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Possible iPhone Data Plan Pricing?
- Thread starter daveschroeder
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Actually he brings up a really good point (and kinda answers his own question), Like the Sidekick is to TMobile, the iPhone is VERY tightly intergrated with the ATT network servers.. and not just visual voicemail...
What if (prob.) the actual web surfing is being optimzied (proxies or something) for Edge server protocols (think rumors of Fine Edge earlier this month) so now we not only have Voicemail but now web surfing (non wifi) that is tied tightly to att and apple servers (rumor) but at the very least ATT servers..and doing the same over TMobile's edge (what ever it is) would give the customer a horrible experience.
NOW think about something like googlemaps... maybe THOSE are optmized for ATT edge server protocols (except when using wifi) and email too? who knows..
my point is just as Danger / Sidekick can't just sim-card-replaced with another carrier and get the SAME features or USABILITY then the iPhone is EVEN MORE SO tied to the network in the sense that is fine tuned just for ATT servers and EDGE now...
And yet if Danger says if you unlock a Sidekick and put it on ATT it will not function the same.. you and I understand that because only Tmobile has all the backend Danger servers and software and optimization...
ATT and apple prob. have the same thing going on... so all this unlock whining may be correct when compared to Cheapo-phone but one can not expect the same UNLOCK freedom free as in beer and commies on a commune sort of experience with an iPHone.
And IMO, nor SHOULD You.. this baby is an apple phone BUILT to run on ATT road.
If you unlock it... (which may still be allowable due to govt. laws) you may get your wish but do NOT whine about it when the only thing that functions as normal is dialing and ipod music and videos....
If Danger->Sidekick->TMobile is the similar or the same as Apple->iPhone ->ATT, you do not get to say or whine about this (freedom to do whatever I want and corp. are EVUL etc.) and be taken seriously UNLESS you accept that your unlocked iPhone may do nothing more then dial and play the Music or in other words be handicapped; not because of EVUL Corprations but because it takes two corporations working closely together to pull something like a sidekick or iphone off.
Thoughts?
I think you mean...
..."without end user subsidy"...because i know some serious money chaned hands between att and apple for this nutty deal...its like apple is paying them so they didn't have to become a MVNO...and att is helping with the bills to NOT have to but a team of people on the support end for the phone itself.
Personally, i think they should sell an unlocked one for $200 more to just shut people up.
Also I guess people in the US are looking at it with that skew; in europe most "good" fones are sold at retail with pay as you go..at a premium...with data as the special sauce.
I don't hear a lot of europeans saying we should be getting the N95 for 150 Euro with a 20 Euro all-you-can eat plan.
Google *real* mobile prices. They cost.
..."without end user subsidy"...because i know some serious money chaned hands between att and apple for this nutty deal...its like apple is paying them so they didn't have to become a MVNO...and att is helping with the bills to NOT have to but a team of people on the support end for the phone itself.
Personally, i think they should sell an unlocked one for $200 more to just shut people up.
Also I guess people in the US are looking at it with that skew; in europe most "good" fones are sold at retail with pay as you go..at a premium...with data as the special sauce.
I don't hear a lot of europeans saying we should be getting the N95 for 150 Euro with a 20 Euro all-you-can eat plan.
Google *real* mobile prices. They cost.
plumbingandtech: your post is fair and valid.
I just don't like that any manufacture and carrier are in bed this way. We should have access to all phones to whatever carrier we choose, and to be honest I expected that from Apple. I wanted that to be the revolution in mobiles here. But they really don't care that much, they just want that paper.
I just don't like that any manufacture and carrier are in bed this way. We should have access to all phones to whatever carrier we choose, and to be honest I expected that from Apple. I wanted that to be the revolution in mobiles here. But they really don't care that much, they just want that paper.
Thanks. And to take their one one last time, sometimes it takes two companies working together and exclusively to provide a better experience for customers.. which will hopefully be the case this time around.
So they (corps.) do have the potenial to screw people over but there are pluses for them trying to make some money on stuff like this. If apple went at it alone they would have about 10 cell towers up
and we would have an iphone that could call 9 other people Thanks. And to take their one one last time, sometimes it takes two companies working together and exclusively to provide a better experience for customers.. which will hopefully be the case this time around.
So they (corps.) do have the potenial to screw people over but there are pluses for them trying to make some money on stuff like this. If apple went at it alone they would have about 10 cell towers up
True, but I argue that every carrier should have the same capability to provide a positive experience to the user. We've been getting pushed around by carriers for tens of years here now for lacklustre service, especially compared to the world, and alas it still won't change.
Thank God someone else here is clued up
I said in a previous post that the iPhone is ATTs Sidekick because...
I mentioned this on another thread actually. Fed law mandates that if you piss and moan enough you have to get your phone unlocked.
Apple is well aware of this. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if all it did at that point was make calls and killed the wifi
This is reasonable to me i think. Like i said, they'd probably kill the wifi out of spite
But i'm sure this would still not be good enough...folks want a different product than the one apple is selling.
I said in a previous post that the iPhone is ATTs Sidekick because...
I mentioned this on another thread actually. Fed law mandates that if you piss and moan enough you have to get your phone unlocked.
Apple is well aware of this. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if all it did at that point was make calls and killed the wifi
This is reasonable to me i think. Like i said, they'd probably kill the wifi out of spite
But i'm sure this would still not be good enough...folks want a different product than the one apple is selling.
My point is that I'd be willing to give Apple their $600 for their quad-band GSM iPhone if I could use it as one would any other GSM phone -- on the network that offers you the best value for money and service quality whereever in the world you happen to be using it -- except for the fact that they're choosing to cripple it by locking me to AT&T and their international roaming partners. In central Illinois, where I travel to occasionally to do research at a University, T-Mobile happens to provide better GSM coverage than AT&T. In Europe, I prefer SFR/Vodafone, and in Australia, I prefer Telstra because Vodafone's coverage isn't good enough outside of the large urban centres. As yg17 eloquently points out, if AT&T aren't subsidizing the cost, why should the phone be locked?
The argument that consumers would be "confused" by having to buy a phone and a plan is patently false. European and Asian consumers don't have any trouble with it, and I don't assume Europeans or Asians to be any more capable than Americans. Just walk into a Starbucks anywhere in the US, and you'll realise that argument -- that Americans can't handle choice -- is absolutely false.
I don't know what the reference to CDMA is about. But regardless, I will watch with interest as they launch the European and Asian versions of the phone, scheduled for later this calendar year and in 2008 respectively. I think Apple will be forced to create an unlocked, 3G second generation iPhone (at least for overseas consumption, obviously their exclusivity arrangements with AT&T will mean that the US version will likely be SIM locked). There's a great deal of resistance overseas to a 2.5G locked handset. Interestingly, the only 2.5G operator in Australia has blasted Apple noting that AT&T/Cingular is not a global service provider.
I'll be interested to see what Apple do for their European and Asian launches.
Read my post above... not all of this exclusivity may be driven by greed.
Yes I agree. That's when things start to get REAL interesting.
We think alike it seems... but if you are front of me in the iphone line I still run past you when the store doors open
I know AT&T rates will be what they are, I am just saying that I am used to cheap prices for a whole lot of minutes, unlimited data, unlimited text. To go from 2500 minutes between two people for 50 buck per person to $40 for 450 any time minutes (with roll over though i'd go over) or the next plan of $60 for 900 minutes (which is about where it'd work out good) just will be a hard transition. Having to pay 40 + data or 60 + data when I am now paying 100 for 2 people and a whole lot more.
Now I know that I am talking about family vs single and that makes a difference too, so my excuse is a very personal reason for the complaining. I can switch now but my mom is not out of contract until next year so it is impossible for us to do family plan.
I find it kind of suprising that people are willing to swallow $35-45 a month just for unlimited data!
The T-Mobile sidekick 3 unlimited plan is $19.99 on top of your voice bill and that includes EDGE and unlimited text messages.
The T-Mobile BlackBerry unlimited plan is $19.99 plus $4.99 for 400 text messages. Still less than this.
I hope they're kidding.. this is insanely priced for slow EDGE data speeds.
The T-Mobile sidekick 3 unlimited plan is $19.99 on top of your voice bill and that includes EDGE and unlimited text messages.
The T-Mobile BlackBerry unlimited plan is $19.99 plus $4.99 for 400 text messages. Still less than this.
I hope they're kidding.. this is insanely priced for slow EDGE data speeds.
Heh. That was February.
Read that article closely; Telstra is basically doing what Mobile Telcos do...dictating the terms. Its what they've always been able to do.
The ROKR was a valuable lesson to Apple. That is NOT the way to do it. I think Apple showed their distain for the whole thing in quite a graphic way...While Zander was talking up the craptastic rokr...apple intros the Nano
So this time around, they find the one carrier that was willing to let them at it.
And believe me...they move enough of these...and they will...someone across the pond is gonna wanna tap dat...likely the loudest detractors
Its all good...
...you'll...understand if i trip you, right?
We think alike it seems... but if you are front of me in the iphone line I still run past you when the store doors open
...you'll...understand if i trip you, right?
Jesus, I guess I'll be sticking with Sprint when my contract expires with them in July. The new HTC phone Sprint is going to be releasing shortly isn't exactly and iPhone, but at least it has 3G...
And to all the people that keep saying 3G isn't available in most of the country: http://www.cellular-news.com/story/24449.php EVDO-Rev. A is all I have to say.
Yeah, 3G isn't available with AT&Hell in most places, but that doesn't mean Sprint and Verizon haven't been buisy with their technology.
And to all the people that keep saying 3G isn't available in most of the country: http://www.cellular-news.com/story/24449.php EVDO-Rev. A is all I have to say.
Yeah, 3G isn't available with AT&Hell in most places, but that doesn't mean Sprint and Verizon haven't been buisy with their technology.
I think this is unfair...
Because if they couldn't get another provider to agree on the backend, and not plaster their crap all over the phone, or dick with the way the animations work or "can we make it all red and black? That's *our* branding scheme" then we'd get something great devolved into something "meh".
Remember the ROKR...Remember the ROKR. All I'm sayin'.
Because if they couldn't get another provider to agree on the backend, and not plaster their crap all over the phone, or dick with the way the animations work or "can we make it all red and black? That's *our* branding scheme" then we'd get something great devolved into something "meh".
Remember the ROKR...Remember the ROKR. All I'm sayin'.
...you'll...understand if i trip you, right?
Understood.
Anyone want to guess how long till they release the iPhone Nano for $199?
and would people be interested in a $199-$249 phone that did not have the internet part?
Just phone and ipod. I would say yes and I predict by July next year?
Reading the fine print...
you'll notice a lot of "is" and "gonna" and "will be" talk there...just so you know I read the WHOLE FA
you'll notice a lot of "is" and "gonna" and "will be" talk there...just so you know I read the WHOLE FA
Oh, I think that's definitely where this is headed. Just the iPod+phone parts in an even smaller/thinner package. THAT will be the iPhone that takes them close to the 10 million sold mark. Affordable price, and no one can whine about the monthly cost. It would be voice only, exactly what people pay now for their phones.
But I wonder if they would have to leave out the video capability also, so as not to kill the video iPods at that price?
July sounds about right.
Have you ever used either device? Doesn't sound like it. If you want to browse a full website on either the blackberry or the sidekick you are free to do so.
Not to mention it's all traveling the same speed, regardless of if you browse a mobile version of a website or not, and believe me, you aren't going to want to browse the "Full" web on the iPhone over EDGE unless you are prepared for slooooooowwwwwwness. There's a reason WAP versions of websites exist and this is why.
Good Question. Maybe the iPod 6g will have video + (hard drive?) and that is what sets them apart...
it seems like they are really trying to go all flash though so I would say maybe not? depends on current video ipod sizes now (or in oct.) compared to the size of flash apple can get by then...
Ok so someone tell me this one. I wanna get an iphone but I am not going to cancel my contract with Verizon for it. I really just want to use it for the ipod and to be able to surf the net on the go. Will you be able to get the iphone and just the data plan, no minutes plan? I know you can with Cingular's Sidekick 3.
We should know soon...
But how cool would it be if apple released an ipad that was just wifi and safari and the same iphone form factor...
How much? $149?
I'm curious? Why not do it the other way around? Get a phone with EVDO browser from Verizon, and a 30GB video iPod. Figure the cost should be around the same or less, and you get a 30GB iPod instead of 4 or 8. And EVDO instead of Edge.
Because you'll be carrying around two devices anyway. For me, one of the major points is one simple device each for me and my wife with everything.
Not trying to dissuade you, just curious?