Webomatica

 

The New 3G iPhone Is A Scam? Please

June 27th, 2008

Some folks are analyzing the dollars and cents behind the new 3G iPhone and its associated A&T contract increase and discovering it’s more expensive than the 1.0 model, even with the iPhone price drop to $199. More specifically, the 3G service and text messaging no longer bundled means a price increase of about $10 to $15 bucks a month. Over time that ends up offsetting the reduced iPhone price and then some, resulting in a few hundred bucks at the end of two years.

But concern over price crosses over into the ridiculous when this negligible price increase is called a “scam.”

Scam is a blatant rip off. A scam would be, here’s an iPhone that is worse than the previous model for which we double the monthly fee. Scam would be, here’s a phone that does nothing it claims to and service that goes down every other day. Scam would be paying for Twitter. Or this.

Look: it’s a better phone with more memory. A quality product on the cutting edge of hardware and software: multitouch, cellphone, mobile internet, OS X, games, MobileMe web services right here, right now. If this isn’t worth paying for – what the hell is?

You gotta pay for this stuff. Apple isn’t running a Web 2.0 company where everything is free, but covered in ads to make up the difference.

But for those worried about price, here are my personal monetary justifications:

  • I expected this new iPhone to come out in June, but it’s actually debuting in July. With that one month delay, that’s one month of AT&T service I didn’t have to pay for. $80-$100 saved.
  • I currently have an iPod Video which has a dying battery. In the past I’ve picked up a new iPod practically every two years. iPhone replaces iPod = $250 bucks saved.

And at the end of the day, this is all just piddly complaining about a few hundred bucks spread out over two years. You can blow that much at a sushi bar in an hour, an Ethernet cable, or filling up the gas tank on your SUV. I’ll take an iPhone, thank you very much.

RSS Feed Please subscribe to the Webomatica RSS Feed!

folder Categories: Apple, Technology :: ::

Related Posts:
Back Futureworld: When Technology Comes Together
Back 10 Reasons Why I've Decided To Get An iPad
Back The iPad: "iPod Pro" For Consuming, Not "MacBook Mini" For Creating

Back Previous Post:
Back Next Post:

  • jcieplinski
    Great points. You also have to keep reminding people, as no one else seems to be doing, that 3G service costs more than 2G service. Period. Why people expected the iPhone 3G data plan to be the same cost as the EDGE plan, I'll never know. It's a classic example of the impossible, impractical, standard that everyone holds Apple to, but no one else to. No one complains that 3G Blackberries cost more to operate than 2G Blackberries, for example.

    Personally, I would have been happier if Apple had not subsidized the 3G, just because the in-store activation is draconian compared to the original iPhone's innovative iTunes activation process. But up-front costs were a major factor in people's reluctance to buy the iPhone, so Apple had to make a compromise. Now the same idiots who complained that the iPhone was too expensive (even though it was cheaper over the course of the contract than a Motorola Q) are complaining that the long-term costs have increased. You can't have it both ways, people.
  • Yeah... 3G better than Edge, so you pay for it... what's the surprise?

    The subsidy is a smart move as it puts the iPhone in the realm of the
    "impulse buy" and many people won't even notice the higher fees since
    they're spread out over time.

    Anyhow - the complaining bugs me - I think I saw another post somewhere,
    suggesting Apple owed early adopters money for this new iPhone. Wha?

    Just lends more evidence to the impression there's a whole generation of
    "digital cheapskates" who are increasingly reluctant to pay for real
    products / services.
  • 1500% agree. Is that enough?
  • Heh sounds good to me....!
  • One of the big pros for me when I bought the 1.0 iPhone was that the plan was cheaper than what I was currently paying AT&T. I had an HTC 8525 and was paying $80 a month. With the iPhone, I began paying $60. I bumped that up recently to $70 for unlimited text messages to take advantage of many web services. With the launch of the 3G iPhone, I expect to go back to the $80 a month ('cause I still want unlimited messaging).

    Moral of the story? The iPhone plan becomes just a standard data/voice plan instead of the steal it was back in the days of 1.0. I feel pretty certain that when Android equipped phones come out, people will still need to sign up for a 2 year contract and have to pay a cellular carrier $60 - $80 a month. And that's different from the iPhone, how?

    For the record, I'm no longer leaning towards buying a 3G iPhone. I'm interested but might very well be content with my first gen or might even be tempted to get a HTC Touch Diamond.
  • Yeah I do agree with you that the pendulum has swung back to the AT&T
    side - the deal now looks more similar to the familiar cell contracts
    we may have hoped Apple could have done away with (subsidized phone,
    higher prices for the plan to make up the difference).
  • Perhaps Steve Jobs should create a MacBell carrier? >_>
  • 3G lol....what next!
  • Ps3
    The i phone is not a scam. for gods sake please guys.
    more than a million people can, explain to you people that the i phone is not a fake .
  • ladymisskier
    I loved my iphone 3gs - unfortunatly it was submerged in water the day after purchase - so i went back to buy another one and apple said it now costs 600 $ to replace because it was a one time deal ! they blamed att and att blamed apple.
blog comments powered by Disqus