iPhone 3G article on the Yahoo homepage

[iLoveiPhones]

Seven problems with the new iPhone : Christopher Null : Yahoo! Tech

What do you guys think about what this guy wrote in his article? I don't think I'd like live TV on my iPhone. Isn't that an extra $10 or $20 bucks through AT&T?

 

[Kupe#WP]

Some valid complaints, some non-valid. It's pretty much a non-article. I never want to pay AT&T for live TV, but I would like to watch my Slingbox on the iPhone.

 

[iLoveiPhones]

What's Slingbox?

 

[Libuff]

What's Slingbox?

slingbox is a device which interfaces into your tv and cable box, then rebroadcasts your tv-out via the internet to your wireless device OR other computer.

they are looking to make a slingbox version for Blackberry, and i would LOVE to have one for the Iphone...

http://www.slingmedia.com/

 

[iLoveiPhones]

slingbox is a device which interfaces into your tv and cable box, then rebroadcasts your tv-out via the internet to your wireless device OR other computer.

they are looking to make a slingbox version for Blackberry, and i would LOVE to have one for the Iphone...

Sling Media - Home of the Slingbox

Wow seems like a neat feature. Thanks Libuff.

 

[taylorh]

I think those 7 things things people should know about the phone before they buy it, so it's pretty valid article to write. But pretty much every phone has 7 things wrong with it, it's just a matter of it having what you need.
So I think a similar article can, and has been in many cases, written about most other phones.

For the first iPhone, the deal breakers for me were:
1) No 3G, 2) No Exchange Activesync support, and 3) No 3rd party apps.

Apple has addressed those 3 things so now it's going to be a great product for me. The others are pretty much non-issues to me.

Nothing's perfect, but it is it what you want? Yes? Buy it. No? Get something else.

And addressing the first one #1, the cost.
It's no more or less expensive than every other PDA option from AT&T.
I'm not sure it should be counted as "something wrong" with it.

 

[IrishJK09]

The total cost of ownership thing is getting to me now...

When a new WinMo device like the Tilt comes on the market for $550 retail, or $350 after subsidies and rebates, you never see articles popping up about the cost of ownership over 2 years. Why do "journalists" feel the need to do this for the iPhone? Just because it is popular? Bah...

At&t Tilt - $350 (at release)
8gig SD Card - $150 (roughly the cost when the Tilt was released)
24 months at $75/mo for minimum voice + data and 200 SMS ($40 v + $30 d + $5 t)

Total = $2300

iPhone 3G 8 gig = $2000

But the iPhone catches flak for it?

The same thing applies to the upcoming BlackBerry Bold. It too will have a $30 data plan, a minimum of a $40 voice plan, and text messaging is separate starting at $5 for 200. If the Bold costs $1 more than the 8gig iPhone 3G, it will be more expensive to own over time. Rumors are saying that the Bold is pretty much guaranteed to cost more to buy (they point to $300 after rebate and subsidies) and there is nothing rumored about needing to purchase an SD card to make up for not having the memory included with the iPhone, that part is a fact. Why not write "articles" about the Bold and use this as a negative for it, like the iPhone?

Speaking of memory, what planet does the author of that article live on? 8 gig is substandard? 16 barely cuts it? I'm sorry, but I can't think of more than a very small handful of phones sold today that come preloaded with that much memory, yet he uses it as a negative for the iPhone?

I am not saying that he doesn't make a few valid points, but the article is generally off base.

 

[Kupe#WP]

When a new WinMo device like the Tilt comes on the market for $550 retail, or $350 after subsidies and rebates, you never see articles popping up about the cost of ownership over 2 years. Why do "journalists" feel the need to do this for the iPhone? Just because it is popular? Bah...

Good point - I think the iPhone fanatics have this feeling of entitlement other phone users don't have. Last year, in spite of the outrageous iPhone prices (and still carrying a 2 year commitment), the data/voice/messaging plan was pretty good. Now that the iPhone has grown up to be a real, subsidized smartphone, with a real smartphone data/voice/messaging plan, the iPhone community can't seem to make the connection.

 

[dstrauss#IM]

CrazETooN hit the nail on the head with every comment. EVERY subsidized converged device (phone/PDA) carries a stiff data plan requirement and total cost of ownership. In fact, iPhone I was the antithesis of the standard model with higher up front prices and lower data plans than any other phone (try being a BB BES customer for a while at $45 per month for the data component only).

In fact, I am a bit surprised by all the complaining about $30 vs. $20. There isn't a 3g service that I know of that doesn't cost more than the 2-2.5g alternative, so how is that $10 even a fair factor in the TCO?