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Pre-Paid iPhone Service to be Available?
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Right, because Apple has all the infrastructure to release a product onto its own, large wireless network.
Apple didn't have to beg and plead with the industry of music to release the iPod, there was no one keeping it from operating properly (FCC doesnt count, dont whine that I missed that detail). It relied on a mac and a battery at the time to play music for you.
This is a wireless phone that will not operate as a PHONE without a network. Obviously Apple had to court some potential carriers and had to sell some control to get into the game. I am sure being able to buy the iPhone without a contract, pay-as-you-go, is a blessing for those who will hack it to run on another network. It is the same attitude as the
TV, you can do it, we'll look the other way (until you bring it in for repair).Right, because Apple has all the infrastructure to release a product onto its own, large wireless network.
Apple didn't have to beg and plead with the industry of music to release the iPod, there was no one keeping it from operating properly (FCC doesnt count, dont whine that I missed that detail). It relied on a mac and a battery at the time to play music for you.
This is a wireless phone that will not operate as a PHONE without a network. Obviously Apple had to court some potential carriers and had to sell some control to get into the game. I am sure being able to buy the iPhone without a contract, pay-as-you-go, is a blessing for those who will hack it to run on another network. It is the same attitude as the
What?? Did you read my post?
My point was that the reason the iPod is/was successful is that the made so many sales! (I believe) the only was the iPhone will be successful is if it makes a lot of sales. (I believe) an important way to make a lot of sales in the mobile phone market is in the pay as you go structure.
To bring this down to talk about class levels and economic situations like people here seem to want to..... The type people who buy products which are all expensive and the next big thing are in my experience a real mix of the poor wanting to have the 'looks like im rich' thing going for them or the yuppie saying look how successful I am.
Reducing contract strangulations and just making the phone simpler to have and be a user of will make them the most money and everyone wins (except nokia
)What's "artificial" about those house prices? Are the housing prices in the steel belt "artificially" low?
I agree with your statement: "When you sign a contract, you're letting a corporation step all over you."
I disagree with: "Pay as you go is remarkably fair and easy and it's really good for customers. That's why cell phone providers don't like it. Their profits would shrink if people only paid for what they used."
As far as I have always seen it - Pay As you Go Plans ALWAYS cost more money in the long run. You pay more "per minute" than those in a contract. Having said that, those plans are great for "limted" situations - For the Average Consumer or Business user (as myself) with regular usage of at least 1500 mins per month - Pay As You Go is way too expensive.
Yes, PAYG is more expensive by the minute, but when I don't use many minutes and can spend $30 on enough minutes to last me 4 months, or spend $30 a month on a set number of minutes and I lose them if I don't use them, who's coming out ahead? Certainly, the consumer.
I simply don't use many minutes at all and PAYG would be perfect for me. Only reason I don't have it is because I'm an addon line on my parents' shared plan and its only 10 bucks a month. No reason for me to switch to PAYG for the time being
BetaNews
Engadget
<sarcasm>Haven't you read, the iPhone isn't a smartphone </sarcasm> Anyway, I think it makes great sense, and if it's true, I might get one earlier than I would otherwise.
Think about this; if it is marketed as a smartphone then AT&T will more or less force a voice/data bundle on you (the consumer). But if you mainly use WiFi (as I've read a few people will nearly exclusively use - I'd be one of them, except I love my mobile internet) then the data portion is more or less redundant and a waist of money each month (other than the occasional usage here and there). But if you paid for minutes and only your per KB charge out of a prepaid account, the money for the data portion wouldn't be such a waste.
I agree with your statement: "When you sign a contract, you're letting a corporation step all over you."
I disagree with: "Pay as you go is remarkably fair and easy and it's really good for customers. That's why cell phone providers don't like it. Their profits would shrink if people only paid for what they used."
As far as I have always seen it - Pay As you Go Plans ALWAYS cost more money in the long run. You pay more "per minute" than those in a contract. Having said that, those plans are great for "limted" situations - For the Average Consumer or Business user (as myself) with regular usage of at least 1500 mins per month - Pay As You Go is way too expensive.
PAYG is not always more expensive. For a heavy user like you (your usage is not average), yes a contract is better. For me at the moment, yes contract is better, but in a week from now, PAYG will be cheaper and I'll be leaving my contract and going PAYG. It all depends on how many minutes you use and when. The per minute charge might be higher, but my usage pattern means that I'll still be paying less for the service than I would on contract - down from 35-40pm to less than 20. Choice is what works for consumers.
I know your trying to be "PC" and all of your reasons are valid BUT please dont act as if those are the reasons for having "Pay-as-you-go plans". You know damn well its people with Bad Credit - period.
Leave the "7-11 Track Phone Metro PCS - No Credit Check - Pay As You Go Food Stamp Plans" to the phone that derserve that Badge.
You obviously have nothing else going on in life that you need a cell phone to distinguish you.
I haven't read through all of this thread (I started skipping posts when people were bitching about credit scores!), so my apologies if this has already been covered.
From a UK perspective, making the iPhone available on PAYG will be the thing that makes the product successful. If it's on contract only it will be 'just another phone' (broadly speaking). Make it available to everyone, and it becomes a 'must have' - especially if we get it in time for xmas, that is a perfect time for parents to justify buying one for their teens.
With push email (the yahoo thingy), it instantly becomes a hot product for the UK market - at the moment we're pretty much stuck with Blackberry, which hasn't taken off because the devices don't appeal to the 'normal' user. Add in the ipod, web browser (thinking things like myspace here...) and it has such wide appeal you're pretty much guaranteed it will be the #1 seller at xmas.
But, in the UK at least, it needs to be available on PAYG. People just don't like contracts much here, especially when PAYG tariffs are often much cheaper to run for most users.
At the end of the day, we should all want as many people as possible to have one of these - the more devices that are out there, the more Apple will develop the phone. Hopefully, we'll entice a few more switchers too, which can never be a bad thing.
From a UK perspective, making the iPhone available on PAYG will be the thing that makes the product successful. If it's on contract only it will be 'just another phone' (broadly speaking). Make it available to everyone, and it becomes a 'must have' - especially if we get it in time for xmas, that is a perfect time for parents to justify buying one for their teens.
With push email (the yahoo thingy), it instantly becomes a hot product for the UK market - at the moment we're pretty much stuck with Blackberry, which hasn't taken off because the devices don't appeal to the 'normal' user. Add in the ipod, web browser (thinking things like myspace here...) and it has such wide appeal you're pretty much guaranteed it will be the #1 seller at xmas.
But, in the UK at least, it needs to be available on PAYG. People just don't like contracts much here, especially when PAYG tariffs are often much cheaper to run for most users.
At the end of the day, we should all want as many people as possible to have one of these - the more devices that are out there, the more Apple will develop the phone. Hopefully, we'll entice a few more switchers too, which can never be a bad thing.
The more I read about these comments, the more I appreciate the mobile-phone business in Finland. In USA you have a phone, and you need to have a carrier for it. There are bundle-prices where you can get the phone for "free" if you sign up for certain service and so forth. And everything is so complex. "$599 eh? Is that with or without service-contract? What does the contract cost?"
What about here? You buy the phone from a retail of your choice, and sign up to a service of your choice. The phone is not tied to a certain network and it's not dependant on some certain network. What if your opertator starts to treat you like dirt? Switch to another operator and keep your phone-number. Some operator has a cheaper deal? Switch to them.
Seriously: everything is so much more simpler here. You can seriously select the best phone for you, and pair it with the best service for you. In USA the two are tied. Good phone but crappy service? Tough.
And since customers are not tied to multi-year contracts in here, competition between operators is cutthroat, since costomers can switch operators with minium of fuzz. And every single phone is totally, 100% uncrippled.
Steel belt?
Dude lives in Berkeley CA - I know what he is talking about when refering to NOT being able to buy a home. I live in South Florida which is becoming the next California/New York City.
Nothing "low priced" where he lives.
On that note: Every one there will have an iPhone!
You cant tell me that as a woman YOU yourself dont make purchases to disinguish yourself?
Those pair of shoes, the Prada Purse, that dress you always wanted, etc....
I cant beleive how some people "say" things on the Internet but live life the opposite.
I havent met a woman yet that says: Hey, let me get the same dress everyone else is wearing so I look the same.
I hear 'ya, Tatoo! Check out this dude! He got in on the prepaid plan 'cause his FICO score was something like 351. Damn! Now I'm not 'gonna look cool when I carry around my iPhone.I might be wrong in saying this but from what I can see - Mobile Phone Carriers have the "Prepaid" option for the typical "Low Income & Bad Credit" Crowd. Although some of those uses can be "younger folks" the majority of the cases is that a person going for a "Pre Paid" service has horrible credit and cant control thier finances. They would need a HUGE deposit after a credit check and run a very high risk of running up a $600.00 phone bill and not being able to pay it back.
I would hate to see Apple iPhone be branded as a "Pre Paid 7-11 Track Phone" for the Low Income/Bad Credit Folks.
I dont see the Motorolla "Q" smart phone or the "Blackjack" smart phone branded as "Pay-as-you-go Food Stamp Plans".
Im my opinion at&t needs to cut the Bull S*&% and just offer a unlimited Cell/Data plan for like $99.99 and call it a day. No minutes to worry about - everything unlimted - Hell, I would pay $149.99 for that service.
Please dont let every Tom, Dick and Harry off the street with a FICO score of 350 get an iPhone with a "Pay-as-you-go Food Stamp Plan"
Next we will have special rates for anyone on Welfare to buy a New BMW.
It is not a simple act of "growing up" and you don't have it all figured out.
It is a very distinct differences of cultures. In the US, there is a pursuit of the "American" dream...the pursuit of wealth. It is all tied to your credit.
In the US, people with bad credit are generally viewed as irresponsible and cannot be trusted. In many cases, your perspective employer will check your credit history and will not hire you if you have bad credit.
This discussion has reared the ugly head of consumer desires, materialistic pursuits and the screwed reality of the so-called 'American Dream'. I'm sure we are all guilty of buyiing something because we think it looks cool, will set us ahead of everyone else as a status symbol, or merely afford us an instant sense of gratification, I know I have. Having said that, I am well aware of my actions and their consequences. By no means do I consider myself more deserving than anyone else and would never consider such a simplistic view that the possesion of some prized object will cast me in a better social light. I'm involved in a design industry, I like to support markets who's products are well designed. I'm intrigued by the so-called cult of Apple because frankly, I think their products are much more beneficial to my productivity, they simply work better, are more enjoyable to use and lastly, are products whose pride in design is evident. The iPhone brings this culture to the mobile phone market, contract or pay as you go is irrelevant. It appears to be a fantastic product, and if Apple's track record holds true, I'm sure it will be and for that very reason, anyone who deems themselves in need of a mobile phone should have the ability to have an iPhone in whatever subscription format best suits them, it's not a status symbol, it's a tool.
Smashing American Credit seggregation one iPhone at a time.
PS, I suppose Tattoo is dead set against anyone who leases their cars, how dare they drive a nicer car for half the price of those fortunate enough to actually buy said car.
Smashing American Credit seggregation one iPhone at a time.
PS, I suppose Tattoo is dead set against anyone who leases their cars, how dare they drive a nicer car for half the price of those fortunate enough to actually buy said car.
I love the idea of a handheld Mac, ideally one that will run not just iPhone apps but also all of my MacOSX, MacClassic and Palm applications - there are emulations for Palm on Mac. I want something that has enough storage that it can be kept synced with my PowerBook and act as a backup for my family's home folders so I need at least 8GB of storage for the five of us in addition to application space, music, etc. A 20GB device would be good.
I have zero interest in one more subscription plan product. I want to pay for the product and that's it. If it's going to be a phone, not something I personally need, then Pay-As-You-Go or real Prepaid with no timeout are okay. I detest these Prepaid phone plans where they time out. The company got their money for the minutes, their earning interest on the money. The minutes are decreasing in value in today's market. The plan should not expire or timeout.
iPhone with contract, not interested.
iPal, yes.
Cheers
-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org
I have zero interest in one more subscription plan product. I want to pay for the product and that's it. If it's going to be a phone, not something I personally need, then Pay-As-You-Go or real Prepaid with no timeout are okay. I detest these Prepaid phone plans where they time out. The company got their money for the minutes, their earning interest on the money. The minutes are decreasing in value in today's market. The plan should not expire or timeout.
iPhone with contract, not interested.
iPal, yes.
Cheers
-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org
You're in a little box and can't see over the edges. Sad. There is an alternative, don't work for an employer. Nobody has ever asked me for my credit score or checked my credit report for my work. I'm self-employed. People want to know if I can do the job or have the product they want.
I have purchased homes and land I financing directly with sellers. They never asked for my credit report or score. They wanted to know that their property was secured by the lien if I don't make payments. That's all that matters.
Your view of the credit score is irrelevant. There is a whole world that does not involve the banks and credit history.
My favorite part is:
After reading a long article, hearing "this may really have nothing to do with anything" really gave me a good kick.
After reading a long article, hearing "this may really have nothing to do with anything" really gave me a good kick.
The best part of all this is that you can choose not to have Cingular Voice on you iphone so, instead you can just choose the data option for 39.99 a month and just use wifi over skype jajah, plus get the 19.99 tethering package an you can basically get hotspot coverage at over 34,000 locations like mickey D's.