Here's another way to look at it.......people who are switching from currently AT&T business service (ie, Treo/HTC phones w/ unlim. data) to iPhone service.....AT&T's unlimited PDA connect plan is $50/month which comes with NO SMS ($.05 per message). Tack another $15/month for unlimited SMS on top of that $50 and then add the phone service w/ say 1500 ( minutes on it, we're talking almost $100/month for a single phone in the corporate world if using a Treo/Blackjack/Tilt. A saving of $20-$25 at a large corporation of 5000-10000 employee over a 2 year contract perios is a lot of money. I personally pay for the above mentioned plan out of my own pocket (which amounts to about $110/month after tax and everything), the new iPhone+service actually comes as a long awaited relief for me.

Wow, always shocking to see what people will cough up for the latest gizmo. Still shocked how much I pay for a land-line phone and DSL each year, but it is still a helluva lot less than a cell plan and phones.

Managed to wean my family from the trap of the cell phone, and happier for it. Quiet time is precious.

-Ls

So the new iPhone is still tied to AT&T.

So again, no iPhone sale for me.

Why does Apple tie their product to ONE provider?
Wouldn't Apple make more if it was available on multiple providers?

And why AT&T instead of Verizon?

Verizon has been rated #1 for years now on coverage and my home is in a virtual cell phone black hole where only Verizon can be received inside.

It's kind of funny seeing the users of AT&T, Sprint and others all standing outside just to make their calls.

Question: Can I just buy the iPhone and not get the data service? At $200 I wouldn't mind just grabbing one just to use it as a phone/ipod replacement. $30 data service isn't really useful to me.

Handles and blades, handles and blades...

I heard that the new iPhone was actually only AGPS, not proper GPS. Is that true?

Can you not pay for SMS and use an IM?

I'm afraid of what prices Robbers/Fido is going to charge in Canada. If Fido will ask for a a 3 year contract, i MIGHT byte if i can keep my current F2F legacy plan + a cheap data add on. However, if they want to impose new plans on me, there's no way in hell i'll byte. I'll pay extra $$ to buy it with a 2 year contract, or with no contract at all.

Right now, the 2100Ghz band is being auctioned off so in a matter of 1 to 2 years, new 3G GSM providers will be on the market. Entering into a 3 year contract now, seems very counterintuitive.

Here's to hoping that Canada will finally see the GSM monopoly gone !

Adi

It's what the get-now, pay-later consumers want, and sadly they're in the vast majority.

Edit: I think it is ridiculous that any mobile phone contract plan would not come with any text messages at all, not even 100. I bet that with 3G the texts go over the 3G data link instead of the limited 2G system channel so the argument that they run over a limited resource doesn't even hold.

$30 for unlimited data is so amazing...

The "new" Rogers data plan in Canada is $100 for 1GB.

The hardware price drop is nice...if it can be hacked and used on other networks. :)

Folks,

Apple isn't the one charging the monthly rates; they're just providing the hardware. That's AT&T making a buck on the product that everyone wants to own.

Don't confuse the two in the partnership!

Just for the record, this plan now costs exactly as much as AT&T's other 3G plans. Which of course sucks, but is hardly a reason to criticize the phone.

I don't really understand whats the point of adding service cost to these calculations. And I mean the service cost, not the part that is added from device cost. Granted I'm more used to Finnish model where device cost is clearly separated from service cost even with required 2 year deal. ( 3G phones are usually 1€ + x€/month for phone + x€/month for service, though no info yet released on cost of Finnish iPhone )

So a company comes out with a better product with more features and they shouldn't be allowed to charge more for it?

If you pay cash for a car up front, you can expect to pay less overall for the car too.

Duh? $199 was too good to be true.

I really want one, but I can't justify paying over $1000 for a phone...I'd rather get something like a Sony Erricson Walkman phone, and the spend the leftover money on upgrades for my PC!

Sorry, double post!

Say what you will about the iPhone (I know it's cool to diss it), it is by far the best cell phone I've ever used.

I think AT&T is to blame as well. Texting via SMS is data; why am I paying separate for it? More than likely I will cave and end up buying it as well.

For once im not going to totally blame Apple. Lets be fair, AT&T are just as bad when it comes to misleading customers and forcing them to the most expensive plans because they own a expensive phone. Unlock the phone and suddenly its actually a very good deal.

Oh, yes, you're right. My bad. - Woops, missed reply.

Wow what a doggie trick plan.