Do you keep your previous generation iPhones?

If you're crazy then so am I
I have all my iPhones
1st Gen
3G White
3G Black
3GS Black
iPhone 4

I love looking at the way apple design changes and how the industry follows

They are beautiful devices to keep and i recommend you do

 

I sold my white 3GS 32GB to my pastor who really appreciates it. I like to help people become Apple fanatics like me. Actually, in this case,he persuaded me to get my first piece of Mac gear, a 13" Macbook.

 

I keep mine for testing/development purposes.

 

Nah, they would just lie there and collect dust. Sold my 3G for $200 and I'm glad to get rid of it.

 

Nope but then again I sold my 3G and 3GS for $300 each so I like getting new phones for little cash outlay.

 

I usually don't but i really think the iPhone 4 is a beautiful device and may someday be a collectors item.

 

...

Kept my original iPhone, I use it for my iTunes and Apple TV remote. My iPhone 3G took too many drops. I sold my 3GS for $400.

 

I wanted to, but they were just worth too much... I've paid for all my new iPhones with the sales of my old iPhones.

 

I traded my in 8GB 3G towards my 16GB iPhone 4 at Radio Shack. I got $107.25 for it, which is nice considering I bought it for $99 a year and a half ago. So my iPhone 4 only cost me $100...

 

We sold our iPhones but I've got several hard drive iPods lying around here. I simply kept them well past the time they'd be worth any money.

I use one on my living room stereo as a permanent thing. It's kind of the poor-man's Airport Express.

 

Id like to keep an old iphone one day just for the purposes of having a temporary backup should I need it. However, I havent reached that point in life where I can afford to have one just laying around! So, generally just sell the old one to pay for the new one. Sold my iphone 3g 8gb on iphone 4 launch day for $225, so I got my new one for nothing and had the cash to cover the gas it took to drive to the apple store and back!

 

My first iPhone was the 3G in July 2008.
Got an iPhone 4 on launch day and kept my 3G as an iPod touch.
When I'm next eligible, I'll sell my 3G and use my iPhone 4 as an iPod touch.

 

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I wanted to sell my 3GS but I just couldn't do it :/

 

Nope. Sold my first gen when the 4 was announced. I like to be a minimalist where I don't like to own alot of things. When it comes to furnishing, I prefer it the Japanese way. Not alot of clutter and dust. I tried to be like those OCD sentimentalist pack rats when it came to video game consoles. I kept them in mint condition. I realized I had a gaming museum in my condo. My room started looking more like an attic. Consoles just sitting there and collecting dust. I figure previous iPhones will do the same just lying there useless or in a box. Good thing is iPhones are far more portable than consoles. I can be OCD as anybody here, but I no longer want to be the museum collector-type. Pointless just staring at them. I have an SNES in mint condition and over 16-years old, and I finally took it out of a box and started playing with it. Could care less if it gets any more wear and tear.

But I do plan to keep the iPhone 4 long after I retire it in likely 2012. The first phone I ever bought on launch day and carries my birthday number of 4. Considering the back glass panel is easy to remove for a battery replacement, I figure I can always use it for as a PMP/internet tablet for many years. I kept my 5-year old PSP for sentimental reasons too. That device saved my butt with its WiFi connectivity when my desktop crashed back in '05. I know PSP gets bashed alot, but I still love that device even if the browsing sucks on it now. My iPhone 4 will eventually get dead pixels and scratches just like my PSP, but that's life. Nothing stays perfect forever. I may try to collect all the phones I ever liked and sell the ones I didn't care for. Easy to put them all in ONE box compared to consoles. But having too much of anything can be a bad thing. Harder to move out and more dusting and cleaning because of so much junk. This happened to my 79-year old grandmother who had to sell most of her nice furniture when she moved out of her apartment. Most of the things we buy, we will rarely ever use them anymore over time.

 

Still have the 2G and thats it. The iP4 isnt going to be worth a crap when it gets replaced. It will just be known as the china doll of iPhones with problems.

 

I passed my 2G down to my kids to use as an iPod touch.

My wife passed her 3GS on to her dad.

If I didn't have family to pass them on to, I would sell them.

Yes, you're crazy.

There are several million original iPhones in existence. They will not appreciate in value.

 

Same! I test things out on the old ones before I do something to the 3GS or iPhone 4.

Not one person here thinks they will but lots of us still hang on to them. I'll keep mine till it breaks.

 

nope, i don't

 

i keep mine as backups.

couldn't go back to a 'normal' phone should i lose / break / eat my iPhone 4.

 

Not only that, eventually due to a low state of charge, the battery would leak and damage the inside of the iPhone.

 

This is my first iphone so I havent had the option to pass/sell on or to keep it...

 

I say if you plan to collect, the rarer the better. Like find a first gen iPhone that is 4GB. That wasn't in the market very long and the 8GB version was the more popular one.

Cell phones to me is like shoes. You wear them out for a few years and then you put them away in room for newer ones. The beginning is always the best when owning something. Then it gets old or takes a beating, and then you stop caring. Like the beginning of a relationship. Looking back at my phone history, I don't really have most of them anymore. Either lost, stolen, sold, or given away. The older ones I still have is in one of my drawers somewhere. When my iPhone 4 is retired, I will probably put it in a shoebox with my other older phones I still own.

Favorite dumb phone ever (my phone history included)
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1002194&page=6

 

But you won't get more than 300 bucks for an old pair of used shoes...

 

I pass all my old phones onto my Dad or Wife to use. Not really into collecting things just to collect dust.