Online retailer promises unlocked iPhones

[oalvarez]

whose post was it that made the total cost to be $3000 over two years?

 

[archie]

Archie made a guess of 40 voice and 20 unlimited data. $60. Bingo, he hit the total low end price. (with 15 minutes a day talk time, and limited SMS messages).

I don't think anyone discredited this...

You did. Everyone that posted in that thread did with the exception of oalvarez just now.

However, I guessed the overall two year cost for the 8GB iPhone and a $100/month plan (which most would get ~45 min/day). And I did this before Archie. Yet he discredits it to no end...

You are spinning. You said the iPhone would cost $3000 for the 2 years. You can break that down in a hundread different ways to fit the multiple phone plans and options and the various phone pricings.

I however, broke the phone plan pricing down to just what it would take to activate the iPhone. I left no room for creative interpretation.[/QUOTE]

 

[mikec#IM]

whose post was it that made the total cost to be $3000 over two years?

That was mine...and it was correct (given me assumption; 8GB, $100/month plan for a medium number of minutes).

I don't recall ever discrediting Archie's guess.

 

[mikec#IM]

You did. Everyone that posted in that thread did with the exception of oalvarez just now.

You are spinning. You said the iPhone would cost $3000 for the 2 years. You can break that down in a hundread different ways to fit the multiple phone plans and options and the various phone pricings.

I however, broke the phone plan pricing down to just what it would take to activate the iPhone. I left no room for creative interpretation.

[/QUOTE]

Again, show where it was discredited. Having a different viewpoint does not equal discredited.

The iPhone does cost $3,000 for 2 years...assuming an 8GB version and $100/month plan (which is typical of medium use).

No spin, just a breakdown of costs.

 

[oalvarez]

the point is it doesn't have to cost that much. you are finding the iteration that validates your claim. that much is obvious.

it doesn't cost 3,000, it only does if you want it to.

 

[mikec#IM]

the point is it doesn't have to cost that much. you are finding the iteration that validates your claim. that much is obvious.

It doesn't cost 3,000, it only does if you want it to.

It doesn't cost $1,940, only if you want it to. (but that is the mimimum; actually higher with activation fees and taxes).

"iteration that validates claim" - um, no. I said what it would be for someone who got the 8GB one (who is really going to buy the 4GB if they have a choice?), and the cost of 1,000 min a month, which to me, is an avergae use of cell phone.

Anyway, if you want ot get picky, there is no voice/data separation in the pricing...so technically, Archie was wrong - but his guess of total cost was correct. I am not discrediting that.

Keep trying, Buttercup.

 

[oalvarez]

again with the personal digs

 

[mikec#IM]

again with the personal digs

Personal dig? (insult) No.

Tease? Maybe.

 

[archie]

It doesn't cost $1,940, only if you want it to. (but that is the mimimum; actually higher with activation fees and taxes).

"iteration that validates claim" - um, no. I said what it would be for someone who got the 8GB one (who is really going to buy the 4GB if they have a choice?), and the cost of 1,000 min a month, which to me, is an avergae use of cell phone.

Anyway, if you want ot get picky, there is no voice/data separation in the pricing...so technically, Archie was wrong - but his guess of total cost was correct. I am not discrediting that.

Keep trying, Buttercup.

Really?

I just cut and paste this bit below from Apple's website. It says:

"Want to keep your current voice plan, you can just add an iPhone Data Plan with unlimited data (email and web) and Visual Voicemail for just $20 per month."​

So let's see it... you eating crow that is.

Come on.

I wan to see you poop feathers.

 

[mikec#IM]

Really?

I just cut and paste this bit below from Apple's website. It says:

"Want to keep your current voice plan, you can just add an iPhone Data Plan with unlimited data (email and web) and Visual Voicemail for just $20 per month."​

So let's see it... you eating crow that is.

Come on.

I wan to see you poop feathers.

I was talking about total cost for new customers, not existing. But that said, you called it...$20 for unlimited EDGE.

You guessed correctly. Congrats.

I never said what the per month data cost would be, so there's no crow to eat. If I had said "it will be $50 a month", then I would.

Generally eating crow (on TC at least) refers to admitting when you asserted something that was later proven wrong. (You know, like claiming BT 1.1 and Wi-Fi won't work on the Intel chipset, that sort of thing.)

But if you define eating crow as acknowleding that someone else guessed correctly, then yum yum yum, <grunt>....there's a turd for you.

 

[Malatesta]

So at the end of the day, it looks like not too much has changed since last week. For the majority of people, the iPhone will look just as attractive or unattractive as it did to them last week.

That's a very good summary. Like you said, it's not a horrible plan but not a great plan. AT&T were smart to keep it relatively reasonable. It's enough to make you ponder if it is worth it, but not enough to dissuade many from going ahead.

The next big rhetorical question: What if a 3g model comes out? Then what happens to the data plans/rates? Do these get bumped down, or the 3g get bumped up?

 

[oalvarez]

right...do any other carriers have tiered pricing for the different bandwidths? wonderin' as well.

 

[Certs]

That's a very good summary. Like you said, it's not a horrible plan but not a great plan. AT&T were smart to keep it relatively reasonable. It's enough to make you ponder if it is worth it, but not enough to dissuade many from going ahead.

The next big rhetorical question: What if a 3g model comes out? Then what happens to the data plans/rates? Do these get bumped down, or the 3g get bumped up?

I'm under the theory that the reason it is cheaper than the pda plan is because they do not have 3G to offer, like most other pda-phones do. We'll see when the 3G phone comes out I guess, I've been wrong before...

 

[Certs]

right...do any other carriers have tiered pricing for the different bandwidths? wonderin' as well.

When Sprint made vision -> Power vision (EV-DO) they added 5 bucks/month. That's the only one I remember off-hand, I wasn't an AT&T customer when they added UMTS

 

[Malatesta]

When Sprint made vision -> Power vision (EV-DO) they added 5 bucks/month. That's the only one I remember off-hand, I wasn't an AT&T customer when they added UMTS

Yup, that's right.

Vision = $10 month
PowerVision (3g) = $15, $20 and $25 depending on the "feature set" you chose, however, on WM devices, only the $15 plan was needed since a lot of Sprint's lame services do not work on WM (thankfully).

If you had the $10 plan you were grandfathered in at that rate even for a PV device (I still pay $10 a month and have used the 6700, Q and 700wx).

But Sprint operates very differently in this regard from other companies. I mean their only data plan is unlimited--no mb counting.

Maybe they'll grandfather people in at the higher rate? Who knows.

 

[mikec#IM]

Yup, that's right.

Vision = $10 month
PowerVision (3g) = $15, $20 and $25 depending on the "feature set" you chose, however, on WM devices, only the $15 plan was needed since a lot of Sprint's lame services do not work on WM (thankfully).

If you had the $10 plan you were grandfathered in at that rate even for a PV device (I still pay $10 a month and have used the 6700, Q and 700wx).

But Sprint operates very differently in this regard from other companies. I mean their only data plan is unlimited--no mb counting.

Maybe they'll grandfather people in at the higher rate? Who knows.

Sprint EVDO (unlimited) can be had for as low as $5 a month.

Really are to beat plans like this (esp. if you don't use a lot of minutes and mostly data):

Three (3) Treos, sharing 800 minutes, unlimited EVDO, text messaging, nights and weekends.

$60 bucks a month. Pretty darn cheap.

 

[Scott R]

AT&T is essentially pricing the iPhone's unlimited data at $20/month, which is the same as their "smartphone" unlimited data add-on (as compared to their "PDA/Blackberry" unlimited data add-on, which I think is about $40/month). I don't think they're doing this because it lacks 3G, which I believe many simpler smartphones are capable of. Rather, they're doing this because of the target market, which is the mass-market (though it could be argued that at $500-600, the iPhone is priced rather high for the mass-market). More to the point, they price the PDA/Blackberry plan at $40/month because it's targeted at business customers, many of which can expense it and so AT&T can "get away with" charging more for that data plan.

 

[MacUser]

Sprint EVDO (unlimited) can be had for as low as $5 a month.

Really are to beat plans like this (esp. if you don't use a lot of minutes and mostly data):

Three (3) Treos, sharing 800 minutes, unlimited EVDO, text messaging, nights and weekends.

$60 bucks a month. Pretty darn cheap.

That's an awesome deal, provided the service doesn't suck in "your" area.

It does by me :thumbsdn:

 

[oalvarez]

and not meaning to agree with Mac as often as i might but the same holds true in my locale. not being able to make calls from your own home, place of work, or popular destinations really make it tough to justify. hec, i'm not sure i'd want it if it were free. but hey, that's just one user in one location, but it is what it is.

 

[CPL Radar]

Maybe it's just me, but do those plan rates seem a little expensive? I have 500 minutes, unlimited data, unlimited texts, unlimited nights and weekends at 7:00, unlimited sprint-sprint, america roaming included, and a whole slew of other things listed, that I have no idea as to what they are, for $30.00 a month, plus the illegal PA cell-phone tax which will probably be going away soon.