Does anyone know what the rates default to if we pass our existing iPhones to the kids? 2 2G phones and 2 3G phones. Do we all pay the increased data rate, or only the 3G versions?
Thanks in advance!
Looking to add 1 new 3g iphone to the 3 1st gen iphones we have...
I talked with an AT&T support rep today and was quoted $9.99 for the extra line then $20 for the iphone plan... I asked them to double check that and they said that is all the info they had.
Obviously they don't know much yet...
From what I gather, it will cost me around $50 extra a month.
Well AT&T, you just made my decision for me. No new iPhone 3G for me.
We were all set to upgrade my iPhone to the new one and my wife was going to take the old one.
In today's day and age of WiFi, I don't need your beloved 3G speeds that bad. I'll go find a Panera's or Arby's with Free WiFi if I'm out and need to surf at a decent speed.
Note to Apple: You might want to wrangle AT&T in a bit. You could lose some customers over this now, instead of the price barrier from last year. I know you lost my household on this one. This whole "Activation In Store" is a bunch of crap too.
... and furthermore: I don't think you're being fair on the SMS thing either.
Now maybe they've been selling different plans lately, but when I got my iPhone last year, our Family Talk 850 plan did NOT include SMS for anybody except for the iPhone. The other 4 lines on my plan pay 4.99 [each] for 200 SMS.
Now, it seems that $30.00 gets you unlimited SMS for all 5 lines. That works for me.
The data plan I have is the $20 iPhone data plan with $5 added which provides for "unlimited" AT&T to AT&T SMS messages and 200 external SMS messages.
iPhone1 on 700 Minute "Family" Plan $60
IPHONE DATA+200&M2M $25
iPhone2 $10
IPHONE DATA+200&M2M $25
-----
subtotal = $120 (reflects the extra $10 for unlimited AT&T messaging/200 External)
Gov't fees $10
Other Charges $10
===========
Total $140/month
-------------
This article DOES NOT ADDRESS whether AT&T will have lower-tier family plan SMS messaging options less than the $30 family unlimited.
From what I've read, the data plans are increasing by $10/phone, so my cost structure above would likely be $160 month, which is about 15% increase. If you factor in the reduced cost of the phone, it's not such a bad trade-off.
What I would like to see is better reporting by Apple Insider. I don't know if this group is considered real journalists or just tech-gossip-bloggers, but this ommission of the multiple tiered SMS options, and the assumption that everyone will choose the maximum rate Family SMS option, seems to be trying to present the worst possible comparison.
ONE STEP FORWARD, ONE STEP BACKWARD ... it is seems to be the mantra of APPLE nowadays, it is expensive ...
may be we should ready to see different download speeds with different price soon (like broadband, DSL) but $70 is tooooo much for a line, think about those family plan geez....
i will wait before getting my hands on the iPhone 3G!
This is precisely the reason why I will NOT be getting an iPhone just to deal with AT&Ts bullcrap! .....They could really wipe the map with customers if they opened up their iphone to more carriers. AT&T will just continue to jack up their price and continue cutting service.
Quote:
Originally Posted by echosonic
I will not be upgrading my iPhone. I think the costs are ridiculous. If 3G was more expensive, and therefore required a higher fee, then the fee should be only in the monthy bill, it would not have to be leeched onto the text messaging service as well. This is asinine, and they will not get any more money from me. As soon as voice-over-IP is up and running on the iPhone, I will hack it and leave the Cellular carriers behind permanently.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlecR
I was excited to purchase the iPhone in a couple weeks until i read this. The original iPhone was a bit out of my comfortable price range. Now this...
I'm not huge on texting and would never use 200 in a month but I am really upset they cut that out of the plan while raising the price.
Oh for god sakes people, the iPhone 3G rates are the SAME EXACT RATE PLANS that AT&T has for ALL Smartphones, including the 2G only blackberry models. Having unlimited data on a mobile phone is expensive, and certainly not for everyone. But if you want it, you have to pay the piper!
The original 2G iPhone was obviously an exception to the standard rates, and they gave you a break on monthly fees because:
1) It was limited to 2.5G EDGE data only.
2) It was sold UNSUBSIDIZED, so you had to pay the full retail price for the phone.
3) It's competitiveness in the market was unknown
(And it was actually a great deal considering all Blackberry users were paying the normal, higher smartphone data rate, and all blackberry models were limited to 2G as well.)
Remember, almost NO ONE though Apple was going to let the iPhone be subsidized, and the majority believed the iPhone 3G was going to be sold at $399 or EVEN HIGHER. They could have EASILY sold it at $399 AND required these standard, higher-priced smartphone plans. I think everyone that enjoys such a brilliant device should be thankful that it ended up being $199. Also, we know that Apple is most likely gouging the crap out of them on the wholesale price, so I wouldn't necessarily direct all your wrath at AT&T.
Finally, compared to Verizon wireless, who is AT&T's main competitor, AT&T's voice+data plans are $10 cheaper.
Verizon Wireless Smartphone Voice+Data
450 minutes (incl)
"unlimited" data (incl)
250 txt (+$5)
-----------
$85/month
AT&T iPhone 3G Voice+Data
450 minutes (incl)
"unlimited" data (incl)
200 txt (+$5)
------------
$75/month
With both company's plans above, you can upgrade to 900 minutes for $20 more, or upgrade to 1500 txt messages for $10 more. However, if you want access to the GPS on Verizon smartphones, you have to PAY $10/month! Imagine the outrage is AT&T/Apple charge a monthly fee for GPS!
There are five 1st generation iPhones at my house. One of them is so busted up [the surgical glass screen couldn't take the use/abuse of a 13 y.o. girl] that it is unusable. Another is in bad shape after having been dropped once too often by her 16 y.o. sister. I'd been thinking about replacing them with the new 3G iPhones [instead of dropping $270 per iPhone via Apple's existing replacement fee schedule].
Now that Apple and AT&T have revealed their respective sales and service prices I am happy to say I feel a little giddy. I feel like I did back in the day when Apple was still shipping the Apple ][, before Steve first powered up his reality distortion field (RD).
What this means is that as cool as I think the 3G iPhone is I'm not going to buy one. I'm going to remain happily on the sidelines to see what the market comes up with. The main selling point for the iPhone, from my perspective, has always been that you can't beat the way it integrates with the Macintosh [I guess I'm not totally immune from Steve's RDF: I just bought a new Macbook Air]. But hey, if I read the copy on apple.com it looks like I get to use all the iPhone 2.0 features that don't require a new handset. Yea!
My hope is the T-Mobiles, Verizons, and Nokias of the world will begin to appreciate the ever-increasing market share of Apple's computers and make software that lets me seamlessly sync my address book to my d--- phone.
With both company's plans above, you can upgrade to 900 minutes for $20 more, or upgrade to 1500 txt messages for $10 more. However, if you want access to the GPS on Verizon smartphones, you have to PAY $10/month! Imagine the outrage is AT&T/Apple charge a monthly fee for GPS!
telenav and gps are differant...$10 is for real time mapping, driving directions, road construction updates, searching for resteraunts and such on the rout...all things that VIOLATE THE IPHONE SDK EULA
I have no problem with the increased price of the data plan since it offers higher speed and is consistent with the data plans for other smartphones. But I do think that some number of SMS should be included with the iPhone because, unlike all other ATT smartphone offerings, a data plan is required with an iPhone purchase. This would be a reasonable trade-off for the required data plan.
What this means is that as cool as I think the 3G iPhone is I'm not going to buy one. [...] if I read the copy on apple.com it looks like I get to use all the iPhone 2.0 features that don't require a new handset. Yea!
I'm with you on waiting.
What we have is a pricing policy designed to reduce demand at a time when the iPhone 3G will be scarce. Apple doesn't care if original iPhone owners are p*ssed, because they won't have enough 3G units to sell everyone anyway. AT&T doesn't care if original iPhone owners are p*ssed, because they would prefer new customers.
Give it time. With time, we should see apps become available that make original iPhone owners drool. When that time comes, I predict device availability will be high. It will probably occur as the expiration date of 2-year service contracts on the original iPhones approaches.
I mean, did it occur to you that maybe the other plans are also overpriced and those are the ones that need to be adjusted?
As far as Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile goes, as long as there are people out there thinking like you and not willing to complain about it, they will never try to offer competitive and realistic pricing.
ha... What exactly is your definition of "overpriced"? Priced above what YOU want to pay? Obviously since the iPhone 3G plans are the same rates that smartphone data packages have been with AT&T for years now, and are actually $10+ cheaper than Verizon, "the market" doesn't agree with you. If you really want to see painful data rates, look to the north or even many countries in Europe. Most don't even have an option for 5GB of data a month, and if they did, they would pay through the roof.
And surely, complaining about prices on "appleinsider.com" web forums is not going to affect change in the marketplace...
Quote:
Originally Posted by toneloco28
No, I'm a real estate developer but thanks for trying. Did you even read my post? I said within that the intention was not to argue on whether the service was overpriced or not, but to say that anybody acting surprised was somewhat of a shock to me. Beyond the fact that AT&T has had these same prices for all their PDA/Smartphones for years, they TOLD us everyone would have to add a $30 data add-on to any iPhone 3g the date of the announcement! They also said the pricing of the device was only open to upgrade eligibe customers...
Who says I'm not willing to complain? I just know better than when all the information is given to me beforehand, I'm not going to act shocked when it comes out and all the people who heard what they wanted to hear, cry foul. Competition is good, especially in the cell phone arena, but I was just stating that as far as Verizon goes, so goes AT&T. If you want lower data prices for the iPhone--then wait for Verizon to drop their prices and see AT&T react accordingly. It's business.
Everybody assesses value towards things differently. For someone who hardly ever uses the iPhone to access data the price might seem like a rip-off. For someone whom has to be constanty connected and relies on responding to clients concerns immediately, being able to look up supplier detail, and navigating my way to different sites--the price may be inconsequential. It's all relative.
WHAT is this?? A REASONED post in the fanboy forums? *HEAD EXPLODES*
I was so looking forward to this phone but this has just made me rethink my whole plan. For months I had planned to jump pver from Verizon, but the cost was going to be high as I had to pay a termination fee. Now with that included and the added costs for the sms and data this does not make sense finnacially for me any longer.
I am a big advocate of apple and the iphone but together with ATT who is taking advantage of this product launch in a very big way has now lost me and it appears others as new customers.
Although 3G is quite nice and GPS a bit nice, I felt after its announcement that I would stay w/ my 1st gen. iPhone. That I'm not in a 3G area, the camera needs improving and I need more storage than 16GB seemed enough not to jump.
But the kicker really was the sketchy increases AT&T was promoting for the new iPhone over the original. Now that the rates & upgrade plan are official, I'm am definitely staying put. I understand the posts of others that this is inline w/ standard smartphone rates, but it still is a bottom line reality that it makes no sense for me, in particular, to upgrade at this time with this iPhone version. I simply lose more than I gain.
I'd imagine the next version will present more "internal" hardware features (camera, storage space, processor) that shouldn't affect AT&T rates and thus will be more appealing to iPhone 1.0 users. Plus the iPhone OS 2.0 free upgrade is going to be the real winner for all iPhone users. The introduction of new, 3rd-party applications will open a world of possibilities. Here's hoping that not too many of them are tied to using a 3G/GPS network!
ha... What exactly is your definition of "overpriced"? Priced above what YOU want to pay? Obviously since the iPhone 3G plans are the same rates that smartphone data packages have been with AT&T for years now, and are actually $10+ cheaper than Verizon, "the market" doesn't agree with you. If you really want to see painful data rates, look to the north or even many countries in Europe. Most don't even have an option for 5GB of data a month, and if they did, they would pay through the roof.
And surely, complaining about prices on "appleinsider.com" web forums is not going to affect change in the marketplace...
WHAT is this?? A REASONED post in the fanboy forums? *HEAD EXPLODES*
Yes, that's exactly right. I'm glad to see we both agree. Something is overpriced when it is priced at a level above what I want to pay. This is how the market works. Apple couldn't [literally] sell enough iPhones the first two times it priced them. This is really the third swing Apple is taking at finding the sweet spot. To be sure, there are probably some people for whom the price of the phone added to the cost of the AT&T service that makes it function (i.e. unbricks it) is reasonable.
I'd like to mention one more thing, just so we're clear, on the meaning of something being overpriced. The cost of the iPhone itself doesn't disgust me so much as the cost of the service from AT&T. I took my kids camping a few months ago. Imagine, for a moment, my surprise when I found that my neighbor's throw-away from [she got it from Wal Mart) had more bars than my iPhone. The whole AT&T experience is what makes buying the 3G so unpalatable. I do not see how it makes sense to pay more for less.
There are five 1st generation iPhones at my house. One of them is so busted up [the surgical glass screen couldn't take the use/abuse of a 13 y.o. girl] that it is unusable. Another is in bad shape after having been dropped once too often by her 16 y.o. sister. I'd been thinking about replacing them with the new 3G iPhones...
Are you complaining about the iPhone's durability here of just offering background info? All the iPhone and iPod touches my family have are in good condition and seem to be durable. I'm going to go out on a limb here and speculate that the 13yr old and 16yr old didn't purchase the iPhones with their own money. My 12-year old cousin's iPod touch which was obtained with his money from working in the summer appears to be in great condition.
Quote:
Originally Posted by elearn
What this means is that as cool as I think the 3G iPhone is I'm not going to uy one. I'm going to remain happily on the sidelines to see what the market comes up with.
Free at last oh baby free at last!
I wouldn't be too optimistic about what the "market" will come up with. Have you seen or tried to use any of the so-called "iPhone" killers? They are a joke.
Quote:
Originally Posted by penchanted
I have no problem with the increased price of the data plan since it offers higher speed and is consistent with the data plans for other smartphones. But I do think that some number of SMS should be included with the iPhone because, unlike all other ATT smartphone offerings, a data plan is required with an iPhone purchase. This would be a reasonable trade-off for the required data plan.
Does anyone know if you can remove the data plan after you sign up? This is be good for those who don't wish to pay ~$80/mo and just use Wifi.
Quote:
Originally Posted by a_greer
telenav and gps are differant...$10 is for real time mapping, driving directions, road construction updates, searching for resteraunts and such on the rout...all things that VIOLATE THE IPHONE SDK EULA
So, if you don't use the $10/month "VZnavigator" service, what software can you use to access the GPS capability?
Apple couldn't [literally] sell enough iPhones the first two times it priced them.
Apple sold a million or more iPhones at $499/$599 and ran out of supply several weeks ago at $399. The iPhone 3G will be a success from the very beginning. It's all about supply and demand. Demand is high now and supply is tight. Give it time and the price will come down, but not until millions of 3G units have already been sold.
So, if you don't use the $10/month "VZnavigator" service, what software can you use to access the GPS capability?
AAA offers the same kind of turn-by-turn navigation service to Verizon and Sprint for the same price at $10 a month (the points of interest is different because they include AAA listed restaurants and hotels...).
If you want turn-by-turn navigation service with live traffic update --- then it's going to be $10 a month --- regardless of what carrier you use. The map makers determine the price --- not the app makers.
does anyone know if you can opt out of text messages? with 3G, you can't you just use AIM or skype or something?
I hate my current phone service b/c i either pay 5$ a month for some messages or else I get raped when i get sent SMSs from people I either do or (often) don't even know.
SMSs make me not want to have a cell phone - or rather the way i get charged for them is.
AT&T is using it's monopoly position wth the iphone to gouge its customers. Who is surprised.
I'm not going to be buying an iphone until the prices come down to something reasonable and the service is more open. (I'd want to be able to use the 3G as a modem for my mac if i'm paying 30$ a month for it's download ability.)
There are five 1st generation iPhones at my house. One of them is so busted up [the surgical glass screen couldn't take the use/abuse of a 13 y.o. girl] that it is unusable. Another is in bad shape after having been dropped once too often by her 16 y.o. sister. I'd been thinking about replacing them with the new 3G iPhones [instead of dropping $270 per iPhone via Apple's existing replacement fee schedule].
Now that Apple and AT&T have revealed their respective sales and service prices I am happy to say I feel a little giddy. I feel like I did back in the day when Apple was still shipping the Apple ][, before Steve first powered up his reality distortion field (RD).
What this means is that as cool as I think the 3G iPhone is I'm not going to buy one. I'm going to remain happily on the sidelines to see what the market comes up with. The main selling point for the iPhone, from my perspective, has always been that you can't beat the way it integrates with the Macintosh [I guess I'm not totally immune from Steve's RDF: I just bought a new Macbook Air]. But hey, if I read the copy on apple.com it looks like I get to use all the iPhone 2.0 features that don't require a new handset. Yea!
My hope is the T-Mobiles, Verizons, and Nokias of the world will begin to appreciate the ever-increasing market share of Apple's computers and make software that lets me seamlessly sync my address book to my d--- phone.
Comments
Does anyone know what the rates default to if we pass our existing iPhones to the kids? 2 2G phones and 2 3G phones. Do we all pay the increased data rate, or only the 3G versions?
Thanks in advance!
Looking to add 1 new 3g iphone to the 3 1st gen iphones we have...
I talked with an AT&T support rep today and was quoted $9.99 for the extra line then $20 for the iphone plan... I asked them to double check that and they said that is all the info they had.
Obviously they don't know much yet...
From what I gather, it will cost me around $50 extra a month.
Not gonna happen.
We were all set to upgrade my iPhone to the new one and my wife was going to take the old one.
In today's day and age of WiFi, I don't need your beloved 3G speeds that bad. I'll go find a Panera's or Arby's with Free WiFi if I'm out and need to surf at a decent speed.
Note to Apple: You might want to wrangle AT&T in a bit. You could lose some customers over this now, instead of the price barrier from last year. I know you lost my household on this one. This whole "Activation In Store" is a bunch of crap too.
Just sad....
Now maybe they've been selling different plans lately, but when I got my iPhone last year, our Family Talk 850 plan did NOT include SMS for anybody except for the iPhone. The other 4 lines on my plan pay 4.99 [each] for 200 SMS.
Now, it seems that $30.00 gets you unlimited SMS for all 5 lines. That works for me.
[Edit: added "each"]
The data plan I have is the $20 iPhone data plan with $5 added which provides for "unlimited" AT&T to AT&T SMS messages and 200 external SMS messages.
iPhone1 on 700 Minute "Family" Plan $60
IPHONE DATA+200&M2M $25
iPhone2 $10
IPHONE DATA+200&M2M $25
-----
subtotal = $120 (reflects the extra $10 for unlimited AT&T messaging/200 External)
Gov't fees $10
Other Charges $10
===========
Total $140/month
-------------
This article DOES NOT ADDRESS whether AT&T will have lower-tier family plan SMS messaging options less than the $30 family unlimited.
From what I've read, the data plans are increasing by $10/phone, so my cost structure above would likely be $160 month, which is about 15% increase. If you factor in the reduced cost of the phone, it's not such a bad trade-off.
What I would like to see is better reporting by Apple Insider. I don't know if this group is considered real journalists or just tech-gossip-bloggers, but this ommission of the multiple tiered SMS options, and the assumption that everyone will choose the maximum rate Family SMS option, seems to be trying to present the worst possible comparison.
may be we should ready to see different download speeds with different price soon (like broadband, DSL) but $70 is tooooo much for a line, think about those family plan geez....
i will wait before getting my hands on the iPhone 3G!
This is precisely the reason why I will NOT be getting an iPhone just to deal with AT&Ts bullcrap! .....They could really wipe the map with customers if they opened up their iphone to more carriers. AT&T will just continue to jack up their price and continue cutting service.
I will not be upgrading my iPhone. I think the costs are ridiculous. If 3G was more expensive, and therefore required a higher fee, then the fee should be only in the monthy bill, it would not have to be leeched onto the text messaging service as well. This is asinine, and they will not get any more money from me. As soon as voice-over-IP is up and running on the iPhone, I will hack it and leave the Cellular carriers behind permanently.
I was excited to purchase the iPhone in a couple weeks until i read this. The original iPhone was a bit out of my comfortable price range. Now this...
I'm not huge on texting and would never use 200 in a month but I am really upset they cut that out of the plan while raising the price.
Oh for god sakes people, the iPhone 3G rates are the SAME EXACT RATE PLANS that AT&T has for ALL Smartphones, including the 2G only blackberry models. Having unlimited data on a mobile phone is expensive, and certainly not for everyone. But if you want it, you have to pay the piper!
The original 2G iPhone was obviously an exception to the standard rates, and they gave you a break on monthly fees because:
1) It was limited to 2.5G EDGE data only.
2) It was sold UNSUBSIDIZED, so you had to pay the full retail price for the phone.
3) It's competitiveness in the market was unknown
(And it was actually a great deal considering all Blackberry users were paying the normal, higher smartphone data rate, and all blackberry models were limited to 2G as well.)
Remember, almost NO ONE though Apple was going to let the iPhone be subsidized, and the majority believed the iPhone 3G was going to be sold at $399 or EVEN HIGHER. They could have EASILY sold it at $399 AND required these standard, higher-priced smartphone plans. I think everyone that enjoys such a brilliant device should be thankful that it ended up being $199. Also, we know that Apple is most likely gouging the crap out of them on the wholesale price, so I wouldn't necessarily direct all your wrath at AT&T.
Finally, compared to Verizon wireless, who is AT&T's main competitor, AT&T's voice+data plans are $10 cheaper.
Verizon Wireless Smartphone Voice+Data
450 minutes (incl)
"unlimited" data (incl)
250 txt (+$5)
-----------
$85/month
AT&T iPhone 3G Voice+Data
450 minutes (incl)
"unlimited" data (incl)
200 txt (+$5)
------------
$75/month
With both company's plans above, you can upgrade to 900 minutes for $20 more, or upgrade to 1500 txt messages for $10 more. However, if you want access to the GPS on Verizon smartphones, you have to PAY $10/month! Imagine the outrage is AT&T/Apple charge a monthly fee for GPS!
Now that Apple and AT&T have revealed their respective sales and service prices I am happy to say I feel a little giddy. I feel like I did back in the day when Apple was still shipping the Apple ][, before Steve first powered up his reality distortion field (RD).
What this means is that as cool as I think the 3G iPhone is I'm not going to buy one. I'm going to remain happily on the sidelines to see what the market comes up with. The main selling point for the iPhone, from my perspective, has always been that you can't beat the way it integrates with the Macintosh [I guess I'm not totally immune from Steve's RDF: I just bought a new Macbook Air]. But hey, if I read the copy on apple.com it looks like I get to use all the iPhone 2.0 features that don't require a new handset. Yea!
My hope is the T-Mobiles, Verizons, and Nokias of the world will begin to appreciate the ever-increasing market share of Apple's computers and make software that lets me seamlessly sync my address book to my d--- phone.
Free at last oh baby free at last!
[B]
With both company's plans above, you can upgrade to 900 minutes for $20 more, or upgrade to 1500 txt messages for $10 more. However, if you want access to the GPS on Verizon smartphones, you have to PAY $10/month! Imagine the outrage is AT&T/Apple charge a monthly fee for GPS!
telenav and gps are differant...$10 is for real time mapping, driving directions, road construction updates, searching for resteraunts and such on the rout...all things that VIOLATE THE IPHONE SDK EULA
What this means is that as cool as I think the 3G iPhone is I'm not going to buy one. [...] if I read the copy on apple.com it looks like I get to use all the iPhone 2.0 features that don't require a new handset. Yea!
I'm with you on waiting.
What we have is a pricing policy designed to reduce demand at a time when the iPhone 3G will be scarce. Apple doesn't care if original iPhone owners are p*ssed, because they won't have enough 3G units to sell everyone anyway. AT&T doesn't care if original iPhone owners are p*ssed, because they would prefer new customers.
Give it time. With time, we should see apps become available that make original iPhone owners drool. When that time comes, I predict device availability will be high. It will probably occur as the expiration date of 2-year service contracts on the original iPhones approaches.
Really weird reasoning...
*snip*
I mean, did it occur to you that maybe the other plans are also overpriced and those are the ones that need to be adjusted?
As far as Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile goes, as long as there are people out there thinking like you and not willing to complain about it, they will never try to offer competitive and realistic pricing.
ha... What exactly is your definition of "overpriced"? Priced above what YOU want to pay? Obviously since the iPhone 3G plans are the same rates that smartphone data packages have been with AT&T for years now, and are actually $10+ cheaper than Verizon, "the market" doesn't agree with you. If you really want to see painful data rates, look to the north or even many countries in Europe. Most don't even have an option for 5GB of data a month, and if they did, they would pay through the roof.
And surely, complaining about prices on "appleinsider.com" web forums is not going to affect change in the marketplace...
No, I'm a real estate developer but thanks for trying. Did you even read my post? I said within that the intention was not to argue on whether the service was overpriced or not, but to say that anybody acting surprised was somewhat of a shock to me. Beyond the fact that AT&T has had these same prices for all their PDA/Smartphones for years, they TOLD us everyone would have to add a $30 data add-on to any iPhone 3g the date of the announcement! They also said the pricing of the device was only open to upgrade eligibe customers...
Who says I'm not willing to complain? I just know better than when all the information is given to me beforehand, I'm not going to act shocked when it comes out and all the people who heard what they wanted to hear, cry foul. Competition is good, especially in the cell phone arena, but I was just stating that as far as Verizon goes, so goes AT&T. If you want lower data prices for the iPhone--then wait for Verizon to drop their prices and see AT&T react accordingly. It's business.
Everybody assesses value towards things differently. For someone who hardly ever uses the iPhone to access data the price might seem like a rip-off. For someone whom has to be constanty connected and relies on responding to clients concerns immediately, being able to look up supplier detail, and navigating my way to different sites--the price may be inconsequential. It's all relative.
WHAT is this?? A REASONED post in the fanboy forums?
I am a big advocate of apple and the iphone but together with ATT who is taking advantage of this product launch in a very big way has now lost me and it appears others as new customers.
I say screw the 3G! I can live with out it.
But the kicker really was the sketchy increases AT&T was promoting for the new iPhone over the original. Now that the rates & upgrade plan are official, I'm am definitely staying put. I understand the posts of others that this is inline w/ standard smartphone rates, but it still is a bottom line reality that it makes no sense for me, in particular, to upgrade at this time with this iPhone version. I simply lose more than I gain.
I'd imagine the next version will present more "internal" hardware features (camera, storage space, processor) that shouldn't affect AT&T rates and thus will be more appealing to iPhone 1.0 users. Plus the iPhone OS 2.0 free upgrade is going to be the real winner for all iPhone users. The introduction of new, 3rd-party applications will open a world of possibilities. Here's hoping that not too many of them are tied to using a 3G/GPS network!
/
ha... What exactly is your definition of "overpriced"? Priced above what YOU want to pay? Obviously since the iPhone 3G plans are the same rates that smartphone data packages have been with AT&T for years now, and are actually $10+ cheaper than Verizon, "the market" doesn't agree with you. If you really want to see painful data rates, look to the north or even many countries in Europe. Most don't even have an option for 5GB of data a month, and if they did, they would pay through the roof.
And surely, complaining about prices on "appleinsider.com" web forums is not going to affect change in the marketplace...
WHAT is this?? A REASONED post in the fanboy forums?
Yes, that's exactly right. I'm glad to see we both agree. Something is overpriced when it is priced at a level above what I want to pay. This is how the market works. Apple couldn't [literally] sell enough iPhones the first two times it priced them. This is really the third swing Apple is taking at finding the sweet spot. To be sure, there are probably some people for whom the price of the phone added to the cost of the AT&T service that makes it function (i.e. unbricks it) is reasonable.
I'd like to mention one more thing, just so we're clear, on the meaning of something being overpriced. The cost of the iPhone itself doesn't disgust me so much as the cost of the service from AT&T. I took my kids camping a few months ago. Imagine, for a moment, my surprise when I found that my neighbor's throw-away from [she got it from Wal Mart) had more bars than my iPhone. The whole AT&T experience is what makes buying the 3G so unpalatable. I do not see how it makes sense to pay more for less.
There are five 1st generation iPhones at my house. One of them is so busted up [the surgical glass screen couldn't take the use/abuse of a 13 y.o. girl] that it is unusable. Another is in bad shape after having been dropped once too often by her 16 y.o. sister. I'd been thinking about replacing them with the new 3G iPhones...
Are you complaining about the iPhone's durability here of just offering background info? All the iPhone and iPod touches my family have are in good condition and seem to be durable. I'm going to go out on a limb here and speculate that the 13yr old and 16yr old didn't purchase the iPhones with their own money. My 12-year old cousin's iPod touch which was obtained with his money from working in the summer appears to be in great condition.
What this means is that as cool as I think the 3G iPhone is I'm not going to uy one. I'm going to remain happily on the sidelines to see what the market comes up with.
Free at last oh baby free at last!
I wouldn't be too optimistic about what the "market" will come up with. Have you seen or tried to use any of the so-called "iPhone" killers? They are a joke.
I have no problem with the increased price of the data plan since it offers higher speed and is consistent with the data plans for other smartphones. But I do think that some number of SMS should be included with the iPhone because, unlike all other ATT smartphone offerings, a data plan is required with an iPhone purchase. This would be a reasonable trade-off for the required data plan.
Does anyone know if you can remove the data plan after you sign up? This is be good for those who don't wish to pay ~$80/mo and just use Wifi.
telenav and gps are differant...$10 is for real time mapping, driving directions, road construction updates, searching for resteraunts and such on the rout...all things that VIOLATE THE IPHONE SDK EULA
So, if you don't use the $10/month "VZnavigator" service, what software can you use to access the GPS capability?
Apple couldn't [literally] sell enough iPhones the first two times it priced them.
Apple sold a million or more iPhones at $499/$599 and ran out of supply several weeks ago at $399. The iPhone 3G will be a success from the very beginning. It's all about supply and demand. Demand is high now and supply is tight. Give it time and the price will come down, but not until millions of 3G units have already been sold.
So, if you don't use the $10/month "VZnavigator" service, what software can you use to access the GPS capability?
AAA offers the same kind of turn-by-turn navigation service to Verizon and Sprint for the same price at $10 a month (the points of interest is different because they include AAA listed restaurants and hotels...).
If you want turn-by-turn navigation service with live traffic update --- then it's going to be $10 a month --- regardless of what carrier you use. The map makers determine the price --- not the app makers.
I hate my current phone service b/c i either pay 5$ a month for some messages or else I get raped when i get sent SMSs from people I either do or (often) don't even know.
SMSs make me not want to have a cell phone - or rather the way i get charged for them is.
AT&T is using it's monopoly position wth the iphone to gouge its customers. Who is surprised.
I'm not going to be buying an iphone until the prices come down to something reasonable and the service is more open. (I'd want to be able to use the 3G as a modem for my mac if i'm paying 30$ a month for it's download ability.)
There are five 1st generation iPhones at my house. One of them is so busted up [the surgical glass screen couldn't take the use/abuse of a 13 y.o. girl] that it is unusable. Another is in bad shape after having been dropped once too often by her 16 y.o. sister. I'd been thinking about replacing them with the new 3G iPhones [instead of dropping $270 per iPhone via Apple's existing replacement fee schedule].
Now that Apple and AT&T have revealed their respective sales and service prices I am happy to say I feel a little giddy. I feel like I did back in the day when Apple was still shipping the Apple ][, before Steve first powered up his reality distortion field (RD).
What this means is that as cool as I think the 3G iPhone is I'm not going to buy one. I'm going to remain happily on the sidelines to see what the market comes up with. The main selling point for the iPhone, from my perspective, has always been that you can't beat the way it integrates with the Macintosh [I guess I'm not totally immune from Steve's RDF: I just bought a new Macbook Air]. But hey, if I read the copy on apple.com it looks like I get to use all the iPhone 2.0 features that don't require a new handset. Yea!
My hope is the T-Mobiles, Verizons, and Nokias of the world will begin to appreciate the ever-increasing market share of Apple's computers and make software that lets me seamlessly sync my address book to my d--- phone.
Free at last oh baby free at last!
Man, buying a 500$ phone for a 13 year old?