe (if you subscribe
* Only $199 for 8 gigs and $299 for 16 gigs.
So tell me, what real-world phones offer these kind of features, for that kind of price? A Nokia N95? Some Samsung flavor of the month? The new 3G Blackberry? How do these compare to what Apple is offering in the iPhone? And if we're talking about 3G phones, will those competitors also have to subscribe to a $30 3G plan from AT&T, or a more expensive plan from Verizon or Sprint?
The fact is, Apple is offering an AMAZING product in the iPhone, at an incredible value. I think many of you have forgotten that.
Amen. (shortened your quote for space reasons, but I agree, still waaaay better than anything else on the market)
But I'm still not upgrading.
I bought my iPhone on day one and I never bought Applecare for it. I was in sort of a wait and see mode for the new one.
Now my plan is to keep mine for a while and play with 2.0 software and if it dies (or I accidentally destroy it in a freak gasoline fight accident), I'll just buy the new 3G one.
You and I are failing to communicate.
In response to your request, I looked for a phone that possessed the features you described. I was able to locate a phone that had these features:
* Built in WiFi
* Game-changing multi-touch interface
* 3.5" screen
* Thoughtful Apple software and hardware design in terms of usability
* Very easy syncing of media to and from your computer
* 2MP camera
* Ability to sample and buy songs directly from the world's biggest and most popular online music store, with a couple easy clicks
* Ability to transfer and watch major TV shows, care of Apple store
* Ability to RENT and then download and watch major commercial movies starting at 99 cents
* Superior development environment, and huge, enthusiastic developer community
* Built in Application store, which allows you to buy and install apps with a couple easy clicks, directly from your phone
* Full (or nearly full) Enterprise functionality
* Instantaneous over-the-air syncing of personal data (contacts, schedule, photos, etc) to your other computers via MobileMe (if you subscribe)
What phone is this, you ask? Why- the phone sitting on my desk right now. The iPhone. My phone has every single item you addressed -- except two. 3G and GPS.
There is absolutely positively no question that the iPhone, even the 1st generation iPhone, is one of the best phones on the market today. It has a feature set which is matched by very few phones.
And that is why so many people are disappointed with the 2nd Gen iPhone. The 2nd Gen iPhone is an upgrade over the 1st Gen in that it has a GPS chip and it is able to access AT&T 3G network. What other benefits does the 2nd Gen iPhone have over the 1st Gen iPhone????
I am disappointed because, for a 2nd Generation device, this phone doesn't offer enough in the way of upgrades for me to want to rush to the store on July 11 to buy a new one.
blah blah blah
They already got $400-$600 from you, plus whatever they get from the revenue sharing program. They aren't worried about you buying a new one.
Do most people go out and buy every new version of a phone that comes out?
Phone- no. But Apple has never made a phone before.
I did buy an ipod mini in 2004, and then bought an iPod Photo less than a year later, and then bought a 5th Gen iPod less than a year after that.
Each was a fairly significant upgrade over the other, imo. I don't think it's all that uncommon for people to buy the "latest and greatest" when it comes out - especially when it comes to apple products.
I know. I was just providing a counterpoint. I guess they think that 2-3x faster speeds and GPS is enough of a selling point.
I'm one of those people who likes to have the latest and greatest, but at the same time I'm reasonable about my purchases. (I did spend $600 on the first iPhone, but I had never spent more than 99 cents on a phone before, so I didn't mind splurging a little for the coolest piece of electronics ever) This time I don't see a reason to upgrade to the new phone immediately. I might down the line, but I'll play with the 2.0 software a while first.
And I agree with you.
But at the same time- if the new iPhone had 32G of storage space, a better camera, MMS capability and video capture capability to go along with the 3G and GPS -- I would have rushed out to buy it even if it was $500.