Mass media catching on that new iphone IS NOT cheaper

[buccsmf1]

"How the half-price iPhone 3G actually costs you more" is the title of article on the front page of yahoo.com. http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/94465;_ylt=AszBBwcIwJ6OnXPxgkUiaNwazJV4

I just don't understand how apple thought people were stupid enough to fall for this "we've made it affordable for everyone" crap.

 

[JML42691]

Well, from Apple's point of view, they made the actual phone cheaper for the consumer, AT&T being who they are made it more expensive by cutting the 200 included texts, and by upping the monthly data plan by $10 a month.

 

[Michael CM1]

While it really isn't much over the long haul, it still just feels wrong for some reason. I think part of that is cutting out text messages. E-mail is free, all the data you want (presumably) is free, so why is it a sin to give us just the 200 text messages? Shoot, I could deal with 50. I just want a few freebies to occasionally send one (I think I might have sent 200 in my life) and to get stuff like texted updates from The Weather Channel.

 

[NAG]

I never understood the text message craze to begin with. In September the new push notification servers will be up for the iphones and we'll all have IM apps. So who cares about text messages, we're getting real IM.

 

[kylejgabriel]

cuttin text messages is a killer! i sent/received nearly 3000 in the past week alone..

 

[ipodtouchy333]

Guys.... it's not like Apple had NOTHING to dow ith this. Someone else stated in another thread that Apple and AT&T got together and worked this thing out and I totally agree. Apple does have a say in their pricing and it is both company's fault. Steve is just smart enough to make it seem like its so cheap. Try to find the plans on apple's website, they were there for the first iPhone and now mysteriously disappeared...sneaky, sneaky.

And yes, I will be buying the 3g iPhone on July 11.

 

[NT1440]

god this is getting pathetic, AT&T is the more expensive end, dont blame apple. Yes they were involved, but how many companies out there charge the same price for an upgraded service and more data use?

 

[t0mat0]

We'll see when the iPhone comes out in countries with multiple carriers. Bear in mind Apple has said that the carriers are given an upper threshold they can charge at, but they can have any price lower than that (you've got handset cost, and then cost of the full contracts).

 

[NAG]

Guys.... it's not like Apple had NOTHING to dow ith this. Someone else stated in another thread that Apple and AT&T got together and worked this thing out and I totally agree. Apple does have a say in their pricing and it is both company's fault. Steve is just smart enough to make it seem like its so cheap. Try to find the plans on apple's website, they were there for the first iPhone and now mysteriously disappeared...sneaky, sneaky.

And yes, I will be buying the 3g iPhone on July 11.

Exactly, Steve Jobs intentionally decreased the initial price of the phone and increased the price of the phone over time to maximize the amount of money they don't make since they no longer have revenue sharing with AT&T! It makes complete sense! Jobs is a financial mastermind!

 

[Julien]

So AT&T is offering well over twice the speed for just a 1/3 data price increases. Sound like a good deal to me. Remember AT&T is spending multi millions upgrading the 3G network. News flash those costs must be recopied somewhere. Also other networks are capping the amount of data you can download in a month. AT&T is not. AT&T charges the extra $10 for ANY G3 phone you buy and not just the iPhone.

 

[buccsmf1]

god this is getting pathetic, AT&T is the more expensive end, dont blame apple. Yes they were involved, but how many companies out there charge the same price for an upgraded service and more data use?

wow you have completely missed the point. the point im trying to make has nothing to do with the argument over who caused the increase in price over the plan. The point is that steve said in his keynote that the iphone is cheaper than the old one, WHICH IS A BLATANT LIE. we have no options to which carriers we can use, and we have to sign the two year contract. and over the course of two years, the new iphone COSTS MORE THAN THE OLD ONE.

i personally expected the price hike. i don't know how people expected to upgrade from edge to 3g and not pay more per month. my problem was that steve deceived everyone with his "the iphone is now more affordable" lie.

 

[Michael CM1]

I never understood the text message craze to begin with. In September the new push notification servers will be up for the iphones and we'll all have IM apps. So who cares about text messages, we're getting real IM.

Because any crappy phone out there can receive them. E-mail and IM are WAY better, but I know everybody with a cell phone can receive a text. But like I said, I just want the extra few. I think a good portion of the text whores are people who don't pay for it (kids, bums on other people's plans). There are a few who text and pay for it, but I betcha most are the high schoolers.

 

[NT1440]

wow you have completely missed the point. the point im trying to make has nothing to do with the argument over who caused the increase in price over the plan. The point is that steve said in his keynote that the iphone is cheaper than the old one, WHICH IS A BLATANT LIE. we have no options to which carriers we can use, and we have to sign the two year contract. and over the course of two years, the new iphone COSTS MORE THAN THE OLD ONE.

how much is apple charging for the PHONE? $199, yes i forgot that in this world that is sumhow more expensive than 3/499.

The phone is not more expensive, you pay for it once and your done.

The service is a different story

 

[NAG]

How is it a blatant lie to say the iPhone is cheaper? They didn't talk about the contract price at all during the keynote. Want to know why? AT&T isn't the carrier for the iPhone world wide. There are other carriers. Some carriers are actually giving away iPhones for free with certain contracts. Why didn't Apple say that?

 

[NAG]

Because any crappy phone out there can receive them. E-mail and IM are WAY better, but I know everybody with a cell phone can receive a text. But like I said, I just want the extra few. I think a good portion of the text whores are people who don't pay for it (kids, bums on other people's plans). There are a few who text and pay for it, but I betcha most are the high schoolers.

IM and texting aren't separate. You can actually receive text messages from people that are really IM'ing you so the only reason to be texting instead of IM is so your friends won't have to change the contact info for you.

 

[onlycopunk]

Regardless, $70/month for phone plans for a casual user is way too much. Especially since all 3G is bringing are faster internet speeds. IM and email don't need mega bandwidth to work. Now if the iPhone could do other 3G things like video chat, or be tethered to a laptop, it would be worth it. But $30 a month to do random Internet surfing and boredom busting is a little much.

 

[buccsmf1]

how much is apple charging for the PHONE? $199, yes i forgot that in this world that is sumhow more expensive than 3/499.

The phone is not more expensive, you pay for it once and your done.

The service is a different story

um yea, too bad YOU CANT USE YOUR IPHONE UNLESS YOU SIGN A TWO YEAR CONTRACT. you have to factor in the increase in the contract price into the overall price of the phone.

yea so you can buy your $200 iphone and let it sit on your desk for 2 years and gather dust, because unless you activate it with at&t AND SIGN A CONTRACT, its worthless.

 

[Michael CM1]

IM and texting aren't separate. You can actually receive text messages from people that are really IM'ing you so the only reason to be texting instead of IM is so your friends won't have to change the contact info for you.

I wasn't aware of that. Texting seems a lot stupider now!! I just think I'll be glad when that new firmware comes out and I can get rid of a bunch of these Web Apps. I really hate logging in to store my gas mileage info.

 

[JML42691]

wow you have completely missed the point. the point im trying to make has nothing to do with the argument over who caused the increase in price over the plan. The point is that steve said in his keynote that the iphone is cheaper than the old one, WHICH IS A BLATANT LIE. we have no options to which carriers we can use, and we have to sign the two year contract. and over the course of two years, the new iphone COSTS MORE THAN THE OLD ONE.

i personally expected the price hike. i don't know how people expected to upgrade from edge to 3g and not pay more per month. my problem was that steve deceived everyone with his "the iphone is now more affordable" lie.

I know that there is no evidence of it, but it seems that Apple is attempting to distance themselves from AT&T, I believe that the only time that any reference to AT&T was made during the keynote yesterday was in the list of all carriers, not even a single mention, the only AT&T reference that I can find is in about 8 pt font where it says to buy it in an AT&T store as being an option. There is also not mention of AT&T in the new ad either. Apple loves their customers, and I have a feeling that AT&T put its foot down on the price for 3G service, and Apple had to be careful with the price and attempt to find ways to cut it (plastic back, no dock included, smaller size even though that is good in all cases), my guess, Apple is hoping that they will be selling a lot of these to offset the losses of the price, as they are no longer going to be receiving revenue from the monthly bills. I strongly believe that there is a lot of tension between Apple and AT&T right now, and I wouldn't doubt a change in carriers once their contract runs out (whenever that is).

um yea, too bad YOU CANT USE YOUR IPHONE UNLESS YOU SIGN A TWO YEAR CONTRACT. you have to factor in the increase in the contract price into the overall price of the phone.

yea so you can buy your $200 iphone and let it sit on your desk for 2 years and gather dust, because unless you activate it with at&t AND SIGN A CONTRACT, its worthless.

And would you please mind chilling on your caps lock/ shift key, I am sure that it would appreciate it.

 

[NT1440]

um yea, too bad YOU CANT USE YOUR IPHONE UNLESS YOU SIGN A TWO YEAR CONTRACT. you have to factor in the increase in the contract price into the overall price of the phone.

yea so you can buy your $200 iphone and let it sit on your desk for 2 years and gather dust, because unless you activate it with at&t AND SIGN A CONTRACT, its worthless.

wat part of this arent u understanding. Do u subscribe to apples cellular service? oh thats right they dont have one, if u wanna get pissy get pissed at AT&T

 

[NAG]

I think the lack of mentioning AT&T was due to the fact that AT&T is the US carrier and they have carriers in how many other countries? If they talked about AT&T they'd have to talk about all of the carriers (and people thought the app demo was boring). At the iPhone's announcement there was one carrier, AT&T. It was a big deal so they were mentioned (I mean, Verizon brushed Apple off completely). Now that the iPhone is pretty common for a smart phone the carrier isn't such a big deal, the features are.

 

[gloss]

IM and texting aren't separate. You can actually receive text messages from people that are really IM'ing you so the only reason to be texting instead of IM is so your friends won't have to change the contact info for you.

Wrong. It functions like this for older phones, where you forwarded your IMs to a mobile device via SMS. AIM on the iPhone, however, will be a data-only app (as it currently is via installer.app)...it doesn't use SMS, and doesn't affect your texting count at all. Separate applications.

 

[NAG]

Wrong. It functions like this for older phones, where you forwarded your IMs to a mobile device via SMS. AIM on the iPhone, however, will be a data-only app (as it currently is via installer.app)...it doesn't use SMS, and doesn't affect your texting count at all. Separate applications.

You misinterpreted me. I was saying that you don't need SMS now that the iPhone is getting IM since you can still text all your buddies that only have SMS using IM.

 

[Telp]

I never understood the text message craze to begin with. In September the new push notification servers will be up for the iphones and we'll all have IM apps. So who cares about text messages, we're getting real IM.

I am also confused about the push notification servers. What does this have to do with AIM. Won't aim [hopefully] come in july with the app store?

 

[buccsmf1]

wat part of this arent u understanding. Do u subscribe to apples cellular service? oh thats right they dont have one, if u wanna get pissy get pissed at AT&T

wow you really are amazing. we dont have an option to which service we subscribe to, apple gave us no options. we have at&t and that is it. so whatever at&t decides to do, it affects the OVERALL cost of the iphone. in this case, the cost of owning an iphone in america has INCREASED. HOW CAN YOU DENY THAT THE COST OF BUYING AND OWNING AN IPHONE IN AMERICA IS NOT INCREASED?