Well, with cingular you just pop the sim card in any phone that you like. I had always assumed that the other providers were the same, but maybe not...
I know, you probably are frustrated that people don't see the light. Almost makes you want to slap them in the face and ask them to wake up but it's a reality of life. This is why the carriers will succeed in selling songs for 3 bucks. Everone in this forum will rant and rave about the carriers being stupid and no one will buy a song for 3 bucks and then 8 months later, verizon introduces a service to allow you to buy a song for 3 bucks and its an overnight success and then people in another forum just like this one will rant and rave about how stupid and what idiots customers are and only about 5% of the US population will ever read the forum and even if one of the stupid people read this forum, they wouldn't care about it and apple fans will go on ranting and raving about how they cannot understand why apple has 0% of the music download for cell phones while the cell phones have crappy interfaces, etc, etc and the regular lemmings could care less and wouldn't even give a shit for your opinion. But it will feel so good to rant and rave about how stupid the rest of them are. Just like how we rave and rant about windows users.
First off, you really think people are going to pay $60 for a new CD with 20 songs? Or $30 for a CD with 10 songs?
Do you think kids are going to stop downloading all the new, bestselling albums for free (and loading them up on their iPods or iRivers or player of choice), and instead switch to paying Verizon $30 to $60 per album?
As I understand it, you won't be able to transfer songs from your PC to your cell phone, with the services Sprint and Verizon are thinking about. Do you think everyone is going to chuck their existing CD collections, and buy everything new from Sprint for thousands of dollars?
Also, exactly how are you going to manage a collection on a cell phone with a 1" screen? Do you really think you're going to make playlists and so on?
And lots of people switch cell phone companies. I've switched at least four times. What if you switch and then lose your music? People are going to think about that.
There's other issues like battery life (e.g., run down your phone battery playing music, and then you can't make that emergency call when you get a flat on a dark highway at night).
Also, if I hear the "ringtone" argument one more time, I'm gonna puke. Sure, as a novelty someone will pay a few bucks for a ring tone now and then. But $30 to $60 for a CD?
For more cell phone info, go to howardforums.com. They're just forums but it's a treasure trove of all the info you guys are looking for.
For cell phones that already play music, look at the Moto E398, various Nokia Series 60 phones, and a few Sony Ericsson phones.
Last I heard, Cingular was the only company that allows you to bring your own phone and not sign a contract. At least as recently as a year ago I knew this to be true.
Edit to add: With GSM, you can get your phone unlocked and bring it to another GSM carrier (which in the US basically means switching from T-Mobile to Cingular or vice versa) but see below for limitations. Cingular however is the only company where you can bring your own phone and they'll give you a SIM card and service without a contract.
With CDMA, you're likely to run into alot of software compatibility issues because the phones are so tied into the carriers configuration, but I know some people who've done it (brought their phone from Sprint to Verizon).
Unlocking phones: GSM is gonna be easier than CDMA but some GSM phones have customized software for that carrier in addition to the carrier lock. So even if you were to unlock the phone, some of the software may either be missing or configured incorrectly. Sometimes you can have someone reflash the phone with the OEM software and you can get around it. And some companies like Nokia and Sony Ericsson offer configuration websites that let you choose your carrier and they'll send down an OTA (over the air) configuration. Check howardforums.com for the vendors that provide these services.
MVNOs: Apple running their own network AND creating their own phone? That's a whole lotta work, though I guess it fits their model of running the whole show. I think seeing them partner with Motorola is proof enough that they're not going down this road anytime soon.
Don't think of cell phone music players as jukeboxes. That's not what Verizon and Sprint will bring to market. They'll offer a service where you can listen to the latest and greatest pop hit (and not the whole CD) for $3. People will get maybe 3-4 songs a month and Verizon will have made their money. Next year when they get a new phone, will they care about listening to the pop hits from last year? No, they'll want the latest hits that just came out and thus, it's not a problem if their music is gone. Who's still listening to 50 cent telling people it's their birfday?
And if you're asking where's the logic in it? You're right, there is no logic. Except that Verizon will have made their service the ONLY way to get music on your phone so if the (more emotional than logical) kiddies really want the latest death rap song on their phone, they can get it for the low price of only $3. By the end of the year, they've spent $100 extra that they wouldn't have spent the year before, but they've been nickel and dimed out of that $100 so it wasn't a big deal to them at all.
Quote:
Originally posted by cesjr
First off, you really think people are going to pay $60 for a new CD with 20 songs? Or $30 for a CD with 10 songs?
Do you think kids are going to stop downloading all the new, bestselling albums for free (and loading them up on their iPods or iRivers or player of choice), and instead switch to paying Verizon $30 to $60 per album?
As I understand it, you won't be able to transfer songs from your PC to your cell phone, with the services Sprint and Verizon are thinking about. Do you think everyone is going to chuck their existing CD collections, and buy everything new from Sprint for thousands of dollars?
Also, exactly how are you going to manage a collection on a cell phone with a 1" screen? Do you really think you're going to make playlists and so on?
And lots of people switch cell phone companies. I've switched at least four times. What if you switch and then lose your music? People are going to think about that.
There's other issues like battery life (e.g., run down your phone battery playing music, and then you can't make that emergency call when you get a flat on a dark highway at night).
Also, if I hear the "ringtone" argument one more time, I'm gonna puke. Sure, as a novelty someone will pay a few bucks for a ring tone now and then. But $30 to $60 for a CD?
[Last I heard, Cingular was the only company that allows you to bring your own phone and not sign a contract.
Wow - that sucks, I didn't realise how unique Cingular was. This must be the real reason why people buy locked phones - hopefully cingular will not change.
Wow - that sucks, I didn't realise how unique Cingular was. This must be the real reason why people buy locked phones - hopefully cingular will not change.
Prior to the AT&T Wireless merger, I know Cingular was also unique in that some of their phones were completely unlocked. They still came with customized software like browsers that went to Cingular servers only, etc, but you could still use the phone on another network without doing anything special.
Don't think of cell phone music players as jukeboxes. That's not what Verizon and Sprint will bring to market. They'll offer a service where you can listen to the latest and greatest pop hit (and not the whole CD) for $3. People will get maybe 3-4 songs a month and Verizon will have made their money. Next year when they get a new phone, will they care about listening to the pop hits from last year? No, they'll want the latest hits that just came out and thus, it's not a problem if their music is gone. Who's still listening to 50 cent telling people it's their birfday?
And if you're asking where's the logic in it? You're right, there is no logic. Except that Verizon will have made their service the ONLY way to get music on your phone so if the (more emotional than logical) kiddies really want the latest death rap song on their phone, they can get it for the low price of only $3. By the end of the year, they've spent $100 extra that they wouldn't have spent the year before, but they've been nickel and dimed out of that $100 so it wasn't a big deal to them at all.
Sure, there's some amount of this type of business, maybe even a lot. But how many people buying iPods fit this profile (buying 3 to 4 hits per month, and not caring if you have access to any existing CDs you own)? I would dare say most people plunking down a few hundred on an iPod have music demands greater than obtaining and listenting exclusively to 3 or 4 songs per month. You basicaly describe someone who's probably listening exclusively to Top 40 Radio or maybe country Top 40, that has very little interest in music. These people exist and maybe Verizon and Sprint can tap them, but these aren't iPod/iTunes customers. These people wouldn't spring for an iPod.
These types of customers might just prefer to keep listenting to the radio, that's totally free.
The type of people that might go for this are older folks, like my parents. Although my mom really likes her iPod and I doubt she would pay $3 per song when she can buy a CD she likes for 9.99 on iTunes. She also goes to the library and gets CDs for free. Think she's going to pay $60 to Verizon instead?
As for the kids, why won't they just buy a Shuffle for $99 and then get songs for free off the internet? Or from their friends' CD collections? Kids are resourceful and have time. They have more time and resourcefulness than money, to constantly pay 3$ per song.
Comments
Originally posted by wnurse
I know, you probably are frustrated that people don't see the light. Almost makes you want to slap them in the face and ask them to wake up but it's a reality of life. This is why the carriers will succeed in selling songs for 3 bucks. Everone in this forum will rant and rave about the carriers being stupid and no one will buy a song for 3 bucks and then 8 months later, verizon introduces a service to allow you to buy a song for 3 bucks and its an overnight success and then people in another forum just like this one will rant and rave about how stupid and what idiots customers are and only about 5% of the US population will ever read the forum and even if one of the stupid people read this forum, they wouldn't care about it and apple fans will go on ranting and raving about how they cannot understand why apple has 0% of the music download for cell phones while the cell phones have crappy interfaces, etc, etc and the regular lemmings could care less and wouldn't even give a shit for your opinion. But it will feel so good to rant and rave about how stupid the rest of them are. Just like how we rave and rant about windows users.
First off, you really think people are going to pay $60 for a new CD with 20 songs? Or $30 for a CD with 10 songs?
Do you think kids are going to stop downloading all the new, bestselling albums for free (and loading them up on their iPods or iRivers or player of choice), and instead switch to paying Verizon $30 to $60 per album?
As I understand it, you won't be able to transfer songs from your PC to your cell phone, with the services Sprint and Verizon are thinking about. Do you think everyone is going to chuck their existing CD collections, and buy everything new from Sprint for thousands of dollars?
Also, exactly how are you going to manage a collection on a cell phone with a 1" screen? Do you really think you're going to make playlists and so on?
And lots of people switch cell phone companies. I've switched at least four times. What if you switch and then lose your music? People are going to think about that.
There's other issues like battery life (e.g., run down your phone battery playing music, and then you can't make that emergency call when you get a flat on a dark highway at night).
Also, if I hear the "ringtone" argument one more time, I'm gonna puke. Sure, as a novelty someone will pay a few bucks for a ring tone now and then. But $30 to $60 for a CD?
For cell phones that already play music, look at the Moto E398, various Nokia Series 60 phones, and a few Sony Ericsson phones.
Last I heard, Cingular was the only company that allows you to bring your own phone and not sign a contract. At least as recently as a year ago I knew this to be true.
Edit to add: With GSM, you can get your phone unlocked and bring it to another GSM carrier (which in the US basically means switching from T-Mobile to Cingular or vice versa) but see below for limitations. Cingular however is the only company where you can bring your own phone and they'll give you a SIM card and service without a contract.
With CDMA, you're likely to run into alot of software compatibility issues because the phones are so tied into the carriers configuration, but I know some people who've done it (brought their phone from Sprint to Verizon).
Unlocking phones: GSM is gonna be easier than CDMA but some GSM phones have customized software for that carrier in addition to the carrier lock. So even if you were to unlock the phone, some of the software may either be missing or configured incorrectly. Sometimes you can have someone reflash the phone with the OEM software and you can get around it. And some companies like Nokia and Sony Ericsson offer configuration websites that let you choose your carrier and they'll send down an OTA (over the air) configuration. Check howardforums.com for the vendors that provide these services.
MVNOs: Apple running their own network AND creating their own phone? That's a whole lotta work, though I guess it fits their model of running the whole show. I think seeing them partner with Motorola is proof enough that they're not going down this road anytime soon.
And if you're asking where's the logic in it? You're right, there is no logic. Except that Verizon will have made their service the ONLY way to get music on your phone so if the (more emotional than logical) kiddies really want the latest death rap song on their phone, they can get it for the low price of only $3. By the end of the year, they've spent $100 extra that they wouldn't have spent the year before, but they've been nickel and dimed out of that $100 so it wasn't a big deal to them at all.
Originally posted by cesjr
First off, you really think people are going to pay $60 for a new CD with 20 songs? Or $30 for a CD with 10 songs?
Do you think kids are going to stop downloading all the new, bestselling albums for free (and loading them up on their iPods or iRivers or player of choice), and instead switch to paying Verizon $30 to $60 per album?
As I understand it, you won't be able to transfer songs from your PC to your cell phone, with the services Sprint and Verizon are thinking about. Do you think everyone is going to chuck their existing CD collections, and buy everything new from Sprint for thousands of dollars?
Also, exactly how are you going to manage a collection on a cell phone with a 1" screen? Do you really think you're going to make playlists and so on?
And lots of people switch cell phone companies. I've switched at least four times. What if you switch and then lose your music? People are going to think about that.
There's other issues like battery life (e.g., run down your phone battery playing music, and then you can't make that emergency call when you get a flat on a dark highway at night).
Also, if I hear the "ringtone" argument one more time, I'm gonna puke. Sure, as a novelty someone will pay a few bucks for a ring tone now and then. But $30 to $60 for a CD?
[Last I heard, Cingular was the only company that allows you to bring your own phone and not sign a contract.
Wow - that sucks, I didn't realise how unique Cingular was. This must be the real reason why people buy locked phones - hopefully cingular will not change.
Originally posted by e1618978
Wow - that sucks, I didn't realise how unique Cingular was. This must be the real reason why people buy locked phones - hopefully cingular will not change.
Prior to the AT&T Wireless merger, I know Cingular was also unique in that some of their phones were completely unlocked. They still came with customized software like browsers that went to Cingular servers only, etc, but you could still use the phone on another network without doing anything special.
Originally posted by cmoney
Don't think of cell phone music players as jukeboxes. That's not what Verizon and Sprint will bring to market. They'll offer a service where you can listen to the latest and greatest pop hit (and not the whole CD) for $3. People will get maybe 3-4 songs a month and Verizon will have made their money. Next year when they get a new phone, will they care about listening to the pop hits from last year? No, they'll want the latest hits that just came out and thus, it's not a problem if their music is gone. Who's still listening to 50 cent telling people it's their birfday?
And if you're asking where's the logic in it? You're right, there is no logic. Except that Verizon will have made their service the ONLY way to get music on your phone so if the (more emotional than logical) kiddies really want the latest death rap song on their phone, they can get it for the low price of only $3. By the end of the year, they've spent $100 extra that they wouldn't have spent the year before, but they've been nickel and dimed out of that $100 so it wasn't a big deal to them at all.
Sure, there's some amount of this type of business, maybe even a lot. But how many people buying iPods fit this profile (buying 3 to 4 hits per month, and not caring if you have access to any existing CDs you own)? I would dare say most people plunking down a few hundred on an iPod have music demands greater than obtaining and listenting exclusively to 3 or 4 songs per month. You basicaly describe someone who's probably listening exclusively to Top 40 Radio or maybe country Top 40, that has very little interest in music. These people exist and maybe Verizon and Sprint can tap them, but these aren't iPod/iTunes customers. These people wouldn't spring for an iPod.
These types of customers might just prefer to keep listenting to the radio, that's totally free.
The type of people that might go for this are older folks, like my parents. Although my mom really likes her iPod and I doubt she would pay $3 per song when she can buy a CD she likes for 9.99 on iTunes. She also goes to the library and gets CDs for free. Think she's going to pay $60 to Verizon instead?
As for the kids, why won't they just buy a Shuffle for $99 and then get songs for free off the internet? Or from their friends' CD collections? Kids are resourceful and have time. They have more time and resourcefulness than money, to constantly pay 3$ per song.