Will you pay $2011.00 for iPhone 3G (2yr cost of ownership) in this economy?

[shecky]

personally, i am doing great financially in "this economy". so the $2011 is fine by me.

as mentioned above, its only really $299 (16GB) + $36 (activation) + $10/month more than i pay now = $575 over 2 years. on top of that its all a write-off for me so everything is 20% cheaper.

 

[ec51]

I dont understand what everyone is crying about. Its not much more than any other smarthphone with a data plan with At&t.

 

[aristobrat]

The cost to own an iPhone 3G with the cheapest plan will be $2011.00 over two years (this includes the $36 activation fee. AT&T will knock off $18 if you are already an AT&T customer).

In this economy, what are people going to do?

Cost of some things in my life over the next two years:

$43,200 = my house mortgage
$14,880 = my car [loan payment, insurance, gas]
$09,600 = groceries
$04,800 = lunch at work
$03,840 = dinner out twice a week with friends
$03,600 = my electric bill
$01,368 = my internet bill
$00,960 = my cell phone bill for voice
$00,720 = adding data to my cell phone

I'm going to have a cell phone, regardless. That's $960 over 24 months, not including taxes.

Adding data to my cell phone plan, in the big scheme of how much things cost me over two years, rates pretty much at the bottom of the list.

If your premise is that the next few years are going to be tough and we should all think about how to save money, for me, there are so many other areas to make cuts that it's not even funny.

 

[aforty]

Let's put it this way, I'm already paying ~$1700 for two years on my cellphone, so the question is really: Am I willing to pay a $300 premium for using the iPhone.

Yes I am.

 

[The General]

You act like these prices are exclusive to the iPhone. Most other smartphones are about the same price if not more expensive.

I'm glad I don't need more than 450 minutes.

 

[mark34]

Besides, even given the comments of others that I agree with, the economy is not stagnant, so saying "this economy" and then "2 years" is a bit off. Let's hope that the lack of stagnancy is a good thing. It should be, unless Washington decides it's a good idea to start raising taxes next year. Oh wait, we get to have an impact on that. A nice 4th of July thought!

 

[Ferris23]

This is a terrible way to knock the Iphone. My crappy little Krzrr runs me over 1500.00 in 2 years, so I will gladly pay the premium for all the added functionality.

 

[joeshell383]

I continue to see this "total cost of ownership" figure, and it is outright stupid. How about comparing the ~$2000 dollars to what it would cost to acquire and use a mobile phone over two years, instead of to $0? Then it won't seem like such a shocker.

Even if you compare a bare bones free phone with base plan and no data or texting to the base iPhone with unlimited 2G/3G data, the difference in TCO is $460 per year + increase in tax. A lot of people, even in "this economy", can swing an extra $460/year to move up from bare bones phone to the iPhone with unlimited 2G/3G Internet.

One of the things I like about the iPhone as well, is that if you have a car charger for your current iPod/iPhone you don't have to upgrade it again (unlike most other phones which, even within brand or product lines, often change connectors between upgrade cycles, requiring all new accessories/chargers).

 

[thechidz]

when you put it that way, under $100 a month device and everything included? not bad... with my %20 off data+voice it will be very reasonable for me considering the phone will help my business...

 

[syclonefx]

2 year cost of iPhone, what about 2 year cost for a TV

Yeah $2011 isn't that much over 2 years. I spend more in 1 year for bottled water and going to the movies. So I can't complain about spending $2011 for my cell phone and cell phone service. My cable bill put that $2011 to shame. For 2 year my cable bill cost $6096. Anyway I get to write off some of the cost for the phone and the service on next years taxes.

 

[Sobe]

My Starbucks addiction is far more costly.

 

[KauaiBruce]

I am SO SICK of these troll topics over and over again. It would be justified if this is the only smartPhone that charges for internet access. In fact AT&T gave original iPhone users a BREAK from what they charged others for unlimited data services and I would bet the iPhone users used those networks far more.

Now AT&T wants to charge us the same as they charge everyone else for services we probably make far greater use of than the other smartphone users and all we hear is one complaint after another as if these crazy thread starters expect Apple and AT&T to PAY us to take their phones and use them constantly.

If you don't want it, then don't buy it. If you cannot afford it you should not be living in these forums obsessing over the costs: you should be out looking for a job so you can FIRST afford to move out of your parents basement and pay rent first.

If you are recently married with small children and struggling to pay the bills then get off this computer and help your wife!

 

[DreamPod]

Will I pay $2011? Nope. I'm gonna pay $300 plus tax, then $70 a month, plus taxes and stuff. What freak pays for two entire years of service in advance???

 

[iTeen]

Will I pay $2011? Nope. I'm gonna pay $300 plus tax, then $70 a month, plus taxes and stuff. What freak pays for two entire years of service in advance???

Your missing the point...

 

[michaelmaxwell2]

I still do not understand this thread. first off the two thousand odd dollars are going towards the bill and other options we have for free like gps and so what. if we was to break to down it would be around $2.74 a day i would have no problem paying this amount for

1) a cellphone use

2) unlimited close to home internet on the go

3) ipod

4) camera thats always with me to take embarrassing pictures.

5) a portable game system when bored (with the crash bandacoot game comming out)

6) a book (most likely ebooks app comming out )

and if were NOT to have the iphones lets do the calculations now.......

i use my iphone internet about 4 hours everyday,use all my mins which is around 700 mins, ipod, gps, and camera

1)camera $50

2) pay phone at 25 cents for 2 years $4,200.00

3) ipod touch $299.00

4)gps $100.00

5) internet cafe 4 hours a day at 1 dollar per 7 mins for 2 years $175,200.00(which most places its 3 dollars for 15 mins )

okay so the total is $179,849.00 and we cannot even have with us all the time on the go.

so at the end i rather not drink coffee in the morning and get a iphone.(which coffee is more than 2.74 more like 5 bucks)

 

[M0bile]

My parents are buying the phone for me as a gift and paying $10 of the $70/month because that's what they payed for me being on their Alltel family plan. I'm paying the other $69.99 (no text messages for me) per month and I'll probably drop the data plan until the 3G coverage is everywhere because Wi-Fi is everywhere at my college. So I'll be paying $1500 over 2 years or half that if I drop the data plan.

 

[Delta608]

My Starbucks addiction is far more costly.

Looks like you will be going through forced withdrawals soon !!!

 

[Saladinos]

That's not just $2000 for some device, it's $2000 for a device including your mobile phone bill and unlimited internet on the move. For 2 years.

And with 3G, tethering applications will become much more usable. Of course, not sanctioned by Apple (unless the rumours about O2 allowing it in the UK are true).

I'm in the UK, and I'm paying £789 over 18 months for 600mins/500sms per month, and unlimited internet. That's not a bad price at all. It's about a month's rent in central London.

 

[wildmilne]

Well i used to pay at least $1500 over a 2 year period for a home phone (which i've gottten rid of) that wouldn't allow me to do anything but TALK and ONLY when i was at HOME...so think about it that way.

 

[ucfgrad93]

I would not mind paying the extra money. However, I just got my iPhone in January, so it is way to soon for me to be upgrading.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

$2011 over two years!!?? Dang, I just worked out the numbers and realized I am spending $3029 in one year just going to Starbucks twice a day! (and I'm a starving artist.) Maybe I should cut down my Starbucks habit to once a day so I can afford the iPhone 3G.

(how's that for some perspective for you)

Perspective indeed! I recently adopted a healthier eating lifestyle (stopped eating out at lunch every day etc)... and I'm blown away at how much I'm saving not eating out for lunch at work! Figure at minimum (fast food) your in for $5/day... $25/wk $100/mo etc etc... and I usually went for more like a $10 meal at a nicer restaurant etc. It adds up quick.

Thus, I'm having absolutely NO problem justifying my $10/mo increase for 3G and just a few weeks of not buying lunch pays for my new 3G iPhone. Plus, if I ever sit on my new 3G iPhone, with the lost weight in my fat a$$ perhaps I won't smash it.

 

[mwchris]

Rollover Minutes

everyone complaining about how few minutes ATT offers compared to other services are forgetting one thing:
ROLLOVER

I share a family plan with 2 other people, and we have 500 minutes
but looking at our account, after around 2 years on the plan, we have 2000 rollover minutes.

but wait, we've had at least that many or more rollover minutes since our 6th month

You'd be amazed how fast it adds up
you get every minute you pay for
unlike others who take away unused minutes after the end of the month

so 450 minutes a month is actually 450 + those extra 300 minutes from the last few months that you didn't use for whatever reason

throw in the fact that any number on ATT that you call is free
all of the sudden your wife, also on your ATT family plan, who took up a few hundred of your minutes talking to each month (what did you send me to the grocery store hun? I forgot to write it down) now takes up 0. and those extra minutes ROLLOVER for use whenever you want, regardless of the month

Rollover minutes are simply ATT's way of selling you a rate plan with more minutes than you actually need. Yes I realize that you can not get a truly low rate anymore, and you have to deal with the lowest you can get. The truth is that most phone users who earn roll over minutes will most likely never use the roll over minutes and are on too high of a rate plan.


Ok, had to get that out there - now back to the topic at hand. . . I would be paying close to that same price for my current smartphone, so it really doesn't matter to me. I need the functionality therefore the cost is worth it to me.

Now, if I had some teeny-bopper child who wanted the a cell phone regardless of what it is, the iphone or any smartphone for that matter would not be one they would be getting. I could not justify $65 a month for something my kid wants. (Note I do not have any kids.)

Regardless the OP makes a good point that in today's economy we should all consider our needs vs. our wants.

 

[scorpio07]

Yes I will pay $2200 for an Iphone

I recently started taking the train to work which is 106 miles round trip per day. The train station is only 40 miles round trip per day giving me a net savings of between $2,700 and $3,000 per year. So the way I look at it taking the train to work is going to pay for my new Imac, and, Iphone and leave me still saving over $3,000 in a 24 month period. So Instead of giving my hard earned money to the oil company's I am going use it to buy things that I like. Plus the Iphone will be used to keep me entertained while I am on the train to and from work. And the best part my employer pays for me to take the train to work. Just my 2 cents.

 

[morethanblood]

i spend at least $2,208.25 a year on cigarettes, so i can make myself better by quitting smoking and using that money on two years of having the iphone.

 

[robanga]

Without hesitation. People were buying Duesenburg's, Cadillacs and Auburn Cords, during the great depression. The economy only effects a percentage the populace.