You are quite correct. I did put in a disclaimer, but without knowing the facts I had no right to call people halfwits.
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Let's clear something up, some basic maths for you
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You are quite correct. I did put in a disclaimer, but without knowing the facts I had no right to call people halfwits.
I'm not really sure. All Apple products have a good second-hand market though - so that might be why. In addition, I guess some people do not want to enter a contract -or- they don't have a subsidized upgrades available. Also, the iPhone was only on one carrier until this year. That means, people who had other carriers could not buy the iPhone at a cheap price. They had to pay full MSRP from Apple. Now that the iPhone is available on 3 carriers here, that issue isn't (and won't be) as prevalent.
Honestly, I have no idea ... but what I said above is probably why.
Edit: I see the OP is realizing that he was slightly out of line, so I am removing my post. No need to add fuel to the fire.
American phone plans made no sense to me when I lived there recently. I thought they were flat out lying to me when they said that the plan would cost me the same whether I used my own phone or not. Also, very few people seem to use pre paid phones in America.
Really, the only way to get a phone there (and get value for money) is to sign up to a contract with a subsidised handset.
The thing is, if all these people are selling their old iPhones 4, what are the people who are buying them doing? Are more people using pre paid than when I was there? Or are there BYO phone plans now? Or are these people just getting ripped off by the carriers by paying the same amount as a plan with a subsidised handset?
Edit: I see this has already kind of been answered.
Really, the only way to get a phone there (and get value for money) is to sign up to a contract with a subsidised handset.
The thing is, if all these people are selling their old iPhones 4, what are the people who are buying them doing? Are more people using pre paid than when I was there? Or are there BYO phone plans now? Or are these people just getting ripped off by the carriers by paying the same amount as a plan with a subsidised handset?
Edit: I see this has already kind of been answered.
As mentioned, some just don't want to be tied into a contract, or better yet may not be able to enter a contract due to no/bad credit, where the deposit can be up to $500 bucks, in addition to the associated fees with opening a new line (although the deposit is returned after 12 months of payment history). Others may also want to try out iOS on the iPhone and then perhaps upgrade when the new model comes out for the discounted price.
Lots of reasons I suppose.
If it works on your chosen network, or is unlocked, you can always BYO phone, however your plan price won't change. If it's a smart phone, your price may go up a little on some networks.
Just because you have a contract, you don't have to keep the same phone, you can switch any time!
Lucky, because I'm happy to admit I'm wrong with regard to the thread topic, i.e. upgrading in the US would make sense, but don't question my use of English.
Tariff has multiple uses and I'm using it correctly.
In fact it is used extensively with mobile operators in this country: http://www.o2.co.uk/tariffs/paymonthly
Wow, I can't believe how anti competitive the states is. I understand now why when a price is quoted at the keynote, it will be THAT price.
For those in the UK, the best deal still has to be buying unlocked and using a GIFFGAFF (O2 network) sim only. 300 minutes, unlimited text and unlimited data for £10 month.
Then, when a new iPhone comes out, ebay it and you'll only need to spend a £100 odd to get the new iPhone.
For those in the UK, the best deal still has to be buying unlocked and using a GIFFGAFF (O2 network) sim only. 300 minutes, unlimited text and unlimited data for £10 month.
Then, when a new iPhone comes out, ebay it and you'll only need to spend a £100 odd to get the new iPhone.
For various reasons, some people don't want to be tied to a contract. Outside of that, other folks are unlocking and selling the iPhones overseas.
The worst part is, AT&T won't even unlock our iPhones *after* we have completed our contracts and paid off the device. Honestly, why won't they do that? It's my phone, I should be able to use it how I want. Also, not that it should matter, but there are only 2 major GSM carriers here (AT&T and T-Mobile) with a few regional carriers. I don't know why they are so scared to unlock phones.
Holy **** that is cheap!
Guess I gotta move to the UK...
I love the UK lol (not because of their cell phone plans)
Seriously though, it's cheap because they have competition. There are SO many carriers on which you can buy the iPhone in the UK, and that drives the prices down. We recently got introduced to competition this year (and it's not going to change anything for a while).
Well the door is open to some of you fine American entrepreneurs. All you need is a few billion dollars and you can start up a telecommunications company that offers SIM only deals, there's obviously huge untapped potential there.
I can't believe the telecoms companies are allowed to operate in such a manner.
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You won't regret it, as long as you don't live up North.
I can't believe the telecoms companies are allowed to operate in such a manner.
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Guess I gotta move to the UK...
You won't regret it, as long as you don't live up North.
Well, I think you'll need more than a few billion
T-Mobile is selling their network for some 30-40 billion (if I remember correctly).
Aaand.... that is exactly why AT&T should not acquire T-Mobile.
I think I read somewhere that AT&T only wanted to offer the highest (and most expensive) messaging plan available because "that's what most people use ... so the cheaper plans aren't necessary"
Seriously, AT&T?
Thanks for the info, never heard of GIFFGAFF, looks like I'll be going with them come contract renewal time. Now, the question is, stick with the iPhone 4 or get a Nexus Prime, but that's a whole different thread.
I've heard some good stuff about Gifgaff from friends/family. It's basically O2 (if I remember correctly)
GiffGaff is actually 250mins now, not 300... (but still the best value you can get).
If you're interested in the UK, free sim with £5 credit here when you first topup with £10. (That is my affiliate link - you don't have to use it, go straight to the GG site but you don't get the £5 extra).
The thing with Giffgaff is that it runs on the O2 network... who are rolling out 3G900. And coming from first hand experience - it makes a massive difference in and around built up areas!
And there's nowt wrong with living up North! Cheeky Sod
If you're interested in the UK, free sim with £5 credit here when you first topup with £10. (That is my affiliate link - you don't have to use it, go straight to the GG site but you don't get the £5 extra).
The thing with Giffgaff is that it runs on the O2 network... who are rolling out 3G900. And coming from first hand experience - it makes a massive difference in and around built up areas!
And there's nowt wrong with living up North! Cheeky Sod
GiffGaff is actually 250mins now, not 300... (but still the best value you can get).
If you're interested in the UK, free sim with £5 credit here when you first topup with £10. (That is my affiliate link - you don't have to use it, go straight to the GG site but you don't get the £5 extra).
And there's nowt wrong with living up North! Cheeky Sod
it's a bit cold.Anyway, if I do go to GIFFGAFF at the end of Nov I'll try to remember to come back to this link to earn you some giffy points.
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)
Yeah it's the same here in Australia. You can get a much cheaper plan with no contract or phone.
Xenc said:
Yeah it's the same here in Australia. You can get a much cheaper plan with no contract or phone.
The sad/sickening part about it is that there was as group who was trying to sue AT&T solely for the right to unlock their iPhone after the contract was over (because they argued that it was never stated that they would need to continue to use AT&T past the two years, unlike with every other phone they carry).
But when the story was posted here, people, for some reason, thought the group was trying to sue Apple to force them to give the iPhone to verizon. This was never stated in the brief but people assumed that's what it was, and were angry because of it.
If i were AT&T I wouldn't have unlocked either. Why, when you have a population of individuals who are against their own self interests
.
The system in the USA isn't all bad: It drives technology forward, because users have no incentive to hang onto older hardware; Older handsets have a high resale value largely due to overseas markets where the system is different.
Am I the that pictured you saying that with a fake Texas accent, and threw in you saying "pardner" a couple times...?