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When did the iPhone lose its sense of exclusivity to you?
- Thread starter tymaster50
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Just remember the data plan for the original iPhone was really only $15 for unlimited data plus $5/200 text. All other smartphones were $30 unlimited data.
So the iPhone data plan helped a lot compared to paying $30 a month for other smartphones.
I bought my iPhone 5 outright from the Apple Store (unlocked). I can get a SIM only contract for 16/month (with 10GB data, unlimited texts and 125 minutes). If I wanted to get an iPhone with contract, I'd probably pay at least double (probably more around 40) and I would probably still have to pay more than 300 itself. So for me (and a lot of other people not living in the USA) it is actually cheaper to buy it outright.
Prepaid AT&T (Net10, Straight talk) is only $45 a month. That's half what AT&T charges. So over 2 years you can save $1080.
You can save even more with the TMobile $30 a month plan. It's good for people that use a lot of data and not much minutes.
Downside is no LTE, but HSPA speeds are good enough for a lot of people.
I think we were aiming for the fact that you're still in high school. That explains your view point on a phone being exclusive. It's not like a club you join when you buy an iPhone. They only thing stopping anyone from buying one is price and service preference. Like others have said, don't think of a phone as a status symbol and just use because you enjoy it, not because it's the cool thing to have.
It never had a sense of exclusivity for me. It's a phone that I like & can use, so I really could not care less what others think of it or whether they know I have one.
I started using Macs back in the day because they were simple, reliable, and did what I needed. To me the "extra cost" was worth items ultimately cheaper IntTerms of overall usable lifespan and ownership, they were cheaper.
I think that the latest Samsung ad campaign against Apple that shows a young guy camping out to save a spot for his parents to get the iPhone 5 and that the GS III is revealing. It's targeted at folks just like yourself who see phones as status symbols and must have the coolest gadgets & gizmos simply b/c they exist.
This is in contrast to "older folks" such as myself who actually see that as an iPhone 5 selling point: "This is the latest, greatest, most advanced technology, yet it's simple enough that your parents can use it as well."
How is that a detraction, again?
With the 3gs. I sat outside my local ATT store overnight for the iphone 3g because only two stores including mine east of Raleigh had the iphone 3g for sell at launch and only the first 50 people in line were guaranteed a phone. By the time the store opened at 8 am I was # 11 out of nearly 500 people in line. Only 100 iphone 3g's were sold launch day for the entire eastern half of the state of NC. I remember being out at different places and people wanting to check out my phone. I also remember it was several weeks before I saw anyone else with an iphone 3g. At that time the iphone still felt exclusive. I remember once the 3gs launched that it seemed to be the beginning of the end of exclusiveness. I don't think that it is a bad thing but I just remember those days in 2007 when the iphone was like an exotic animal in my area compared to now when the iphone seems to be in every household losing some of it's coolness.
Trust me I enjoy my phone. I'm not one of "those" users. I have plenty of apps, I jailbroke my previous 2 iPhones and couldn't be more satisfied. And I am the like least social person after school ends. I don't do any sports, I'm not in any clubs, I don't go to parties, I only hang out sometimes. If I didn't enjoy my phone I wouldn't have gotten the 4 or the 5, plus I had an iPod Touch before I got my first one and it got stolen unfortunately.
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This guy gets what I'm talking about.
I must say, from my vantage point, the iPhone has had some cachet, It's so sought after, but feel, it lost that after Sprint and Verizon got a hold of it. For me, having cachet/exclusivity wasn't what drew me to it to begin with.
The iPhone isn't exclusive any more, but everyone still views it as an expensive device. I had a friend (non-iphone owner) borrow my iPhone 5 for a phone call and she came back caressing the phone while returning it, saying she doesn't feel comfortable using my phone because it's so expensive. Yes, I paid retail for it but as far as she knows it was $199. iPhones aren't significantly more expensive than comparable android phones, so I'm not sure why people still see iPhones as so expensive.
That's a pretty extreme case though. Very few people will actually camp out for a phone. The only time I've done something like that was for the midnight release of Halo 2, but I was in college and didn't have anything better to do at the time. There are those of us who love the iPhone and those who love the iPhone.
Ok I stand corrected. I guess it may work for some. Just hard to fathom as I guess my work discount is pretty good. Thanks for the info.
Exclusive? Pfft, the only iphone that was remotely exclusive was the first one, and that's only because it wasn't sold here in Australia and I was one of very few people who bought it over eBay.
Exclusive is Nokia 8800, Motorola Aura, Tag Heuer Phone, Vertu etc. iPhone never was and never will be exclusive. For gods sakes, it's the best selling smartphone in the history of smart phones.
iPhone is an amazing smartphone, nothing more nothing less
Exclusive is Nokia 8800, Motorola Aura, Tag Heuer Phone, Vertu etc. iPhone never was and never will be exclusive. For gods sakes, it's the best selling smartphone in the history of smart phones.
iPhone is an amazing smartphone, nothing more nothing less