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Contract and Subsidy Issues for iPhone Users Looking to Upgrade to iPhone 3G S
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i've noticed the intelligence of a post is inversely correlated with the number of !s in it.
How about because their purchases pay your wages and your condescending contemptuous attitude towards them will eventually get you fired...
Insurance
I'm wondering if those who have iphone insurance and locked into long contracts with their carrier, if they were to say accidentally loose or have their iphone mysteriously stolen after the 17th, would they be replaced by iphone 3Gs's?
But I guess they'd be left with a bricked iphone 3G if it was to mysteriously appear again.
I'm wondering if those who have iphone insurance and locked into long contracts with their carrier, if they were to say accidentally loose or have their iphone mysteriously stolen after the 17th, would they be replaced by iphone 3Gs's?
But I guess they'd be left with a bricked iphone 3G if it was to mysteriously appear again. 
That is completely relative. In some parts of this country Verizon blows and ATT is great.
I left Verizon 4 years ago to go to ATT because out in Lubbock Verizon sucked. ATT and Spint ruled out there and even there between those 2 it was relative because on some parts of campus ATT was great and sprint sucked and then about on another parts it was the other way around.
But for example on Verizon by the thousands of students who went to Texas Tech were dumping Verizon. When I first went to tech Verizon stated they were going to be out their in 6 months. That 6 months turn into 4-5 years and even then I think they are just starting to get into west Texas and last time I check verizon still sucked out there.
Depends on where you are at
Friends around the country have both and it differs depending on the city
Verizon is a joke in some parts of the country
Agreed, if it costs a little more then so be it. I'm not expecting o2 to pay for my phone but arguably I'm not able to know how much that phone is either!
I really only want to be paying what Apple is charging for an iPhone, and the cost of the cellular contract months I use...
I'd rather have transparency about how much things really are and what I should be paying rather than this so called 'mysterious subsidy' which allows the telco's to hide the true cost and value in this endless monthly contract.
I'm wondering if my monthly contract should actually be £20 but that telco's have squeezed it upto £35 under the mysterious beneficence of 'the subsidy' and I'm basically paying for my phone in installments...
If this is an invisible form of lease-purchase then I'd rather just have the subsided £200 cost of my iPhone (if that's what it) clearly itemised on my bill as a component of my monthly bill.
@surferfromuk
Fired from where? I'm not Apple. Condescending & contemptuous, merely observasional. I conceed 'geek' was out of order and apologise.
I've been nokia/symbian for years and am just about to join the Apple hoards with the 3G S, but my observation is based on me and everyone else traditionally fulfilling a contract if you take one out. I just cant see why iPhone users are trying to create a culture of ditching contracts prematurely just because of frequently upgraded hardware. Multinational's will always have you where they want regarding pricing and lack of transparency. You either accept it, or move to a different company/product.
Fired from where? I'm not Apple. Condescending & contemptuous, merely observasional. I conceed 'geek' was out of order and apologise.
I've been nokia/symbian for years and am just about to join the Apple hoards with the 3G S, but my observation is based on me and everyone else traditionally fulfilling a contract if you take one out. I just cant see why iPhone users are trying to create a culture of ditching contracts prematurely just because of frequently upgraded hardware. Multinational's will always have you where they want regarding pricing and lack of transparency. You either accept it, or move to a different company/product.
You'll understand in about 9 months when your itching to get the next great iPhone in 2010 and your stuck in your 18 month contract and can only get it from 02, but still it'll be all sorted by then - it has to be, but anyway enjoy your new phone - coming from nokia your gonna be blown away..
I'll keep an eye out for your 'whining' in March '010
I hear your point, and I agree that carriers lock down phones for their own agendas, whatever those may be; Furthermore, AT&T not providing MMS at launch supports your argument. However, I would argue that the iPhone was not CAPABLE of MMS untill only a few months before they announced it. In order to be aloud to call your device MMS complient, you must support a slew of standards that are not currently available in Apple's computer software. Remember that the iPhone OS is based on Mac OS X. All the software on the phone is a direct decendent of OS X technologies. Untill Safari got SMIL, iPhone could easily be assumed to be INCAPABLE of doing MMS.
In conclusion, yes, carriers block features. Yes, it's really annoying. But if the underlying technologies are not present... It took apple 2 years to build SMIL, and thus give us MMS, I am happy to have had the phone 2 years ago, even without it than wait till now to have the complete product. I just choose to remember that this is more computer than phone, and that gets me by.
Agreed. I live in Nevada, where Verizon clearly works better in rural areas, while AT&T clearly dominates in the cities.
I have used both Verizon and AT&T. I have a few things I hate about Verizon's tendency to lock out features, but on the other hand it gives them the ability to provide excellent customer support (If a $299 voyager works identically to the free flip phone, then I (Verizon) don't have to train my reps on how each phone works.) That excellent customer support makes Verizon nice for buisness users, who may or may not care what OBEX File Push is, or if their phone has it disabled. Nerds on the other hand, may actually want these features and would typically live in cities. Therefore, I would argue that nerds in Reno would prefer AT&T.
Now, all of that said, my iPhone works at my house, however I am the only AT&T user in the house that does. Verizon and AT&T 3G work, but Sprint/TMobile/Cricket are all confirmed to have spotty at best service. Therefore, I conclude that a person should know what works where they work and live. AT&T is not by nature better or worse than Verizon. It just depends on your needs and your location.
Okay these are my thoughts on the issue:
I understand AT&T's business model and for that matter all other cellular subsidized systems but:
The iPhone is unlike any other phone.
So this is how it breaks down:
1. iPhone (Mac) users have more disposable income
2. They are willing to spend money in a company that has such a large footprint on their lives (iTunes, OS X, iPod)
3. They believe apple is head and shoulders over everyone else, and this creates a feeling of exclusivity and wanting to be on the cutting edge...
2. They are more willing to upgrade on a regular basis
AT&T business model = unsatisfied majority
I understand AT&T's business model and for that matter all other cellular subsidized systems but:
The iPhone is unlike any other phone.
So this is how it breaks down:
1. iPhone (Mac) users have more disposable income
2. They are willing to spend money in a company that has such a large footprint on their lives (iTunes, OS X, iPod)
3. They believe apple is head and shoulders over everyone else, and this creates a feeling of exclusivity and wanting to be on the cutting edge...
2. They are more willing to upgrade on a regular basis
AT&T business model = unsatisfied majority
iPhone (Mac) users with more disposable income are able to spend it to upgrade iPhones on a regular basis.
I don't know if you've read the 50 other posts pointing out that the actual cost of an iPhone is $599. This is right in line with other smartphones. The new Pre that Palm launched last weekend has a regular price of $549. Some Nokia phones have regular prices in the $700 range.
AT&T (and every other carrier) has a fairly simple business model. It's called "generate revenue for shareholders". (If you want, you can go buy some AT&T stock and benefit along with the other shareholders)
Carriers realize that not everyone has $599 that they can drop on a phone, so the carriers will discount the price of a phone, if you agree to stick around and pay your monthly bill for x number of months, so the carrier can earn back the money they lost when they sold you a phone for a discount. Once you've done that, they'll give you another discount.
If you have a suggestion for a better business model, I'd really, really like to hear it.
Honestly, I wish Apple stuck with how they sold the original iPhone. They sold it directly to customers, and they charged full price. Nobody got a discount. If Apple did that, then every year, anyone, no matter if they're a new customer or an old customer could get the latest iPhone. For $599. Totally solves the carrier business model that you seem to have such a problem with.
Well you make a good point. I don't have a solution, I was just pointing out that the iPhone can't be treated like other phones in the market or compared to.
they know it isn't the same, which is why they still lock you into a 2 year contract even if you do not accept a subsidy on the phone (i.e.. pay full price for it).
i want the new phone, come July 13th, $499 won't be that big of a deal... after all, I'll either get a free 16GB iPod Touch out of the deal (my old phone) or sell said phone on ebay for whatever the market will bear
Wow, double-post... that said, it's ridiculous for AT&T to call the iPhone "a computer" when it comes to SlingPlayer and a subsidized phone when it comes to contracts and whatnot. I'm pretty sure I'm not looking at iPhone 3gs as a computer (although it has that wacky IIIgs name)
The good news is that O2 are now offering all their "priority club" members early upgrades!
All pay monthly customers fit into one of the categories.
see the link here http://shop.o2.co.uk/update/paymonth.html
in this case I luckily fit into the upgrade 3 months early category. My contract renews in Jan 2010 so I should be able to get the phone in October.... hopefully.
so not all bad news
The good news is that O2 are now offering all their "priority club" members early upgrades!
All pay monthly customers fit into one of the categories.
see the link here http://shop.o2.co.uk/update/paymonth.html
in this case I luckily fit into the upgrade 3 months early category. My contract renews in Jan 2010 so I should be able to get the phone in October.... hopefully.
so not all bad news
Oh well, C'est La Vie...roll on Version 3.0 s/w...roll on June 2010....
All iPhones sold from AT&T/Apple/Best Buy/Walmart are locked to AT&T.
IIRC, the no commitment prices are $599 (8GB)/$699 (16GB).