The things 90% of you are missing about the $30/mo

[vega07]

sure the op makes sense.

BUT...

I don't want the data plan at all. why force it on me? I have wifi everywhere. I don't need visual voicemail. Even if the $30 price tag is industry standard, it really is still too expensive. My 6MBPS connection with AT&T costs $30 bucks for God's sake! Now I have to pay another $30 bucks. That's why I don't want to pay for it, especially when I'll probably only use it for 15 minutes per month.

I just want everything else the iPhone offers (GPS, apps, touchscreen, the list goes on...)

I wonder what would have happened if T-mobile was the carrier.

 

[apfhex]

One thing that is now sticking out is the lack of a dock. I think I saw it will be $49 from now on. It's the whole premise of "it's easier to give people more stuff later than take it away once they have it."

I noticed this too. WTF? What are you going to do with the phone if you don't have a dock to connect it to your Mac? So the real price (before the $70 minimum monthly rate) is $250 (if the dock is $50), unless I'm missing something or that information is wrong.

They're not the only people that seem to not be interested in low-balling (why do plans start at $40???), but they're the devil I dance with.

Agreed with the voice plans starting at $40/mo. It's literally thousands more minutes that I'm going to use but I don't have any choice (including switching, since T-mobile doesn't get acceptable service where I live).

I also don't live in a 3G coverage area (as far as I know... their 3G coverage map doesn't seem to work properly for me) so the $10 increase is kind of a waste of money — I still want the other things the new iPhone offers though, and maaaaybe 3G will come here eventually. But if there were the option to pay less for just EDGE, I would. Dropping the 200 SMS from the plan is also highly discouraging. I'm not a "txter" but I would like to send some from time to time, if it wasn't so !@#$ing expensive to send and receive them without a plan.

Anyway, guess the point is that while the device itself it "cheaper", the service costs and forced in-store activation (refuse to step into another god awful AT&T store, and the local Apple Store is so crowded I'd be there for hours) have made it less likely I'll be able to get one as soon as I'd like (i.e. NOW! ).

 

[CrazEtooN]

I noticed this too. WTF? What are you going to do with the phone if you don't have a dock to connect it to your Mac? So the real price (before the $70 minimum monthly rate) is $250 (if the dock is $50), unless I'm missing something or that information is wrong.

It still comes with the charge/sync cable, just not the pretty dock that enables it to stand proud next to your iMac.

 

[vega07]

so if you want a dock, then it'll be even more expensive in the long run.

the lack of a dock and plastic back makes me wonder if the iphone is subsidized.

damn it, it probably is. I don't want to accept it.

 

[queshy]

thanks for clarifying that for me.

 

[mark34]

I just want everything else the iPhone offers (GPS, apps, touchscreen, the list goes on...)

Sounds to me you need to wait and see how the touch is updated. May be better off with an iPod Touch and a tiny cheapo phone from some random carrier.

 

[drchipinski]

If this only gets through to a handful of the hundreds of complainers, I will be happy... Someone needs to try, and I haven't seen this thread done yet, so here goes nothing.... (copy of something I said in the middle of another topic)

What nobody seems to understand is that the $30 is not specifically tied to the 3G speeds.

For the love of God, why can't you understand that all At&t BlackBerry and PDA data plans start at $30 a month with NO text messages included?? The original iPhone received special data pricing because it was so expensive to buy and because there was a revenue share between Apple and At&t.

The revenue share is gone.

The price is now subsidized.

This means that the special treatment the previous iPhone got is gone. It is now being priced the EXACT SAME WAY as ALL their other smartphones and PDAs!!!!!!

If you have a BlackBerry Curve, there is no 3G for you because it is an EDGE only device. Guess what, $30/mo data plan, no texts included.

If you have the 3G capable At&t Tilt, there is 3G for if you live in a 3G area. Guess what, $30/mo data plan, no texts included.

If you have that same 3G capable Tilt and live in an EDGE only area, you can only use it over EDGE. Guess what, $30/mo data plan, no texts included. (regardless of being in a 3G area, or an EDGE area, the Tilt data plan is $30/mo. Same plan, doesn't matter where you live or what coverage you can get. I know I am just repeating what I said, but I just want to be sure it is absolutely understood , so I am adding this blurb)

THE PRICE IS NOT JUST TIED TO THE 3G!!!

This has become one of the most pathetic strings of complaints I have ever seen. Try to understand the following:

-iPhone releases in June 2007 for $599 and $499.
-Apple and At&t have a revenue sharing agreement, so Apple has more control over the plan pricing.
-Due to cost and said agreement, the phone is given a special break and is not put on a standard, $30/mo PDA data plan. It is instead given the same plan type as a normal flip phone. This plan is called the MEdiaMax plan, even though it is not branded as such for the iPhone. Look it up on At&t's website if you doubt this.

Fast forward a year

-iPhone 3G comes out on July 11th.
-iPhone receives subsidized pricing this time around.
-Revenue sharing agreement is gone. Due to this fact, and the subsidized pricing, At&t takes the iPhone out of the special data pricing bracket it formally was in and places it into the PDA bracket where it always should have been. Apple has no say over this because the revenue sharing is gone.

Are you getting this now? Can you see it?

It is not the work of the devil. It is not Jobs trying to eat your soul. It is not At&t trying to steal your first born. It is simply At&t pricing the iPhone data in accordance with all their other PDA/smartphones.

The last point is that the negative press may actually cause a change before July 11th.

Just calm down and see what happens. If nothing changes, and you don't want to pay it, don't buy the damned phone, but please stop making asinine complaints about it.

I think you are misinformed if you think Apple is not making any $$$ from ATT. Apple is not selling the phones at cost because they like us....they are getting you in the door to use ATT, where they will make up their money from the loss of the price of the phone.

 

[gloss]

I think you are misinformed if you think Apple is not making any $$$ from ATT. Apple is not selling the phones at cost because they like us....they are getting you in the door to use ATT, where they will make up their money from the loss of the price of the phone.

It's subsidized. AT&T is paying full price, whatever that is, for the phones, and making up the hit in subscription revenues.

There's no more revenue sharing. Apple's profit from the iPhone is going to be from AT&Ts purchases and the iTunes App/Music/Video stores.

 

[Sweetbike40]

so if you want a dock, then it'll be even more expensive in the long run.

the lack of a dock and plastic back makes me wonder if the iphone is subsidized.

damn it, it probably is. I don't want to accept it.

I don't get the dock thing at all. I have 4 ipods including a Touch. I'm sure the iPhone connects like the Touch. I just use a usb cable.

 

[mikeyg00]

I am one of the people paying $29/mo for my data plan (ATT Cingular 8525). So switching to the new iPhone is actually going to save me $$ all around....

 

[Sweetbike40]

What I don't like is that with the iPhone you get no corporate discounts and you HAVE to get the data plan it looks like with the 3G phone. I hope both of these are found to be false in the weeks ahead.

mE Too. These things suck. Esp. the no corporate discount.

 

[michaelsviews]

Wrong. Every time you get a new phone using a subsidy you have to sign a new contract. It works that way for every carrier on the planet.

Not true, if you buy it outright, than there is NO subsidy

 

[gloss]

Not true, if you buy it outright, than there is NO subsidy

Exactly. But they're not (currently) offering the phone outright.

 

[Siron]

Does Anyone Know....

If by having to sign a new two year agreement your Rollover minutes are reset to zero. The reason I switched from Verizon to Cingular was for the rollover minutes. I have around 3000 in my rollover bank and I sure wouldn't like to have to start over again.
Alan

 

[tomegun]

The question I have concerns how this phone is treated and discounts. Over the past year, we couldn't get anything iPhone-related with a discount, nothing. So since they are treating this phone like any other phone, will we be able to get discounts? We have two Curves now and get a military discount on our monthly bill. Will we be able to have a plan with the iPhone and get the same discount? I would really like to know the answer to that.

For those who currently have the iPhone, I don't think the concept of paying more for more capabilities has sunk in yet. If you think you are paying more and not getting enough in return...the harsh thing to say would be to not get the iPhone, but I know many people want it anyway. What are you gonna do!

 

[michaelsviews]

If by having to sign a new two year agreement your Rollover minutes are reset to zero. The reason I switched from Verizon to Cingular was for the rollover minutes. I have around 3000 in my rollover bank and I sure wouldn't like to have to start over again.
Alan

To the best of my knowledge, if you sign a new contract your roll over minutes go with you, if you port out and come back with in 30 days you get them back that I know for sure because my son and I tried Verizon and came back to AT&T on the 30th day and the acct was reactivated with rollover minutes.

FYI, we came back because of locked down features which meant you had to pay more and we could NOT get reception inside the house and had to walk into the back yard if we wanted to take or make a cell call

 

[michaelsviews]

Exactly. But they're not (currently) offering the phone outright.

Obviously your correct but I cant wait to see what happens late this summer and into fall and the people that sell them outside of AT&T & Apple, if it happened with the 1st gen it will happen with the 2nd and 3rd and so on.

This whole new 3G and A-GPS is to win over Blackberry and Palm customers and bring more business's into the iPhone thats all and the more people that write applications the more the memory is going to have to increase or at least you would think so. Imagine giving an iPhone to an insurance investigator and a better camera built in , the possibilities are endless. However there are allot of places that do not allow cellphones with cameras also.

Only GOD knows and Steve whats coming down the pike

 

[Michael CM1]

If by having to sign a new two year agreement your Rollover minutes are reset to zero. The reason I switched from Verizon to Cingular was for the rollover minutes. I have around 3000 in my rollover bank and I sure wouldn't like to have to start over again.
Alan

That happened to me once, but I think it was when I first added a second line (switching from individual to family). When I added a 3rd line, it didn't reset. When I switched phones (most recently from a RAZR to the iPhone), it didn't reset. I have about 3,700 rollover minutes in the bank and I got my iPhone 2 months ago.

Those rollover minutes are the best added feature AT&T has, but I still wish someone would come up with cheaper plans. Cellular phones are hardly new technology.

 

[kdarling]

It was always subsidized. Just now you get the $$ instead of Apple

The revenue share is gone. The price is now subsidized.

The phone was always subsidized by ATT.

At first, Apple took most of the subsidy for themselves, and called it "revenue sharing".

Apparently that agreement was only for a year.

Now the subsidy goes rightfully to the customer again.

 

[pilotError]

This phone went from being a consumer phone to a corporate phone.

I pay about $157 / mo for 1400 minute Family plan + 2 iPhones today. If I wanted to upgrade, they force me to re-up to a 2 year plan and I get to pay an additional $30 / mo for what I get now. That's around $190 / mo for a couple of phones...

What really sucks is that you can't use your personal phone to access corporate push mail or applications / VPN. If you use those, you are forced to sign up for the business plan.

AT&T really screwed Apple on this deal. The pricing might be the same for existing Blackberry users but it's a deal breaker for me. They probably should have kept the 2G for the folks who don't need the speed.

 

[geekmommy4]

I don't get the dock thing at all. I have 4 ipods including a Touch. I'm sure the iPhone connects like the Touch. I just use a usb cable.

I kind of liked the dock when I first got it, but I found that I used it less and less and then not at all when I found a case that I liked (which wouldn't fit in the dock). Not a big deal to me, although it did look nice sitting in it.

 

[timimbo85]

I mean in all honesty the 250 extra, or what ever it is, that is spanned over 2 years really isn't that bad. Id rather spend the 250 on something cool rather than a weekend downtown. And hell I needed to get a new iPod and wanted a GPS so all in all, I guess I kind of saved... Sorry just trying to be optimistic.

 

[Greencardman]

I think you need to adjust the first post. As mentioned by one or two people above, some of us do own 3G phones and only pay $20 a month and get 200 free text messages. So yes, for us, our bills are going to go up just to switch hardware, which is unpleasant. I haven't read the fine print, but I sure hope the "unlimited" data limit for this new iPhone plan is higher than it is for my current one, because i plan on using a heck of a lot of data once the 3G iPhone comes out.

 

[liquidlink]

So would this mean that like all other smartphones on AT&T the data plan is optional? Will you be able to get an iPhone with no data plan on it? Can you just you the wifi option?

Sorry if changed the subject but wanting to know the answer.

 

[JKubecki]

All data plans for all carriers in the U.S. are the same as the iPhones or higher, look at each carriers sites. The original iPhones rates were below normal, now they're just standard.

Um, not quite. I am currently a Sprint subscriber, and my wife and I both have unlimited data for $15/month for each phone.

I would love to switch 7/11, but I'm not sure I can justify the cost increase every month. Based on AT&T's site, we would be paying $177/month for the same level of service we have now with Sprint, for $120/month:

• 800 shared minutes family plan (actually drops to 700 minutes on AT&T)
• Unlimited text messaging for both phones
• Unlimited data for 2 phones
• Early nights and weekends (7 pm)

(Pricing is based on the "PDA Personal" plan on each phone from AT&T for $30/month)

The iPhone looks pretty sweet, but is it actually $57/month sweeter? (I am currently on a Mogul, and wife is on a Centro.) I'm having a hard time believing it will be.