Today is the day that many people (including myself) have been waiting for: the next iteration of the iPhone has been announced.
It certainly looks nice.
Unfortunately, I am not entirely sold at this point.
If I were to add an iPhone line , the monthly charge on my at&t family plan would be $10 for voice and $30 for data ($40 overall). I will also have to agree to a new, two year contract with at&t.
If I were to add a regular line, and use it with an unlocked Nokia E71 (or any other smartphone), the charge would be $10 for voice and $15 for data ($25 overall). There will be no indentured servitude involved.
Thus, every year I will pay $180 more (compared to an unlocked smartphone) to at&t for using the iPhone. The costs of device itself will be almost the same: $325 for a 32GB iPhone (+tax), $320 for an unlocked E71 (from Amazon).
Now let's compare the functionality between the more expensive iPhone and the E71:
*tethering - possible on unlocked E71, and greedy at&t can't even tell I tether unless they do deep packet inspection. Disabled by greedy at&t on the iPhone
*GPS, Google maps, and turn-by-turn directions. Both phones have the capability. E71 has a slight edge here, because Garmin Mobile XT has been available for it for quite some time now
*email - both phones can do that really well. And the E71 has a physical QWERTY keyboard
*syncing with OS X (Address Book and Mail) - both phones can do that
*syncing with iTunes and listening to the music: no contest here - E71 will suck for that. However, I am not likely to use the iPhone for music much
*user interface and screen. No contest here - iPhone is light years ahead
*size - the E71 is much smaller and more pocketable
*applications. That is a tricky one. Technically, there are more iPhone than Symbian programs. However, a lot of these iPhone programs seem to be of the "pull my finger" type, or are glorified browser shortcuts. There is probably a comparable number of genuinely useful programs for the two phones. One "killer" iPhone app for me is Papers - I own the desktop program, and carrying all my PDF files with me would be convenient. However, I cannot point my finger at any other useful iPhone program which does not have a direct Symbian equivalent
So why would I choose an iPhone over E71? Is having a better/different UI worth $180 a year? Are there any "killer" iPhone apps that make the price difference worth it? Did anyone here have to make the same choice?
I have about three weeks to decide before I buy anything, so any input will be appreciated.
It certainly looks nice.
Unfortunately, I am not entirely sold at this point.
If I were to add an iPhone line , the monthly charge on my at&t family plan would be $10 for voice and $30 for data ($40 overall). I will also have to agree to a new, two year contract with at&t.
If I were to add a regular line, and use it with an unlocked Nokia E71 (or any other smartphone), the charge would be $10 for voice and $15 for data ($25 overall). There will be no indentured servitude involved.
Thus, every year I will pay $180 more (compared to an unlocked smartphone) to at&t for using the iPhone. The costs of device itself will be almost the same: $325 for a 32GB iPhone (+tax), $320 for an unlocked E71 (from Amazon).
Now let's compare the functionality between the more expensive iPhone and the E71:
*tethering - possible on unlocked E71, and greedy at&t can't even tell I tether unless they do deep packet inspection. Disabled by greedy at&t on the iPhone
*GPS, Google maps, and turn-by-turn directions. Both phones have the capability. E71 has a slight edge here, because Garmin Mobile XT has been available for it for quite some time now
*email - both phones can do that really well. And the E71 has a physical QWERTY keyboard
*syncing with OS X (Address Book and Mail) - both phones can do that
*syncing with iTunes and listening to the music: no contest here - E71 will suck for that. However, I am not likely to use the iPhone for music much
*user interface and screen. No contest here - iPhone is light years ahead
*size - the E71 is much smaller and more pocketable
*applications. That is a tricky one. Technically, there are more iPhone than Symbian programs. However, a lot of these iPhone programs seem to be of the "pull my finger" type, or are glorified browser shortcuts. There is probably a comparable number of genuinely useful programs for the two phones. One "killer" iPhone app for me is Papers - I own the desktop program, and carrying all my PDF files with me would be convenient. However, I cannot point my finger at any other useful iPhone program which does not have a direct Symbian equivalent
So why would I choose an iPhone over E71? Is having a better/different UI worth $180 a year? Are there any "killer" iPhone apps that make the price difference worth it? Did anyone here have to make the same choice?
I have about three weeks to decide before I buy anything, so any input will be appreciated.